Odd Couple: 98-02 Camaro 7.625 Diff into 78-81 G-body Axle

[ssn696]

The differential gasket on the Camaro axle is identical to the one on my 7.5" Malibu axle. The Camaro axle has a Torsen and 3.73 gears, teasing me into thinking I can make something interesting out of the Malibu axle.

Can I use the same R&P install kit as a 7.5 axle? Are the carrier and pinion bearings the same? I do know that the Torsen uses 28-spline axles.

 

[truracer20]

As far as I remember all of the 7.5 used the same bearings.

 

[ssn696]

98 Camaro axle uses a 7.625" ring and pinion. Richmond lists kits with different part numbers for 77-81 7.5" and 82-88 7.5" for their install kits. Switch to metric? 26-spline to ?-spline?

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

You can use the Torsen units out of 98-02 f-bodies and 98-up blazers. You will need to use GN 8.5" axles because of the higher spline count. I was given this information courtesy of the Turbo Buick forum. I've been there for over 10 years and trust them.

I plan on getting a Torsen since I wanted to get a Detroit True-Track but the Torsen is cheaper since you can get them used. No friction modifiers need to be added to the gear oil since it doesn't use frictions like a posi.

 

[ssn696]

Thanks for having an answer. It so happens I have a GN axle and was planning to put a 30-spline Auburn posi I found on Craigslist, so the 28-spline axleshafts wil be leftovers. One of only four hits on Google suggested that the choice between Richmond install kits appear to depend upon the housing you are using. Is there any other data you can offer?

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

You should be able to use a g-body install kit. All you're doing is changing the carrier, maybe the gears. Changing the carrier wouldn't change the install kit you need. That's about it, not much to it really.

 

[DRIVEN]

Early 7.5 uses a smaller pinion bearing than the '81-up. Otherwise you should have no problems with your combination.

 

[ssn696]

So, the early housing is set up for the small bearing? But the both the early and late pinions use the same diameter shaft?

 

[1bad79]

so how much torque could this combo hold, will it withstand a mild big block? can the axles from the f body/blazer be used or are they a different length?

 

[ssn696]

The blazer axle shafts will likely be too long for the G-body axle. The long Camaro axle shafts may interchange with the long Blazer shafts.

The F-body Forum consensus is that a mild 350 will be fine, but inconsistent lockup during burnouts may break the Torsen. I'm pursuing this because it upgrades a 2.41 one-leg Malibu axle for the price of some new bearings and a crush sleeve...