Rear axle recommendations

[Lifted07Duramax]

Its a 55 gmc truck I THINK it has a rear axle from a mid 80s camaro but I could be wrong. Its a 5 lug and the gears have to be a 2.73 or close because its piss slow.
I need an axle thats about 2-3" wider, this axle has the tires sucked in too much and theres a whine in the rear.

What vehicles can I look for in a wrecking yard that are 5 lug and possibly the width I need but with atleast a 3.27 or lower gear ratio

[mr48chev]

Well you need to first consider what bolt pattern you want.

GM like you probably have now is 5 on 4-3/4.
Big GM would usually be five on 5
Ford would be five on 4-1/2
If the wheels are in that far now you might have an S-10 rear axle under it which is on the narrow side.

A Ford 9 inch is probably the simple one to change gears in that is somewhat easily found. they are also rugged. There is somewhat of a listing here http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...InchAxles.html

A mid/late 60's to mid 70's Chev big car rear axle would fit if you cut all the scabs off it but finding one with the right gears might be hard to do.

[Lifted07Duramax]

Well its got to be a rear axle that will fit the wheels that are already on it.
So I guess that limits my options to the 4 3/4? Thats the spacing between the bolts or no?

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Lifted07Duramax

Well its got to be a rear axle that will fit the wheels that are already on it.
So I guess that limits my options to the 4 3/4? Thats the spacing between the bolts or no?

If you draw a circle at the centers of the studs and measure across that is the bolt circle. but with 5 studs the circle hangs out in space between two studs.aaaaaaaaaif there are 6 or 8 it is easy just measure across two oppisite studs.

[_Ogre]

a 2.73 gear would be a highway gear and probably the lowest ratio you could get
3.27 gear would be a slower rearend but still a good highway gear (and is what i have in truk)
stock would have been a 4.10, my 59 1 ton had a 5.12 max speed was 50 mph
lots of rear end swap info on the chevytrucks.org site

i have an 86 camaro/firebird/trans am rear end in truk, same width as stock rear end.
it fits well, has disc brakes and the 3.27 gear your looking for.
the 3.27 was only available in the 86/87 trans am and according to the 3rdgen site only 74 were made in 86

[jimig1]

Originally Posted by Lifted07Duramax

Well its got to be a rear axle that will fit the wheels that are already on it.
So I guess that limits my options to the 4 3/4? Thats the spacing between the bolts or no?

I have a ford 9" out of a 70's full sized bronco the bolt pattern was 5 x 5.5 i ad them redrilled to 5 x 4 3/4 and turned diameter down fix the disc brakes. here are the pics of the axles before after and with the discs installed

[Lifted07Duramax]

Yea thats too much work I need a simple plug n play at this point.

so the camaro/firebird idea is good but with so little of them it may be hard to find one.

Ill check out that site I was linked by Ogre

[_Ogre]

lots of 3rd gen 2.73, 3.23, 3.42 and 3.73 rears out there, don't look for something you won't find.
nothing is plug and play, i cut off the coil spring mounts and welded on leaf spring pads.
if you want plug and play, stay with what you have.

[OKGMC4]

If you do indeed have a third gen F body rear you could swap in a fourth gen rear and get a solid 4" wider, plus retain the bolt pattern you need. They made them in both disc and drum configurations and many of the Z28 and TA cars had posi units in them. Stickshift cars usually have the better gear ratios. V6 cars had better ratios but with the peg leg diff.

[Lifted07Duramax]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

lots of 3rd gen 2.73, 3.23, 3.42 and 3.73 rears out there, don't look for something you won't find.
nothing is plug and play, i cut off the coil spring mounts and welded on leaf spring pads.
if you want plug and play, stay with what you have.

Oh I dont have a problem with cutting mounts off and having someone weld leaf spring pads on. Thats nothing. I just mean have to pull a 6lug rod and replace with a 5lug or drill holes to get the 4 3/4" pattern

So camaro firebirds and what about vettes?

Also Im pretty sure this rear came out of a camaro already and like I said its about 1-1 1/2" too short on each side. I guess I could always get wheels with alil more back spacing, but Id also like a better gear ratio anyways

[Amorget]

The Corvettes use an Independent Rear Suspension, not bolt in by a long stretch.

If it's 1-1.5" inch short on each side, buy a 4th gen rear end.

[Midgets50]

you could always go the route of finding the width of the axle you want and the right gearing then just buy a spacer that would give you the proper bolt spacing.

[Highsider]