I've been looking for a new rear end for my 84 camaro. I currently have a 10 bolt with drum brakes, open differential, and 3.73 gears. I'm looking for something with disc brakes, a limited slip, and the same 3.73 gears.

I went to the junkyard today and found a 84 trans am. It had rear disc brakes and the rear end looked like it was in good condition. Upon taking off the cover I found that it had 3.73 gears and a limited slip (gov loc I beleive). The ring and pinion gear looked like they were in good condition but the limited slip looked pretty worn.

They were asking about $170 for it. I'm not sure if I should take this one or keep looking for a better one. Any advice would help.

 

Third gens are getting harder and harder to find in the junkyard. Take what you can get.

20 years ago, I was able to find a lot of second gens in the junkyard. Unbolting the front clips was easy for grafting onto 50's cars. If you found one now, there would be nothing salvageable left of it.

10 years from now you probably will have an even harder time finding a third gen which means any kind of improvements you want to make will have to be with aftermarket parts. The ones you find now get thoroughly stripped of anything usable. If you wait, you'll miss out.

The gov-loc is not a great choice but it's still better than an open diff. The early disk brakes are not the greatest but they're still better than drum brakes. Everything can be upgraded but you still need a starting point.

The alternative is spending over $2500 for a complete aftermarket bolt in diff. It would be the better option but many people can't afford such a high investment in one shot.

 

yea man its really hard to find 3rd gen trans ams now.... four five years ago i used to see them at the junkyard but now i hardly see any.... although i did score a mint flame red front bumper off a 89 trans am... exact color as mine. i was surprised as hell that nobody had picked it apart yet... i have been looking for a front bumper for 2 years now and now i got one same color basically brand new original paint for 50 bux....GET THEM WHILE YOU CAN....

 

Seems kinda high price for being from a junkyard. Here they go for about 100 bucks. Id strip it just to have it. You could resell it on clist for 100 more than what you paid for it. Im sure someone needs it if u decided to go another route. JY owners around here never keep anything to long in there yards because they make more money crushing them than letting them sit and take up room. Real said thing is that we crush em, put em on a barge and send all our american iron to china. there using it faster than we can send it.

 

I'd suggest you grab that one, since it's exactly what you wanted, and the price isn't too crazy. The Gov-lock won't take abuse, but it will get you up slippery driveways in the winter.

 

Thanks for all the replies

In California were I live, (near LA) there are at least 3-4 new third gen camaros/firebirds every week. So I might be able to find another one in better condition. The only problem with this one is I'm not sure if the limited slip works. While the car was lifted I spun one wheel and the other moved in the opposite direction and same thing when I spun the other wheel. If I did my research right this means that it is not working properly? So if it is bad I'm wondering how hard it would be to replace it with a better one. Or if its even worth all the trouble.

I would hate to pass this one up and not be able to find anymore or find one in worse condition. I would appreciate any input.

 

With a good posi, the tires will rotate in the same direction. With an open diff, one will turn backwards while the other turns forwards. A gov-loc diff works just like an open diff until you get enough wheel spin to lock the diff. The locks are very weak. That's why it's good for snow but not good for racing.

The only way to tell how bad a posi is worn other than taking it apart for inspection is to use a torque wrench to see how much force is required to overcome the spring pressure on the clutches. With one wheel on the ground, it's hard to turn the other but with enough torque, it will still turn.

 

But Gov-Locks are different. You cannot test them without driving them, and because they're on-demand only, they last about forever. Auburns and Eatons are only good for 150,000 miles, but not Gov-Locks. Gov-Locks aren't for drag-racing with a manual trans, but they're ideal for street use with an automatic.

 

My question now is how hard is it to put in a new limited slip? I've done some research but haven't been able to find out too much.

 

Well today I went to the junkyard again to take another look at that rear end. While I was there I saw another Camaro there and I popped off the differential cover and found another posi. It looked different from the gov lock and I'm not sure which one it is. Can anyone tell me what this is?

Here are some pictures.

 

A gov-loc isn't really a posi. It will lock the wheels if one starts to slip but in normal driving, it's just like having an open diff.

A posi uses clutches or cones to provide friction which locks the axles together. When driving around, power is always going to both wheels. In a corner, the outside wheel turns faster than the inside and the extra force will overcome the friction of the posi to allow differential action in the turn.

In your pictures, that's an Eaton posi. It's a better choice than a gov-loc. Pull the posi and gears out and swap them into the other diff before leaving the junkyard. If the other diff has the gear ratio you want, swap the ring gear around onto the eaton posi and pop it back in. Takes a bit of work but cheaper than buying 2 diffs to get what you want. You're going to want to set everything up anyway.

 

Thanks Alky, what you said is exactly what I'm planning on doing. Hopefully I can get around to doing it tomorrow or the day after. It seems like a long job but I think it's worth it. Thanks again for everyones help.

 

Well I finally got around to pulling it out today, here are some pics.

 

lol cool progress but not to hijack the thread just mearly learning but the new posi unit u got is a eaton posi? like this ? Image04262012130024.jpg?t=1335499118
got a 75 dollor 4th gen axle and was wondering which posi unit was this. It looks like urs was just compairing thxs

 

Haha that looks like the same as mine. I'm no expert though so don't take my word on it.

 

This is the inside of my new Eaton Posi. to use as a comparison. There seems to be a small difference in the two.I guess it could be because yours is a earlier model.
And as far as the comment made earlier about a Eaton Posi. "only" lasting 150,000 miles. I would say that's not bad considering my car is 23 years old and has 89,000 miles on it. That means mine should last me until I'm at 239,000 miles or more.

 

I was looking over my limited slip carrier when I noticed a logo on it. I did some research and found out that the logo is from Auburn so that must mean its an Auburn posi. Here is the logo.

 

Well that explains the difference in units .

 

Just went to junk yard today and found 9 bolt from a 89 camaro idk what type of diff it had think it was a cone type but one of the rear wheel was stuck due too the someone trying to take wheel lock but was bout to leave and found a forth gen with only one axle in diff cover off to my surprise I found this posi so pop off the c clip and diff came right out lol frome what I search it should drop in ? Is that correct

http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/...achary_james3/