I'm looking for what options I have for my 51 Chevy. I've been told a 82-88 S-10 4WD and that it is 58" wide. What other options are there? Any other year S-10? Any info would help, I want to have as much info as posible when I start my hunt. Thanks, BSD
Stock is 58.5" wide IIRC. The 4x4 S10 is 59" wide. I have one in my 49 and it fits nice. I used to have a 56' Olds rear that was 58.5". Just get the regular 4x4, not the ZX-whatever. Its another 4" wider than the standard 4x4.
1992 s-10 4X4 10 bolt rear 3:73 ratio was 58.5" drum to drum face..just insalled one in my 53 last winter
50chevy.com has a tech section that talks about different swaps. I think the featured section used a '78 camaro rearend. I planned on using a S-10 4wd rear end but I am concerned about the gearing. Would a carmaro rear end be a better choice?
'78-'87 G-Body GMs had 58.5" rears. Monte Carlo's have a 3.73 gear as well; not sure about the other G-bodies (Regal, Cutlass, Grand Prix).
i dont see any problem with the gearing..what do you mean? Ive got 300 ponys out of a 327 hooked up to a th 350..a 3:73 rear ratio and she just hums on down the e-way..blastin by everything i feel like..and as far as out of the hole not a problem and she gets rubber in second..so whats not to like about that?
just been offered a '57 chev rear end for my 49 sedan. The axle is currently under a '54 chev sedan, so I'm assuming it's about the right width?
55, 56, 57 Chevrolet open rear ends were the RODDERS CHOICE ... for the 49 -54 Chevrolet conversions for many years. But now ... they are not as popular because of the wheel bearings being priced somewhat higher than later model parts and most of the rears have a TON of miles on them. Later model Camaro rear ends are NOW the rodders choice ... with the S-10 rears closing in fast. It all boils down to parts availibility. And PRICE of parts ... most parts houses carry in stock parts for the Camaro rears ... not as many for the 55 - 56 - 57 Chevrolet rears ... after all they are 50 plus years old.
Thanks Von Rigg Fink. I am pretty green when it comes to gearing. I was talking to someone about the issue and he brought up the Camaro gearing being better but did not explain why. But since your running those 3:73s and pretty much answered all of my questions, I am probably going to scoop up a 4wd s-10 rear end instead of a camaro one. Thanks Buddie.
If you're junkyarding, looking for an S-10 rear for your '49-'54 Chevy, look at the option code sticker for gear ratio. GU4=3.08, GU6=3.42, GT4=3.73, AND GT5=4.10.
its workin fine for me..hell maybe the camaro has a 3:73 in it too..the s-10 as the camaro can both have disc installed..are good run of the mill down the road axles. and if you dont put too many ponies into them they should last and give you plenty of smokin' burnouts before they ask for a re-preave..mine had about 80 thousand on it when i got it ive put over 3 thousand on it since install so far i have no complaints.
oh i almost forgot they are slightly narrower than the original axle..so that means ...MORE rubber under the car..im eventually going to see just how much more rubber i can stuff in there with my skirts on..of couse this all depends on how low you go too
i dont see any mention of trans and engine, so i hope you know what ratio you need most late models have over drives thereby the rear will be some where around 4.11 / 3.73. the 70 to 81 camaro/firebird rear fits the car fairly well and has ratios compatable with non overdrive trannys.
Right---the majority of '70-'81 F body rear ends you find lying around will be in the 2.56-3.08 range.
Thanks for all the great replys. I have a 57 235 rebuilt, offy intake & Fenton headers and a 700R4 that will be part of the drivetrain swap. The 3.73 or 4.11 will be a good ratio with the overdrive in the trans.
Sorry to butt into someones else'e thread, but wanted to reply to the answers I got (thanks guy's!0 Von Rigg and Gasser Dad, the axle is currently under a '54 chev sedan, so I guessed it was right, but I haven't had a look at it yet, thanks for confirming what I had assumed was ok. Pasadena, thats the type of answer I was looking for! I like the sound of "bolt right in"!!! Duece, I hear what you saying about the right mod for the era, US stuff isn't that plentiful over here (trawling a scrapyard for S-10 stuff would be a waste of time), and a friend is going to let me have it foe a good price, so I'll have to take the hit on any parts costs, I suppose.
This has been posted many times on the HAMB - Rearends that fit easy and have the correct lug bolt pattern: 55-57 Chevy 70-81 Camaro/Firebird 75-79 Nova and X-body clones 82-up S10 4x4 Relocate the hole on the pad for the pin on the springs, or make a lowering block out of box tube and offset the holes, or just buy the Fatman kit that's the same thing and away you go. If you're running an overdrive behind a 235, you can get a mid-3 range gear and cruise 80 MPH down the highway all day long. 55-57 Pontiac and Olds also fit, but have a 5x5 pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if a '57-'60 Ford 9" can be made to fit, too. Anything with coil springs needs perches added, though.
If you have no problem going to a 4.5" bolt pattern, the 8.8" ford rear from an explorer fits nice also. Most of them are Trac-loks and 3.73 gears in the 4x4's. Later ones have disks. 94 and newer have 31 spline axles.
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