i know i would need axles, but will it fit? the 8.5 is almost as strong as the 8.8 12 bolt

 

i want to do the same THING. i have one out of a 2nd gen and need to know what to do to mod it in.

 

Any one?

 

yes you can, i've got one the width of a 3rd gen with bolt in axles from the factory. put 4:10 gears and moser axles in it.

 

soo all i have to do is buy 2 30 spline axle and a Eaton carrier and slap it in ? no other mods needed?

 

mine was already in a 3rd gen before, they had to braze on a torque arm mount.

it's got a limited slip rear which is awesome for street driving, not sure if the limited slip is stock or not. if i remember right the axles were 28 spline. for my 4th gen i either had to run a 0 offset rim in the rear or use wheel spaces of 1.5".

the guy at DTS said it looked like it came out of an early 80's gm full size car. but if you look in summit they tell you the years and vehicle types the 8.5" corperate rear came in. mine has the oddball gasket.

double check the distance and locations of the spring perches and control arms.

my rearend sat slightly to the rear once installed. i had to use adjustable control arms to center the tires in the wheel well. the problem is this sandwiches the driveshaft in so tight you have to readjust the rearend farther back in order to drop the driveshaft.

also an adjustable torque arm would help if you don't get the angle just right. mine sits at -6 degrees.

there's some work to it but it can be done, and done cheaper than a 12 bolt.

 

any thing else??? this is great info.

 

well, the sway bar doens't fit the best, i'm curious as to the extensions used with the 12bolts and 9" rears, maybe those would help...

other than that, nothing i can think of, feel free to drop me an IM if you have any other questions.

mike

 

I'm no expert here, but isn't using the corporate 8.5" setup out of a 2nd gen f-body the same principle as using an 8.8" ford setup? Just reuse the 8.5" pumpkin and internals and have the axle tubes from a 4th gen car welded up and a torque arm mount fabbed up and reuse the 28 spline stock 4th gen axles (or upgrade if necessary) since the corporate carrier is 28 spline as well? Would this work?? Just an idea....

 

i've heard of people doing that but with the 8.5 you don't have to change axle tubes, better not to because you already have bolt in axles eliminating c clips. but the length was short requiring the spacers and/or custom axles. the thing i'm wondering is, could you order the axles longer and offset the brake hardware accordingly? like i said, i'm using the same carrier as before, the only reason i changed axles is for the bolt pattern, but some wheels could be ordering in both bolt patterns if you wanted.