Questions on Rear End Swap

[Chris2088]

I have a 1997 Camaro 3.8 5 speed with an opp diff and rear drum brakes. I went to my local salvage yard and they gave me a price of 400 bucks for a 1996 z28 rear end. Now I've read this is a direct bolt on? I mean..can I just take it to a shop and be like here throw this on? And is there a certain year/type I'm looking for? I've heard all this talk about carriers and abs sensors and I dont know what to think.

And if I do find get one installed. Am I looking at a little bit better acceleration? Did you guys really notice the change of going from open to lsd?

[crushedout]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

I've been in the process of doing mine for about 2 months but I'm swapping suspension also and saving to buy parts. It could be done in a weekend by you and a buddy. It's a direct bolt on except for the rear brakes. You will be going to rear disc. You will need to check if rear end your getting still has brake lines on it. Basically your brake line comes down drivers side and there is a rubber hose in drivers side wheel well that goes to rearaxle where it "T"'s off. From the T is a metal line to each rear wheel. These metal lines are diffrent than drum lines as they are shorter and then go into a rubber line that then goes into rear caliper.

So in bare minimum parts you will need to do this swap are;

shortened metal lines for brake lines. You could cut old ones and re-flare but I don't recommend

rubber brake hose from metal line to caliper

rear calipers

caliper bolts

new rear e-brake cables designed for calipers and not drums

rotors

brake pads

backing plates, strongly recommend finding a rear end with these still attached. If you get one from junkyard it will probably have it on there. Backing plates are where the calipers mount to.

brake fluid, flush old out while your doing it

diffrential fluid and LSD additive for rearend, put fresh in because who knows when the last time it was changed.



Do a search as there is alot of discussion of this topic in general.

[bluovlh8er]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

im not being a smart *** but why would you go through all the trouble?

my 3.4 had drums and guess what happened 3 years later? they still worked.

who cares. i dunno.:(

[crushedout]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

im not being a smart *** but why would you go through all the trouble?

my 3.4 had drums and guess what happened 3 years later? they still worked.

who cares. i dunno.:(

Thats the same attitude as why upgrade a 3.4? Just go buy a V8

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

I've been in the process of doing mine for about 2 months

You don't finish that thing soon, they are going to make you president of Team Jackstands. :poke:

Do a search as there is alot of discussion of this topic in general.

I just finished my swap. I picked up all the parts just by reading lots of posts on here.

Great instructions here http://www2.turbov6camaro.com:81/rear.htm
(I noticed the site is down right now. hopefully it will come back up.)

there is more info on brakes here: http://loochy88.cz28.com/DrumToDiskSwap.htm

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

im not being a smart *** but why would you go through all the trouble?

my 3.4 had drums and guess what happened 3 years later? they still worked.

My drums worked fine for 12 years. Whats your point? The z28 axle comes with discs, just need to make sure the number of channels line up and you get discs "free" in the swap.

[crushedout]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

You don't finish that thing soon, they are going to make you president of Team Jackstands. :poke:

Depending on weather I'm hoping to have it finished Saturday afternoon. I'm tired of waiting for deals on LCA's and PHB so I'm just gonna use stock ones while monitoring boards for a good deal on used ones. I just got my rear calipers Monday night and they were painted with 3 coats of red on Tuesday and 2 coats of clear last night. And I have a buddy coming by Saturday afternoon to take a look at the Mustang I bought cause he's in the market for a vert GT about 5 years old that is stock. I hope he gets it cause I only got that car cause the bird was down. I HATE the interior of it, it just pisses me off more and more everyday.

[Chris2088]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

Okay, so if I find a rear end that has the calipers and brakes on it...then its just a fairly easy bolt on? Also, is there a certain year I need for it? And how do I know what gear ration is in it?

1997 camaro 3.8 5 speed

[crushedout]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

Okay, so if I find a rear end that has the calipers and brakes on it...then its just a fairly easy bolt on? Also, is there a certain year I need for it? And how do I know what gear ration is in it?

1997 camaro 3.8 5 speed

You'll want to find a rear end from a 93-97 V8 car. You can find the gear ratio by looking in glove box of said car and looking for the code that is GUx. The x will be a number. Once you get that you can look up the gear ration on here. Do a search and you'll be able to find the gear codes. Gear codes are in one of the stickys, don't remember which one off top of my head.


It's a fairly easy bolt on but remember you'll be removing bolts that more than likely have not been touched in 10 years and will be a "little" stuck

[DeuceX]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

The main draw to upgrading to a z28 axle is, for me, the LSD. I like the gear ratio in my car now, because I can cruise at 90 MPH and be running around 3k RPMS. I do a lot of distance driving, so top end is a priority for me, as opposed to being pure accel. Anyone have info on the MPH of the z28 axles? (Top speed per gear, ie 30 for 1st, 55 for 2nd, 85 for 3rd, etc. Those are random numbers, btw...)

[cam98aro]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

My drums worked fine for 12 years. Whats your point? The z28 axle comes with discs, just need to make sure the number of channels line up and you get discs "free" in the swap.

there is nothing wrong with drum brakes.. and another thing, is the rear brakes hardly do anything anyways.. which is why you only need to change them 1/4 as much as you would front

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

there is nothing wrong with drum brakes.. and another thing, is the rear brakes hardly do anything anyways.. which is why you only need to change them 1/4 as much as you would front

They are heavier and uglier. Disc swap is a really an appearance mod.

Please don't insult my intelligence by explaining brake bias. :spank:

[Chris2088]

Re: Questions on Rear End Swap

Okay, so do you guys really think its better to just buy the rear axle and let a shop do it? Price??

Or just get some 3.73s and have them thrown in there?