3 rears in 2 years

[slowride454]

Well my brother called me and told me he knocked 3 teeth off the ring gear in the diff in his '98 Z28 convertible. It has a bone stock LS1 and 6 speed. This comes after a complete rebuild late last summer at a reputable shop and another complete rebuild about 9 months before that. I've read these rears are weak, but this is getting rediculous.

What are some options to make the damn thing last? He is a normal 24 year old guy, but the tires are skinny Blizzaks and blew the gear set on a pretty standard 2-3 shift. He had already stuck over $1200 in the damn POS.

HELP!!!

[oneBADDz]

Stop pumping money into the crap and get a moser 12-bolt, it'll be alot cheaper in the long run than 17 10-bolts are gonna be

[slowride454]

We are thinking about going that route. I need to do more research on all of the other parts needed like driveshaft, etc... He only plans on driving it for another year or two until the new Camaro comes out so we were hoping to not stick a ton of cash into it just to loose it all when selling/trading. It also has a lot of miles on it. I think he told me it is getting close to 150,000

[smokin_ls1]

I got a stock 10 bolt for sale out of my car if you are interested. It has 3.42 gears and is out of a 01 TA. Let me know.

[keliente]

We are thinking about going that route. I need to do more research on all of the other parts needed like driveshaft, etc... He only plans on driving it for another year or two until the new Camaro comes out so we were hoping to not stick a ton of cash into it just to loose it all when selling/trading. It also has a lot of miles on it. I think he told me it is getting close to 150,000

Is it the ring & pinion he keeps breaking? Motive offers gearsets now through SummitRacing with a bulletproof guarantee. You'd still be out the labor, but at least they'd replace the gears. The biggest 10 bolt killer is wheel hop...so it would be in his best interest to look into some suspension modifications if he wants to continue hotrodding.

With a 12 bolt you can use your stock driveshaft (you can either order the yoke that fits that u-joint, or buy a u-joint to match the stronger yoke). You need to reuse your backing plates and ABS/ASR sensors. Out the door a 12 bolt can run you $2200+. He could use that for a year then sell it, they hold their value pretty damn well (seeing as used ones are in the $1800 range).

Another solution would be to buy a used 10 bolt. People sell good rear ends all day long when they upgrade to 12bolts, you can find a complete rear in the neighborhood of $300. It should be cheaper to install as well seeing is there is no intricate work such as setting up the gears.