I'm going to look at 2 9 bolt rears. Without opening it up and counting the teeth, how can i tell the gear ratios that they are? Is there a tag or code stamped on an axle tube, and if so which codes are for which ratio? Thanks

The one is a 3.27 rear from a 1 owner GTA with 68,000 miles on it so I think i can trust that guy, but I just found another that said it's from an 88 with a 3.23 ratio (not avail in the 9 bolt that yr, could have meant 3.27) with 78,000 miles, I just want to be sure that what i'm looking at is what I want and don't end up with a 2.73 rear. They are both out of the car

 

look for the ratio stamped on the gears, sort of the same as counting teeth, but not quite

 

why not pull the cover off? its easier then tryin to figure out how many rotations ur pinion is going.

 

If the axles are in it, a simple (but not very accurate!) way to do it would be to spin one of the axles one revolution and count how many times the pinion yoke turns.

 

Well it's not my rear yet, i'm going to look at them, that's why i wouldn't want to pull the cover off, especially if i don't end up buying it from that person

 

if their forsale the owner shouldnt have a problem with pulling the cover off for you, unless theres somethin to hide.

 

The "turning the wheel and counting the shaft turns" thing did not work for me, I don't know why. Pulled the cover and counted the teeth - it was real simple.

 

u dont even need to count on the BW rears, the ratio is stamped on the ring gear and the pinion and ring teeth count is also stamped there to.

 

I purchased a rear-end from IROCK88 awhile back. Before I handed over the money we pull the axles out so I could make sure it was a 28 spline axle rear end. I kinda felt bad but he didn't mind. I knew for a fact it was a 28 spline after that and I handed over the money.