Hello,

My 98 camaro's rear is on its way out (pinion gear I believe),there is a 95 firebird also sitting in my driveway currently...will the rear from the bird fit my camaro without alterations,or should I search for a 98 camaro rear ? I am hoping being they are both 4th gen,they can be interchanged,thanks for your help.

Both are v6 models (the bird 3.4,the maro 3.8)
Both auto trans
I am unaware of the spline count or other info on the cars,both 10 bolt rears

 

they will swap right out

Im not exactly sure about the parking brake cables, but everything else will work.

 

Are you asking about swapping only the carrier and gears (yes - fully interchangeable, but may have a different gear ratio) of swapping in the entire rear axle assembly with brakes (discs or drums? if discs, differences in parking brake actuation).

You have to make sure they have the same sensor system, which depends whether you have only ABS (one sensor on top of dif housing) or ABS + traction control (one sensor on each hub).

 

forgot to mention the brake differences

listen to Injuneer, he knows basically everything about these cars.

 

My camaro is 4 wheel disc,the firechicken is drum,but yes,the whole axle,as far as brakes go,i was planning on buying all new anyways,my basic plan is this,tell me what you think...

remove both axles.
put the camaro half shafts into the bird rear ( I'd have to right ?)
slap in some new bearings (while I have the half shafts out)
install all new brakes in rear,including the e-brake for the one on my maro is shot anyways (the e-brake shoes came off in pieces)

Or would I be better off just pulling the guts from the firebird pumpkin and swaping them into the camaro pumpkin ? whichever is easier and faster,I figure the car is here,better than droping 500 bucks on a new setup id have to install anyways. Figured id change the uv joint since id be right there anyways..I am not experienced with rears,just never had to do one honsetly so please excuse me if I sound kind of stupid,lol.Thank you for the responses and all advice is helpful.Also,how many different gear ratios did they make for 4th gen ? I hope im not downgrading

 

My camaro is 4 wheel disc,the firechicken is drum,but yes,the whole axle,as far as brakes go,i was planning on buying all new anyways,my basic plan is this,tell me what you think...

remove both axles.
put the camaro half shafts into the bird rear ( I'd have to right ?)
slap in some new bearings (while I have the half shafts out)
install all new brakes in rear,including the e-brake for the one on my maro is shot anyways (the e-brake shoes came off in pieces)

Or would I be better off just pulling the guts from the firebird pumpkin and swaping them into the camaro pumpkin ? whichever is easier and faster,I figure the car is here,better than droping 500 bucks on a new setup id have to install anyways. Figured id change the uv joint since id be right there anyways..I am not experienced with rears,just never had to do one honsetly so please excuse me if I sound kind of stupid,lol.Thank you for the responses and all advice is helpful.Also,how many different gear ratios did they make for 4th gen ? I hope im not downgrading

 

If the only problem is the gears and bearings on the carrier and pinion, I would put the gears from the firebird into the camaro's rearend. However, this is not for the inexperienced. The gears must be setup correctly. I would go this route or I would buy a set of gears and have them installed with all new bearings in the camaro rearend.

Another thing you could do is find a disk rear that would swap out directly and you wont even have to fool with swapping any internals. That might be the cheapest route to take depending on what all needs replacing in your current rearend.

I personally do not know how simple it would be to swap the disk brakes onto the drum rear. I cant comment on that.

As far as how many gears for the 4th gen, Im pretty sure they ranged from 2.73 to 3.42 depending on what your car came with. If the rearends are the same that came from the factory under the car, you can look at the RPO codes to see what gear set was installed.

 

Ok,so I researched it further...I checked the codes,and sensor placement ( both a single snesor at the top of the housing). My camaro is a gu4 (3.08),the bird a gu6(3.43) so for starters,i'd be upgrading slightly if I understand correctly.I also noticed,sludge on the bottom of the camaro rear,the driveshaft gaurd,and driveshaft whereas the bird rear was bone dry,I talked to a few people,here is the final plan:

use the firebird rear in order to not have to set backlash changing carriers,etc etc.
use the camaro half shafts in order to put disk brakes back on.
debating a better gear oil,royal purple any good ?
changing the axle bearings,new cover.
gonna remove surface rust from axle and use a black rust resistant paint/coating on it.
and thats about it....I'll let you guys know how it went,should do it in a week or two,thank you for all the help and advice

 

*** I am also aware I may need to tend to a spedometer issue after doing this.

 

I recently did something similar in my 98 Camaro recently and you are on the right track. Use the Camaro axles not just because of changing brakes but also because the 95 has a different size centre hub and shorter wheel studs