Well I was originally going to get a 2001 trans am rear end with 3.42 gears. But my friend got nailed with a big ticket, so he is keeping it.

What rear end should I get for my car? Nothing too expensive please. Right now I have the stock 2.73 on.

I want to convert over to disc brakes also [got drums in the back right now]

 

Actually strange thing is, he just wrecked his car and called me....
Hes going to keep his junk car at my house and I can pretty much pick and pull from it, just gotta pay him a little bit for the stuff I take.

 

There's no strength difference between your 92 differential and his 2001 differential. The fourth gen will also be about 2" wider on each side.

You can do a simple gear/carrier (posi) swap for a better gear ratio. I don't know how easy the brake swap is but it probably isn't hard.

 

Just swap the guts of the rear end. You don't want your tires sticking out *******-style and you also probably don't want to buy new rims so they won't.

[edit]Is red-neck a bad word on this board?[/edit]

 

get a detroit true trac theyre like 300 bucks, and good gears (richmond etc.) Dont go cheap like i did (gov-loc, whiney summit gears)...

change all the bearings nd everything while ur in there too. nd if u feel like throwin a lil more worthwhile dough at it get some good aftermarket axles (moser). also if uve got the skill with a stick welder grab some nickel rod and weld the axle tubes to the punkin nd ull have a really stout setup.



gcgarner- didnt know red-neck was a bad word either? I call myself 1 all the time lol. guess jeff foxworthy's shows should be rated R then haha.

 

Thanks for the replies. But I thought the new trans am's had a good posi and gears? I think their like zextel posi?

But I mean if I can get the whole rear end with the brakes and all the lines for 300$ I see no reason why not.

but you guys think I should just get the rear and take the posi/differential out and swap it into my rear end? Along with the brakes?

I also heard it doesent look bad with the extra couple of inches.

Oh yeh and my rear end is pretty rusty too.

 

I am thinking about putting 4:10's in my Camaro so I have the off the line thing goin' on.


AND ******* IS NEVER A BAD WORD!!!!!!!

 

I would just swap the rear gears and posi unit from the new rear end to yours. You really dont need a high dollar one for the amount of power you are putting down. There is a thread on here showing how to mount disk brakes from a 4th gen to a 3rd gen rear end. It seems pretty easy. I would attempt that.

and while you are doing that, just mount up a wire brush on a grinder and clean the rear up some and paint it with some rustoleum paint. You could weld the center section if you would like, but unless you plan on upping the power alot, I wouldnt worry about it. But then again, if you can weld, I would go ahead and do it.

So to make a long story short, IMO, I would swap the gears, put in new bearings and seals, and convert your rear to the 4th gen disks. Weld up the axle tubes, paint it, and re install it.

 

IM not an expert on rear ends but my buddy at work has a 97 Trans am, and i think he was telling me pretty much the only difference between 3rd and 4th gen rear ends with posi was that third gens have a clutch type posi' and 4th gens have a cone type posi. Dont quote me on that though you might want to do some digging as i dont really know what that means myself. Hopefully it gives you a good starting point for more research. I however have a 9 bolt with 3.45" gears in it and i like it alot. If you can find one of them than id say get that, The 9 bolt is strong and it doesnt have a clutch type posi like the 10 bolts. Also rust on a rear end doesnt matter much. I doubt its going to rust through in your lifetime, i took my sway bar off and tried grinding some rust off and its a pain in the ***, the metal is simply too strong to rust through any time soon.

oh and my 9 bolt only cost me about 150 at a JY, i got a steal on it, and the 9 bolt only came with 3.45 and 3.27 gears.

 

arent the 9 bolts those australian made rear ends where a ring and pinion set are like 800 bucks? Anyway if you do find one and it is the australian unit yes its really strong but DONT sell ur 10 bolt. put it in the corner of the garage or barn and save it so if ur 9bolt goes then youve got something to go back in instead of buying those god aweful expensive parts.

as for the 4th gen guts in your stocker its a good idea but youve got to think if you're having to pay someone to put them in it might be worth it to just get the good stuff that would last the first time instead of having to pay someone to do it again along with new parts again. If theres not that much power going through it and since youve got the auto you should be fine. If you go manual and start dumpin the clutch expect some problems.

all in all the 4th gen parts are probably the bang for the buck so long as you dont plan on adding lots of power.

 

[quote=ccook-92-305;3777970]arent the 9 bolts those australian made rear ends where a ring and pinion set are like 800 bucks? Anyway if you do find one and it is the australian unit yes its really strong but DONT sell ur 10 bolt. put it in the corner of the garage or barn and save it so if ur 9bolt goes then youve got something to go back in instead of buying those god aweful expensive parts.quote]

Yep they were made in australia, but 800 bucks is kinda steep, a JY doesnt know the difference between a 10 and 9 bolt lol. Maybe 800 brand new though, Parts are few and far between but they can be had. As far as i know 9 bolts came in only 1987 F-bodies. I got mine off of a Formula 350. And from what i have found out, the 9 bolt internals are pretty much the same as the 4th gen ones and they last forever.

 

9-bolts came in everything from 85-89, as a performance option IIRC.

Also, just swap the whole thing. If you think the extra space will look good, do it. I also think fourth gen front wheels have the same offset as our fronts, and running a fourth rear will make it so you can get sets of wheels for them.

That, and the drum to disc conversion isn't hard, but it sure as hell isn't easy. Ebmiller88 on the brake board makes a kit, but I see no reason not to just use the fourth gen rear. Lots of people do it. And it doesn't make the tires stick out 2" on each side. It's a 2" increase in width. Which probably won't even make your thirdgen wheels stick out of the wheel well.

