'96 Tahoe 4x4 2 door rear end interchange

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Onebadsuv

Onebadsuv

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Thanks for the welcome ! I've never registered until now , because the rear axel is seemingly hard to find ... not sure which would fit from what truck - the one I pulled was from a 2 wheel drive - I have 4x4 . Thought about rebuilding too , but I already paid cash to a local bone yard for a rear that won't fit , and they do not refund period . Credit only ! So today i'm going to pick through every possible vehicle to find a decent rear axel assembly.



First off Welcome!

Sounds like youve been thru the gammet of repairs!

I cant believe a 4 door rear end wont work ?? What didnt match up?

How bout just rebuilding your rear end you have now ?


If you swap in a 14 bolt you'll lose performance and mileage, thats a Heavy rear end you dont really need.

I dont see why a late model half ton rear end wouldnt work either??

Good luck.
 

TIM Z

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Thanks for the welcome ! I've never registered until now , because the rear axel is seemingly hard to find ... not sure which would fit from what truck - the one I pulled was from a 2 wheel drive - I have 4x4 . Thought about rebuilding too , but I already paid cash to a local bone yard for a rear that won't fit , and they do not refund period . Credit only ! So today i'm going to pick through every possible vehicle to find a decent rear axel assembly.

Gotcha. I still thought a 2 wheel rear end 10 bolt would be the same,

Look at the 88 up 4x4 trucks, even 99-07 should possbly have the rear you need.

04 ( i believe) and up had rear disk brakes so you could possibly upgrade or have to swap out brakes maybe.

Also remember to look the GU6 code in the glove box of the donor vehicle if possible.

Good luck.
 
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Onebadsuv

Onebadsuv

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Did not realize there is a performance AND fuel penalty in the switch to 14bolt - Methinks 10bolt is the way to go here . Anyone know how much less the GT-4 MPG is VS the GU-6 ?
 

bowtiefreak

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a 14 bolt can be found in some light duty 2500 series trucks. Stay away from the nbs trucks unless you want to relocate mounting brackets and things. There are no gas milage changes in going from the 10b to the 14b...so long as the gearing is the same. The benefit is the strength.
 
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Onebadsuv

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rear end swap completed ...

After *much* searching for a suitable axle which wasn't accompanied with crazy high prices , as much as $600.00 ! I ended up using a 10 bolt already pulled from a '95 4 door . It had a sway bar (removed that for my 2 door) and was complete "drum to drum" for $200.00 . My OEM rear came with smaller 10" drums along with the small shoes - the new to me axle has much bigger 11" drums using shoes that dwarf 10's . Braking greatly improved there . Only issue was my gear set from fact. is GU6 (3.42) open diff and the new rear has the GT4 (3.73) G80 . No more one wheel peel but the front IFS diff still has a 3.42 ring and pinion so I've lost 4 wheel drive . I'm open to any suggestions what best option would be here . The original rear end 3.42 ring was destroyed AND one of carrier bolts snapped clean off when the spider gears let go ... major metal carnage !
 

clean454

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see if the 95 4dr that the rear came out of is still there and get the front ifs diff for a decent price

or price out getting the front re-geared
 

Bad bow tie

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If it were me I would go with 3.73 because I have 3.42 and hate them. I am running a 33" tire and my truck dogs on the highway. There won't be a huge difference in fuel economy. My vote goes to re-gearing the front diff but it all depends on what you want and how you drive it.
 
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Onebadsuv

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front ifs re-gear

@ Thanks clean95 , for suggesting snagging the front IFS along with the rear axle ...
and I would have too , but the vehicle was parted out - it was already a stripped - clean '95 4 door Tahoe ! LOL

@ Bad bow tie , I couldn't agree with You more - the OEM 3.42 gearset blows - rpo GU6 (3.42) supposedly best fuel economy , however tire choices are limited at best , You have to run a P rated tire and 245 is recommended MAX is 265 resulting in loss of fuel economy . My mileage sucked with that gear ratio after replacing the factory goodyear's to run decent BFG TKO all terrain's . Probably why I had two 4L60e's die on me too . With the GT4 (3.73) I can run a tire with a TRUCK rating with no loss in mileage and great performance on and off road .

************* 3.42 :supergay: *****************
 

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