I am trying to find a GM 8.5" 10 bolt rearend for my '68 Camaro. The 8.5" was primarily used after 1971 in many GM cars and later on in 1/2 ton trucks. It is much stronger than the older 10 bolts and nearly as strong as the desirable 12 bolt.

I will be running a set of 1997 C5 wheels so ideally I would like to get a 8.5" that is 3.5" wider than the stock 1st gen F-Body rearend to properly match the positive offset of these wheels.

Does anybody have any ideas how wide the various 8.5" rearends are?

Maybe BGH will chime in here?

And there is a Nova site that has info on a whole bunch of rearends here --

Rearend ID site: http://www.novaresource.org/axle.htm (http://www.novaresource.org/axle.htm)

Hope this helps?

pdq67

You should have posted this in the rear end/transmission section. I'm sure the moderator will move it. You will get more responses there.

The 2nd gen 8.5" rear ends are longer/wider than the 1st gens, I am not sure how much though. I think ~2". Nova rears are the same width as the 1st gen Camaros and are a direct bolt in.

BGH said he wont be on here much anymore for awhile, he is into a project of writing a book on tranny and rear ends. So dont look for him to comment soon. I agree the mod here should slide this to the tranny section. :) I dont have the HP to do it :)

Sorry guys..... I thought that is used to be the "rear end/transmission section", but now for some reason it is just the "transmission" section so I did even think about it.


That Nova link was a good source for the stock width measurements, now I just need to find a rearend that is 3.5" wider than a stock '67-69 Camaro/'68-79 Nova body.


BTW:


I emailed Big Gear Head directly so I may have some information to post once he replies...

I think the 2nd gen Camaro 8.5" 10 bolt rear ends were wider . . . I just don't know exactly how much wider. I think the spring perches were wider too though . . .

You might try a search for 8.5" 10 bolt in the transmission section. There is lots of information there on this subject.

Thanks Eric..... I thought that I would post this here for others as well...



http://chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/48518/index.html

Rich the headline is Transmission but under that in smaller letters is Transmissions / Rear ends... maybe thats why you didnt notice it at first . glad you are getting answers too. :)

My email is still downloading, so I'll answer you here first. The frist gen Camaro rear end is 60 inches wide over all, like the Nova 8.5 rear end. The second gen Camaro rear end is 61 inches wide over all, the same as the '68-'72 Chevelle. In '73 the Chevelle and Monte Carlo went to the 8.5, and it got a little wider. I don't know exactly how wide it is, but I would say that it is your best shot. Obviously you will have to cut off the brackets and weld on the Camaro spring perches. I have a truck 8.5 in my shop. If I get a chance later I will measure it to see how wide it is. If you use the truck rear end you will have to get the axles drilled for the 5 on 4 3/4 bolt pattern. I also have a Caprice 8.5. I'll see how wide it is too. If you use a '90 or later rear end you will also get 30 spline axles.

Sorry to jump in here, but is the 60 inch width for the camaro first gen rear measured from the outside of the axle flange where the wheel mounts on the wheel stud?


Victor

42 3/4" = Mounting plate (center to center)
53 1/4"= Backing Plate to Backing Plate
60 1/4" = Wheel mounting surface (drum to drum)

Thanks Doug!



Victor

67 vert
W 2LG 3L 4P

The '91-'96 Caprice 8.5 10 bolt came out to 63 inches, which might be a good one for you.

I found a posi from a '95 Impala SS from a guiy at work that has already been redrilled to the 5X4.75" pattern and center hub was cut down to allow smaller wheel hubs; it even has rear disc brakes! I measured my rear end and it was 60 1/4" at the wheel mounting surfaces. I will take my wheels with me tomorrow to measure them on the Impala diff to determine if it is a good fit.

I was a little gun-shy of what condition the car would be in underneath.....but I put the car on the lift to inspect and measure it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the car was actually nicer underneath than it is on most of the exposed exterior!! I was so excited I decided to drop the tank and the rear end.

I'm hoping to pressure wash the underneath, coat it with some POR15 and install the "wide-track" rearend along with some new leafs.

Heres some pics:

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=richz260&password=74773105

I got the Impala SS diff home and mocked the wheels up, but I will still have to use small spacers, but ataleast they will not need to be as thick to space the wheels correctly.


--TAKE A LOOK AT THE DIFF HERE--

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=richz260&password=70354806