3.42, 3.73, or deeper.

If I need to put a 98+ unit in it, I'm ok with that. I know there are minor differences.

My 97 has an aftermarket posi carrier with 4.10 gears, and it's howling to high heaven. Pulled the cover this morning and it has 2 teeth chunked off the ring and 1 off the pinion.

So I need it fixed super cheap. *cue sad violin* Nowadays with 2 young kids, if I keep the car on the road I'm lucky. No 12-bolt rear in my near future!

I'm assuming I can find a complete rear end cheaper than I can regear my existing unit by the time I add new bearings and seals and all the fine details.

So I'll be scouring the local yards, if you know of one you recommend please let me know. Hoping I can find a local gearhead with one laying around cheap though.

 

Too bad ur locations says NC instead of ND. gl finding what you need.

 

3 channel ABS or 4 channel ABS + TC ?

 

Uhhhhh.... yeah I forgot I need to find out!

No Traction Control.

I can't remember how to tell if I have 3 channel or 4 channel ABS, or what the functional difference is at all. I know I read about it here once when I was considering putting an LS rear in the car for various reasons. So I can search for that info, but also I really can't read very well at all, and I have the attention span of a gnat, so...

Headed to the local Pick-A-Part today for the first time since it opened. It creeps me out. It's all neat, orderly, environmentally friendly, and as far as I can tell, no giant end loader or deadly equipment ransacking the place driven by some dude that's still hung over from last night. It's just unnatural to feel like you're at Wal-Mart when you're looking for donor parts...

 

a 4 channel rear can't be used to replace a 3 channel rearend,unless you don't care about ABS and ABS dashlight on all the time.
a 3 channel rearend can be used in a 4 channel car by swapping out the axles and backing plates from the orig. 4 channel rear and using them into/on the replacement 3 channel rear.
unfortunately building a 3 channel rear out of a 4 channel rear is not that simple and not worth the effort.

 

Even though I don't understand all that (but would like to know actually what the difference is between the 3 and 4 channel systems and how they take input and work differently) what I need to know more quickly is:

1) My car is a '97 with ABS and no TC. My rear diff has one sensor on top of the pumpkin, which essentially peers through a hole in the case at the spinning differential. There are no sensors on each wheel. Is this a 3 channel, I'm assuming?

2) How do I tell a 4 channel rear from a 3 channel rear, looking at them on the ground out of the car?

I may also go a completely different route, and half-**** the whole deal by putting some used S10 gears on my otherwise good posi unit. I know this is not likely to last long, but putting it together for $50 tomorrow means I get to drive it all summer, whereas if I put it together in a few months when I can come up with $500 means I don't get to drive it all summer.

 

yes,yours is a 3 channel because it has a sensor on top of the rearend reading the reluctor ring pressed/mounted on the carrier next to the ring gear.
a 4 channel rearend does not have that top mounted sensor,but has a sensor mounted in the backing plate of EACH rear wheel.

 

Mine doesn't have that reluctor ring on the carrier. I know exactly what you're talking about, I've seen it. Mine doesn't have it. Mine has the sensor mounted in that position, where it should be, but no reluctor ring. Which makes me wonder if the aftermarket carrier couldn't accommodate it, but also why my ABS Inop light isn't on???

So I'm thinking 3-channel essentially means 'input from 2 front wheels and 1 rear diff', whereas 4-channel means 'input from all 4 individual wheels'?