Going For The 4•5•6 - Rear Axle Bought

I decided to drop the other $80 and get the 8.6" rear axle no matter what this Sunday (my mechanic can't take a look at it this weekend). I also secured a little corner of my friends back-yard so this is where the axle will sit for a few weeks while I poke and prod it.

I'll probably give it a coat of POR-15 but it really doesn't have a lot of rust on it. If I feel really adventurous I may try removing the axles, differential, and ring&pinion to make sure the new stuff will all fit properly.

Well, here it is:

Its from a 2005 Trailblazer EXT, has 3.42 gears, no G80, and only 20,000 km. I'm cracking it open this Sunday and am going to try to remove the brakes and axles. After reading what it takes to remove the carrier and ring&pinion, I think I'll leave that up to the professional.

I'm also going to grind off the rust and give it a coat of Por-15. I'm waiting on some Yukon Gear and Auburn pricing from my contact at North Sore Off Road. After seeing an Auburn Ected up close at a shop, my current worry is that its right side, where the electro-magnet is situated, is too large of a diameter to fit inside this housing. I guess I will have to take some precise measurements and see ...

Going For The 4•5•6 - Rear Axle Found

Well, its bad news for my 8.6 gears in an 8" rear axle set up. Had a long conversation with a knowledgeable parts guy last night with some help from his parts computer. Here's the scoop:

The axle housings are different between the 8" and 8.6" gears.

The I6 with any gear ratio and locker is 19133411
The V8 with any gear ratio and locker is 19133414

So I guess if I want to pursue my goal of 4.56 gears I will have to find an axle out there as the 8.6" housing may be deeper, not only on the cover side but also on the driveshaft side.

I embarked on finding an 8.6" rear axle housing locally. At first I was looking at $1100 - $1400 Canadian. Not the price I really wanted to get into. Then I found a place that had them for $850 and I actually went out to take a look at it. Great condition with under 20,000 kms on it. I was on the fence ...

And finally today ...

I found a 2005 8.6" with 20,000 km for ...

$162

It looks in good shape overall. The brakes and hubs are probably not usable but who cares, I will use mine anyways. For that price, its worth getting just to experiment!!!

Well I put a deposit down and as soon as I can borrow a pickup or van from a friend, I will be going over to Standard Auto Wreckers with my mechanic (as a final check) and picking it up.

Let the gearing insanity begin !