Okay... GM's 10 bolt rear ends suck ***... TOday im driving, normal, about 10 mph in a 25 mph zone comin off the light roughly what, 1500ish RPM... shift into second and hear this noise...

Sounds like a kids bike tire thats gotta playing card in the spokes... I think everything is kinda whatever so I proceed into second gear (M6 btw).... ALl of a sudden.... BANG!!!!!

I heard the loudest frickin bang EVER and immediately smelled rear end fluid... Im jsut thinkin "Oh ****... what now!"

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2 hours later at work (local Buick Dealership)
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Sure, pulled the rear cover (which im goin to post pics of later) which had a 5" HOLE in it and found that there are FOUR 5/8" bolts that hold the ring gear to the carrier... well, turns out that THREE of them SHEARED off and broke... the ring gear let loose and it and the 3 bolt heads came blasting thru the diff cover and immediately F'ed up the rear end....

So I ask whoever has a stock POS 10 Bolt rear end... Is it really "like a rock?" No bloody way... Its a POS and GM should use a rear end WORTH A BLOODY **** in their Z28's and SS's....

SOrry im jsut venting... Anyone want to buy a 2001 SS?? Im going to buy a god damn 2004 Neon SRT-4.... it runs 13.7's wiht exhaust and a controller... whereas my car averages 13.4's....

 

sorry to hear the news, but I have to disagree on the 10 bolt being a total waste. In an M6... I will agree. In an auto... they are fine. How in the world do you only have 4 bolts? There are a lot more than just 4 bolts holding the ring gear to the carrier. all are left hand thread. I can see why it broke if there were only 4 bolts holding the gear to the carrier...

FWIW, my 10 bolt has held up to somewhat hard launches for a few years now. low 1.6x 60's and ocasional 1.59's. In 3 years I only broke the carrier 1 time.and it was a pretty simple fix.

 

Brian,i think when he said 4 bolt's,he was referring to the 4 that hold the carrier in place. the main bearing bolts.

 

Yeah.. the main 4 in the middle... 3 of em sheared off... there are like, 15 or somethin (i didnt count but theres alot) holdin it al ltogether... what prolly happened is the heads of the bolts fell down adn got caught on the gear as it spun and the gear smashed them thru the cover.... its a big mess though... big big mess....

 

oh, duh... yeah I guess your right then, lol. Wow, I've never seen the cap bolts break. I've seen broken gears, carriers, axles, housings even, but never a cap bolt. Guess theres a first for everything. Yeah I can imagine that being a mess. Sorry to hear about the bad news, hope you luck is better when its fixed. When you fix it, put in studs instead of bolts. More metal and a stronger fastener by far.

 

I've had good luck with my "stock" 10bolt so far. I did use a solid pinion spacer when I installed the 4:10's which I hear helps alot, I added a support cover with preload studs, and recently added the four main bearing support studs for a little extra security. Now I'm glad I did that last one I've got around 35-40 launches on this setup so far with no problems, knock on wood

 

Yeah guys... I got the car back tonight. The guys at work did a pretty good job... we drove it for about an hour and it all seems fine... we put some big f'in bolts in there... Grade A hardened studs, loc-tite and brazed em in there... they'll never come out again LOL...

The tech that looked at the bolts said that it looks like they were loose for a LONG time, and ive been complaining about when i hit the gas the vehicle kinda surges but it isnt a tranny or engine kinda surge... welp, i know why...now the car just gooooes... it doesnt even think twice about it.... we pulled the cover again and checked it and its all good so off home I went... the whole 25 minute ride was great, didnt get into it till i got on my street and from a dead stop got it rolling and got into it in first and i think i pulled a neck muscle It pulled harder than that car has EVER EVER pulled... BUt yah the tech said that the bolts look like they were not very tight from either the factory or the previous owner or something (i bought it with 4000 miles on it)... We dont know. But after a new cover, new studs, and some labor costs, im back on the road.

I am going to wait a few weeks before I race again... make sure the rear end is nice enough now to handle a few passes... It jsut feeels so much different now that its done right its amazing... even with the 3.42 gears in back... I am still planning on saving up for the 12 bolt 3.73 axle i want of course Kinda gonna need that when I do heads and cam...

Take care guys and if anyone knows anyone sellin a 12 bolt with any size rear end gear let me know... Dont care where its from I just need one and the sooner (wont buy for 2 months yet but) the better

 

Wouldn't 'brazing' alter the 'heat treatment' of those 'hardened' bolts?[welding would for sure...]
Food for thought..