Rear end question.

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Dinosport

G-Body Guru
Jul 20, 2015
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Im curious if anybody has tried this or just knows. If you have an 8.5 rear from a caprice, blazer or whatever, if it were narrowed to the exact width of a gbody rear would the axles from a gbody rear fit. Or is there any difference?
 

ssn696

Living in the Past
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Jul 19, 2009
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The catch with the 8.5 is the upper control arms. S10 did not have them and the Caprice had a lower/wider/more forward geometry. For years I figured I could make a plate that sandwiches between the cover and housing that adds a pair of ears. Well, there was a post on the Forum earlier this year - a member with a lot more time made it happen for an S10 axle, which can be found with 3.73s and a G80. I think the width turned out to be close enough for bolt-in. Stand by the for the link, I have to get to work...
 

Dinosport

G-Body Guru
Jul 20, 2015
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I was looking at that post with the plate sandwiched between the cover and diff. So I was wondering If it turns out that it works well and I bought that rear, that sandwiched plate, and narrowed the rear down to the same spec as the original gbody rear would the axles fit in the rear or is there some reason that they wont?
 

axisg

Comic Book Super Hero
Jul 17, 2007
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IIRC the S10 rear is a little narrower than the gbody rear hence the feasibility of the swap if you figure out the control arms. So either you get new wheels with a different offset or run spacers. Really not 100% if you need to frame notch or not to clear the rear disk brakes interfering with the frame ( guess I should go back and check out the post ).

The 8.5 rear would have the 28 spline axles whereas the Gbody is 26 spline so no joy there.

The more I look at it and think about it.... when I retire the current rear in my car ( which will be in the near future ) I will be replacing the posi unit with an Eaton ( $500 ) and upgrading to the 28 spline axles ( $260 from Moser ) and a diff cover ( $150 ). So that puts you at about $1k usd in parts for a decent "street tires only" rear with the correct geometry "if" you already have the gearing you want. Or you can remove the same Eaton unit from an Fbody as a good "used" unit, new or used 28 spline axles ( from a GN if you can find them good used ) and have the same thing for maybe $500-$700.
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/eaton-posi-and-28-spline-axles-upgrade.41416/

Otherwise if you have the funds I think the Moser unit is about $3500 - $4000. Big price tag but its a complete bolt in shipped to a dock of your choice and able to handle much more power than I ever "plan" to run thru my monte.
 

motorheadmike

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Nov 18, 2009
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Strange S60 is the best bang for the buck.
 

Dinosport

G-Body Guru
Jul 20, 2015
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Talking to a few performance guys I have on my route it seems like I could have a ford 9" for like 200bucks, narrow it to the right size for a gbody, and have the axles cut and resplined for a couple hundred bucks, probably about another 200 im guessing they would charge me to narrow it, maybe a little more if they put it together for me. Then it depends on how lucky i get with if its already a posi and has the gearing I want. I would put away about 1,000 if I went that route.
Ive looked at a couple of other options and a grand seems to about the price I would end up paying for either route other than buying a new one.
Thats cheaper than what the 8.5's seem to going for, but more leg work. The bolt pattern issue can be taken care of when they cut the axles. In my case I would have to figure out how to mate my Camaro brakes to that rear
 

pontiacgp

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Mar 31, 2006
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Talking to a few performance guys I have on my route it seems like I could have a ford 9" for like 200bucks, narrow it to the right size for a gbody, and have the axles cut and resplined for a couple hundred bucks, probably about another 200 im guessing they would charge me to narrow it, maybe a little more if they put it together for me. Then it depends on how lucky i get with if its already a posi and has the gearing I want. I would put away about 1,000 if I went that route.
Ive looked at a couple of other options and a grand seems to about the price I would end up paying for either route other than buying a new one.
Thats cheaper than what the 8.5's seem to going for, but more leg work. The bolt pattern issue can be taken care of when they cut the axles. In my case I would have to figure out how to mate my Camaro brakes to that rear

regarding the brakes there is two different sizes for the Ford bearings, I don't know if your brake set up would fit either but one may fit or be easier to modify to fit your brakes. The two different sizes use the same axle

bigford.gif
smallford.gif
 

Dinosport

G-Body Guru
Jul 20, 2015
557
146
28
Ct
regarding the brakes there is two different sizes for the Ford bearings, I don't know if your brake set up would fit either but one may fit or be easier to modify to fit your brakes. The two different sizes use the same axle

bigford.gif
smallford.gif

Interesting. I dont know anything about ford rears. In fact I would like to stay with a Gm rear if possible. This write up is pretty interesting.
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/zr2-s10-8-6-rear-in-a-g-body-build.63106/
I havent finished reading through all the thread yet, (I have work to do also). But since my car is for street I would like to find out how much it would cost me to to narrow that rear to the proper length and just get new axles to match. I have alot of shops I deal with that would hook me up cheaper than the average person to narrow it, then would need to buy axles.
 

Sleeperchevy454

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 15, 2017
33
16
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Ford fox body 8.8 is a bolt in installation with purchase of the install kit and only a inch shorter on each side the only thing that would need to modified is cutting off the ford spring perches and welding on your old or new gm spring mounts.i hope this helps
 
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