topis says it all, trying to figure out what all rear ends will work, and what would i need to do to make a 85 rear end --85 being a random year pulled out of a hat.

what all gm cars/trucks came with 3.73s

 

any rear from a 3rd or 4th gen f body will be a direct bolt in, also moser, strange ,and currie make bolt in 9" and 12 bolts. WAG but i'd suspect most any GM car or truck with a 10 bolt could of been had with 3.73:1 gear set.

 

i thought that some years were a 2 series carrier and others a 3, mine being a 3 , also mine being a 28 spline axel when some are a 27

then again i have been awake for all of 2 minutes so im prolly talking about the actual gear, and any rear end will bolt up cause the carrier and spline all has to with internal parts of the rear end.

so any rear end will bolt up and work with no mods required? If they are drum brakes.

 

2 or 3 series goes with what gear it has, not what year it was made.

All of the rest of these comments apply only to 10-bolts, not to 9-bolts which were used in some 85-89 Camaro and Firebird models.

27 = splines on pinion gear; all are this size

28 or 26 = splines on axles; 88-back are 26, 90-up are 28, 89 could be either

Any rear from any 3rd or 4th gen will bolt up. However since you have drum brakes, unless you want to get into fooling around to make the disc changeover, stick with drum brakes; and if you want discs, make sure you get the 89-up setup with aluminum calipers, NOT the 88-back with cast-iron calipers. And, a 4th gen rear is just about 2" longer on each side, so you'll either have to use 4th gen wheels, or get the stupid-looking skateboard effect.

3.73s will require a 3-series carrier, unless you're willing to buy new gears, and you buy the special thick ones.

Some of these cars, notably the L69 (HO) cars, came with 3.73s; no TPI or TBI ones did AFAIK; Monte Carlo SSs with L69 came with them, and some S trucks. All of those gears will interchange into the rear for one of these cars.

 

what im wanting to do to avoid having to set pinion depth and all that good stuff that i have no clue how to do. i want to just find a rear end with drum brakes and 3.73. im assuming the spline and carrier and all that stuff is internal, and has nothing to do with the drive shaft and how its bolts to the car.

i have heard some horror stories about putting in rear gears so thats why im trying to avoid doing so, also i dont want to pay 300 bucks to have it done because thats just bs. i have come way too far without a garage touching my car to stick in in a shop for a rear gear swap. --this aside from the normal stuff that you cant do at home i.e. alignment.

 

That's a little different.

The only housing that will fit these cars is a 3rd gen or 4th gen F body. No other will work. Out of those, about the only ones that came with 3.73s are the L69 cars. There's 1 or 2 other cars that were special ordered with them, but that's about it.

So you need to be on the lookout for a 83-86 HO car in the junkyards. Good luck.

 

If you have any horsepower at all you will ruin a stone stock 7.625 with 3.73's. I destroyed a stock one with 2.73 gears. My engine is a goodwrench 350 with an Edelbrock intake and carb, and headers only, maybe 300 hp. Get a reinforced aluminum cover with main cap studs and good oil at least. Both are avalible for TA Preformance. Preferably good gears like Richmond and a posi carrier like Auburn. If you replace the gears and carrier check all bearing and replace all bearing and races that are not perfect. Always use new axle and pinion seals. If you replace the gears and carrier also get a Ratech pinion spacer instead of using pinion shims. See if you can find some one to let you do all the work and when you get through they do the contact set up on the ring gear and pinion. If everything is done just right a 7.625 will hold about 400 hp at most. Good luck!

 

thats funny, i give my stock rear end hell and i have near 300 hp.

i have a 86 camaro in my drive way thats a parts car, altho im not sure its a berlinetta due to it not having the electronic gauges. it was about the most bqase model camaro ive ever seen with no ground effects, no power anything, no nothing. was carbed from the factory.

wonder if that has 3.73's......what are the chances?? slim to none? or flat out not possible?

ill post the vin # in a minute if theres a way to check from the vin ...

 

Ive got a 91 RS, which we built a 355 that dynoed right at 500 hp and ive got a 4:10 posi, and its holding up, but i havnt got it to hook up 100% yet neither, so we'll see when I get it to hook up, I also have a ford 9" that im gonna put it in soon anyways.