9.5SF Swap

[apathy02Z]

Did you have to use the qa1 panhard bar for a reason? Because I am looking at doing this swap and can't find that panhard rod anywhere!!!

 

[Dantheman1540]

Did you have to use the qa1 panhard bar for a reason? Because I am looking at doing this swap and can't find that panhard rod anywhere!!!

I definitely couldn’t use a stock/straight panhard bar with an aftermarket cover. The cover I have was/is the slimmest one on the market. Even with a stock cover I think a bar with a curve around the differential will be necessary. Doesn’t have to be a QA1, but I’d definitely get one with extra clearance.

 

[ls3_ppv]

This thread gave me the info and confidence needed to go find a 9.5" today. I scored a 3.42 G80 out of a yukon denali for $120 and internals looked brand new. I snagged the sway bar and pan hard bar from the denali. For now ill just grab a 3R to 1350 conversion ujoint and spec a 1410 yoked driveshaft later. I know the focus here has been getting a gmt900 9.5" sf into a gmt800 and saw mention about rubbing but i expect this to be straightforward putting this axle into a gmt900 tahoe with the conversion ujoint. I have an extended 26gal fuel tank so it gave me some pause.

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to your first post and good luck.

 

[Dantheman1540]

This thread gave me the info and confidence needed to go find a 9.5" today. I scored a 3.42 G80 out of a yukon denali for $120 and internals looked brand new. I snagged the sway bar and pan hard bar from the denali. For now ill just grab a 3R to 1350 conversion ujoint and spec a 1410 yoked driveshaft later. I know the focus here has been getting a gmt900 9.5" sf into a gmt800 and saw mention about rubbing but i expect this to be straightforward putting this axle into a gmt900 tahoe with the conversion ujoint. I have an extended 26gal fuel tank so it gave me some pause.

Glad this could help someone, I still beat on this rear axle and it’s been great. I have gathered parts for a 4.10 and selectable locker swap just need to get time to install them.

 

[Tonyrodz]

This thread gave me the info and confidence needed to go find a 9.5" today. I scored a 3.42 G80 out of a yukon denali for $120 and internals looked brand new. I snagged the sway bar and pan hard bar from the denali. For now ill just grab a 3R to 1350 conversion ujoint and spec a 1410 yoked driveshaft later. I know the focus here has been getting a gmt900 9.5" sf into a gmt800 and saw mention about rubbing but i expect this to be straightforward putting this axle into a gmt900 tahoe with the conversion ujoint. I have an extended 26gal fuel tank so it gave me some pause.

If you have 4wd, does the new rear ratio match your front?

 

[ls3_ppv]

its 2wd which makes this even more straightforward. I sourced the conversion U joint from Drivetrain America, now im just waiting on the install kit i ordered from quickperformance to get here and ill be getting this 14 bolt installed. I was willing to drive a ways out to find a non-XL denali yukon or escalade with the right gearing/g80 so i could have just grabbed the driveshaft for couple pennies more and had the 1350 on both sides to skip ordering the coversion U joint but none were anywhere around and certainly not at the price i got the 14 bolt at.

 

[ls3_ppv]

Got some time and going through the entire rear end to rebuild, what the heck is this inner sleeve? It is plastic and none of the parts stores or rockauto carry it. youtube videos of 14 or 10 bolt rebuilds seem to be hit or miss on this part even being present when other tear down the axle. im putting this back together tomorrow in prep to put in the vehicle but idk if i need to worry about replacing this... ive done all the pinion, carrier and axle bearings/seals minus this sleeve.

 

[randeez]

Abs ring?

 

[strutaeng]

I second ABS wheel speed sensor. I think they showed up on the GMT900s(?) Is there a wire on each side of the wheel on the axle?

The GMT800 and prior relied on rear wheel speed via the VSS on either the transmission or transfer case, not on the actual rear wheels.

 

[mattt]

I didn't pay attention to what axle he is working with, but if it is an 05-06 Escalade AXN axle, those do have a tone ring sensor at the very outer end of the axle housing. I posted a picture of it in this thread, when I acquired mine. It is still uninstalled here, as I am dealing with other higher priority issues unfortunately on the 6.0.

REAR END UPGRADES

Any inexpensive ones in your area? I'll probably keep up the search for an 05-06 one anyway, since I believe these were all 3.73 gear ratio, and that matches the gear ratio in my 04 Tahoe Z71 4wd so I won't have to re-gear to match the front diff.

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[mattt]

Another bit of info I recently found on the NBS 2wd escalades that came with the elusive AXN 14bolt 9.5sf. Looks like they only offered the AXN in 2005 and 2006. According to LKQ it was not offered in 2004 or before so that narrows down some searching for anyone interested.

Also, It looks like they only came with 3.73s which is good because the NNBS AXN only came with 3.42s best I can tell. I haven't been able to identify if the NBS AXN comes with a G80 or other clutch style posi but here are some RPO sheets of AXN equipped NBSs maybe someone can decode them better than I. I know G80 is for the grenade locker but I do not remember what the code for the factory posi is, can't imagine they put a big axle in a 2wd and left it open.

