I always wanted to have a positraction rear end... but i'm only sixteen and I don't have the money to buy one.. I was thinking about just locking my differential by either welding it or getting a locker, for a cheap solution to my problem.

is this a good idea? or just a stupid one?

if anyone knows where to get a locker for a 92 camaro rs please let me know, also, if anyone has welded theirs or locked theirs please give me a link to some instructions or a tutorial.

your advice would be much appreciated.

 

I would not weld it. The cheapest way to get a limited slip is to just get a complete rear axle from a junkyard car. Swaping the axles is not hard.

 

Welding for street will ruin the rear end!
Welding the gears is done dy dirt track racers-- the car slides on the dirt, & doesn't put as much pressure on the axles & gears, but sometimes they still bust, parts sometimes come out!!

On the street, if a few turns are made, you'd be lucky!!

 

Welding or using a mini spool on the street will get you or someone else hurt or damage your car. I've seen too many broken rear ends from this kind of stuff. I've seen wheels come off of cars because of it. There are better ways to do this. There are good rear ends in the junk yards that you can get cheap.

 

If you have the 16 in wheels, a nice alternative is a 4th gen rear end swap. Get a rear end from a 1998 - 2002 car - you can usually find a rear with posi 3.42 gears pretty easily. You get the advantage of better gears, the posi, and the nice big rear disc brakes in one package that's easily swapped out in an afternoon. I only paid $200 for mine (but that's been 4 years ago). The only thing is that the 4th gen is slightly wider, and thus the wheel will stick out an extra 1.5 inches on each side.

 

thank you so much... thats perfect. I love the wider stance, it looks awesome. when i get paid i'm definitely going to start hunting for one...

P.S. how do i know if the rear is posi?? will it be in the vin?
i appreciate the advice.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/4thgenrear

That's a write-up on the swap. A few things to mention:

1) Mentions needing 4 jack stands, and the need to carefully get the old rear out without knocking out jack stands. Just jack the rear of the car placing jack under differential a high as you can, and place jackstands under the framerails just in front of where the lower control arms attach to the framerails - this puts the jackstands to the front of the car out of the way, and leaves the rear on the jack - once rear is disconnected, just roll the jack out with rear on it.

2) Mentions needing a rear disc brake proportioning valve - some have done this, some have not. The theory is that since disc brakes need less pressure to actuate, that the rear drum prop valve applies too much pressure and can lock the rear before the front. I don't see that as a large safety issue if in fact it would happen (to me always better for rears to lock 1st, if fronts lock then you lose steering), but potentially ruins the power-braking to spin the wheels. I don't have cash for new rubber every 3 months, and I dont spin wheels anyway. Some have changed to a rear disc valve, others have not - I haven't read about any issues from those that have not changed valves. EBMILLER sells the valves if you decide to get one, I think I got mine from the dealer.

3) Brake lines - on some cars the brake lines match up perfectly, on others the threads on the connectors are mismatched - worst case scenerio you have to get a pipe cutter ($10), cut the line, get the right threaded connector ($5), and flare a new end on the line with a flaring tool ($10). This is where the metal hardline connects to the T-Block on the new rear.

4) Emergency brakes - the emergency brake cables from the 4th gen rears don't match up to the connectors in the tunnel of the 3rd gen car - the cable lengths are different. Easiest method is to get the 4th gen rear with cables intact - I just put the new cables with my old cables, and clamped the two together with stainless steel cable clamps. Mine has been like this 4+ years with no issues. EBMILLER also sells cables that will work correctly if interested.

As the above article mentions, the Z28 cars all had posi rears. The ONLY real way of identifying the posi and/or gear ratio is to take the diff cover off and look. If a seller won't let you pull the cover, then walk away. The gear ratios are stamped on the gears, just divide one number into the other and you have the ratio (or you can count the teeth on each). 3.42 is a good gear, nice for the street, but better mileage than a 3.73.

Otherwise, it's a plug and play swap. Took me an afternoon in the driveway by myself. Good luck with the search! In my mind, a fair price is about $250 - but numbers greatly vary on location.