And you're right. 98+ differentials had a Zexel torsen posi (when they came with an LS1 car), which is about the best you can shove into a 7.625" diff. Also, swap in his Aluminum driveshaft. You'll probably come into some minor difficulties with the parking brake, I think you need to use all of the clips off of the fourth gen.

The 9 bolt and fourth gen diffs have nothing in common. The 9 bolt was imported by GM from Australia, and as a result, parts are nil. The design was revived with the new GTO, but that's just getting off topic.

All-in-all, if you just swap, the only downside is the width going up 2", which you might even like. It's not r!cer, or r3dneck, or anything else. It's not like you're gonna be running 15x10 Daytons with a 0" backspace. It'll also be easier than piecemeal. And you'll get better brakes, a better posi unit, and a newer part in general.

Edit:
9 Bolt Info: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...now-about.html

 

Didnt know that it came as an option from 85-89 thanks for that lol, and i probably shouldnt have said they were the same, i was just refering to the fact that they last forever, both of em unless your throwing 500 HP through it. My vote is for the swap, just bolt that rear end right up, it will save you so much time and effort and as for a noticable diference in your car, besides posi, you can barely tell the difference. Plus if its got the Torsen posi you cant go wrong.

 

9 Bolts are pretty tough. Just the cost of fixing one is measured in thousands. >.> Importing parts isn't cheap. Not in the least. I picked up a '90 10 bolt with the PBR discs and a 3.42 (I think) gear for $100. It's the best you can get in the thirdgen width. Occasionally you can find one of SLP's Zexel posi's on ebay. Go for a pretty penny, but they're the best posi you can get for a 10 bolt.

 

i took a quick look at randys ring an pinion for the pinion and ring for the 9 bolt (aka 7.75)

http://www.ringpinion.com/ProductDet...px?ProdID=1203

its been a while since i saw that and there are a few cheaper ones now but that is the one i remember. nevertheless its all more expensive than anything else.

as for the axle swap i agree with TheScaryOne in that if you like the reverse wheel look then just bolt that 4th gen rear in and be done with it. its gonna be by far the most simple route. something else i thought of and someone is gonna have 2 verify this for me but i thought i read you had to change the master cylinder or something else when converting to disks...?

 

It depends. I know with the thirdgens, the PBR's used a drum master, while the steel discs used a separate master. Not too sure about the 4th gens, but since the master is a direct swap, might as well throw that in there too.

 

Lots and lots of info guys!
Thanks a ton!

Im not sure what ill do, but ill definitely get his driveshaft also. Ill prolly take the master cylinder from the LS1 car

I might buy the whole car, engine and trans are fine, just the front driver side is smashed in and the windshield is cracked, air bags deployed also.

But if i can get it for maybe 5 or 6k I will prolly buy it. Only like 55k miles on it. And he had a lot of new stuff added to his transmission [he has a 6 speed T56] So I may just buy it and slowly fix it up. Heck just the engine and transmission are worth prolly 3k.

 

A lot more than that. A low mileage LS1 out of an F-body is a prize. If you can get the car, you have the engine, tranny, wiring harness, everything. I'd swap the whole powertrain if you can get it cheap enough.

 

Yeh, he doesent seem to want to sell the whole car for 5k.
Ima try to get the engine, tranny, brakes, driveshaft, and rear end for maybe 4k or 4500 if I can.

Then the only problem is how are they doing to tow it with no rear end? lol

 

not to kinda deflate your idea any but if you're planning on puttin an LS1/T56 swap in and if you dont want to do the wiring or modify your engine/trans kmember just know its gonna tack on another $1,500-$2,000 with buying an aftermarket wiring harness conversion, kmembers, motor mounts etc. just something 2 think about. hawks has all the conversion parts to do the job.

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/

 

If I do the conversion, I would keep the car I have and do all the upgrades I planned on doing to it.
And then just buy an 88-90 Trans Am GTA [love the look] and swap the LS1/T56 into that. So I could get the best parts for it because id be in no rush to finish it since I have my current Firebird.

 

Any one have any idea how to move the car if I take the rear end off?

 

Bolt your thirdgen rear into it and use some spacers to stick the wheels out more? It's an idea.

 

Guess we'll try that. thanks man.

 

On the Camaro's I think the 4th gen wheels need spacers for the fronts - IIRC the ones I had hit on the suspension up front, and I liked my 3rd gen wheels better anyway, so I stuck with the rears being out a bit.

It doesn't look bad in my opinion, I kinda like it. And it's really nice having the 3.42 gears and the LS1 rear disc brakes without gutting and paying someone to install the gears, and having to do welding to make the LS1 brakes work on the 3rd gen axle. It only took me about 3 hours to complete the entire rear end swap, including rigging the ebrake cables.

And if '*******' is banned, then most of the board members will be have to be exiled, myself included!

 

Okay im going to get-
rear end [3.42 gears]
all the disc brakes [drilled and slotted rotors]
driveshaft
T56 transmission with upgraded shifter, clutch and a couple other things I cant remember done to it
And some hotchkis lower control arms

Forrrr 2700$


Im going to get all the T56 swap from hawks thirdgen, But is there anything else I need other then the wires and torque arm/transmission mount? Where should I get the clutch pedal from? Should I just take the clutch pedal from the 2001 trans am?
And does the transmission just mount up to my engine?