View attachment 342232
View attachment 342233
View attachment 342234View attachment 342235

Were you ever able to find out if any of the GMT800 AXN axles come with a G80 or other traction device from the factory? I have been trying to find that out also. So far, every one I have seen in person was an open carrier. I posted a request on an Escalade forum for 2wd 6.0 Escalade owners to report back if their RPO list has any G80 or some other traction device, but that hasn't received any replies back so far.

The factory Eaton posi that came in the Trailblazer SS, which also had a unique AXN axle, had an RPO code of G86. I did acquire a TBSS rear axle from a local yard, believe it or not, and I bought it only to harvest the G86 Eaton posi out of it and then selling off the remains. I have not run across any other factory posi or locker RPO codes thus far.

 

[strutaeng]

Oops, forgot the Traction Control of the GMT800s. None of mine had it.

 

[ls3_ppv]

Found it on rockauto, axle repair bearing. TIMKEN TRP59047 I think. Probably will just let it ride with the old ones since I’ve hammered in the outer axle bearings at this point.

 

[ls3_ppv]

Had some downtime and got the 14bolt installed. It was bolt in, everything swapped over. Took just about every bit of the gallon of diff juice i bought before it trickled out. I opted to freshen up the parking brake hardware, rotors, brake pads, lug studs, bump stops, even disconnected the brake lines (though you dont have have to even do that) and bleed out the old fluid. Also bought a master bearing kit and installed all new races, bearings, crush sleeve, axle and pinon/yoke seals. Total time from pull in to pull out was about 5 hours with a parts store run and grabbing a bite to eat. Rebuild time was completed prior to the day of install, I spent all day learning how to do that....

All of the tahoe part numbers matched the denali parts that i could find so i just unbolted my 10bolt from the control arms and bolted the 14 bolt back in. I also ended up finding a non-xl denali driveshaft so i have this conversion ujoint ill let go for $20 plus shipping to the next ambitious person who wants to do this. Even blasted and powder coated the new diff cover for the 14 bolt! Only thing i want to caution someone else on is that i do not have a stock exhaust, it dumps before the rear end. So i do not know if stock exhaust clears it or rubs. Also consider replacing your transmission output shaft seal and rear springs top/bottom rubber insulators. One of mine was torn up and i couldn't find it locally so ill have to replace that another time. YMMV!

2008 denali xl 9.5" sf 14bolt rear end sourced
2011 denali non-xl driveshaft sourced
original 2010 tahoe upper/lower controls arms, pan hard bar, sway bar, brake calipers, abs sensors, bump stops, brake lines, struts, end links

mobil delvac1 75w90 gear oil, 1gallon

Big upgrade going from an open diff/8.5"/3.08 gearing to g80 locker/9.5"/3.42 gearing. And 1310 to 1350 yoked driveshaft. Should hold 30psi of boost now...

 

[Dantheman1540]

Got some downtime and get the 14bolt installed. It was bolt in, everything swapped over. Took just about every bit of the gallon of diff juice i bought before it trickled out. I opted to freshen up the parking brake hardware, rotors, brake pads, lug studs, bump stops, even disconnected the brake lines (though you dont have have to even do that) and bleed out the old fluid. Also bought a master bearing kit and installed all new races, bearings, crush sleeve, axle and pinon/yoke seals. Total time from pull in to pull out was about 5 hours with a parts store run and grabbing a bite to eat. Rebuild time was completed prior to the day of install, I spent all day learning how to do that....

All of the tahoe part numbers matched the denali parts that i could find so i just unbolted my 10bolt from the control arms and bolted the 14 bolt back in. I also ended up finding a non-xl denali driveshaft so i have this conversion ujoint ill let go for $20 plus shipping to the next ambitious person who wants to do this. Even blasted and powder coated the new diff cover for the 14 bolt! Only thing i want to caution someone else on is that i do not have a stock exhaust, it dumps before the rear end. So i do not know if stock exhaust clears it or rubs. Also consider replacing your transmission output shaft seal and rear springs top/bottom rubber insulators. One of mine was torn up and i couldn't find it locally so ill have to replace that another time. YMMV!

2008 denali xl 9.5" sf 14bolt rear end sourced
2011 denali non-xl driveshaft sourced
original 2010 tahoe upper/lower controls arms, pan hard bar, sway bar, brake calipers, abs sensors, bump stops, brake lines, struts, end links

mobil delvac1 75w90 gear oil, 1gallon

Big upgrade going from an open diff/8.5"/3.08 gearing to g80 locker/9.5"/3.42 gearing. And 1310 to 1350 yoked driveshaft. Should hold 30psi of boost now...


View attachment 429117View attachment 429118View attachment 429119View attachment 429120

Nice job! Good thought on that drive shaft swap.

 

[ls3_ppv]

Heres the ride im doing these upgrades to. Between the 6.2, 78mm and 9.5"sf should find the weak link in the 6L80 lol

 

[Dantheman1540]

Heres the ride im doing these upgrades to. Between the 6.2, 78mm and 9.5"sf should find the weak link in the 6L80 lol
View attachment 429383

That’s a sleeper right there! Let’s hope it’s just traction you’re breaking. For a little while atleast

 

[ls3_ppv]

14 bolt is holding up well, starting turning the boost up and doing some launches. So far so good...

 

[Tonyrodz]

14 bolt is holding up well, starting turning the boost up and doing some launches. So far so good...

Nice.