My '91 s10

The 8.5 is going to be unpredictable as to how much hp it can withstand. But even upgraded it will not stand as much as a stock 8.8 will.

Do you have anything to actually back that up?
I have found 8.8s to have a bigger following, with better/wider selection of LSD and gear ratio options, but I don't think i've come across anything that particularly proves the strength of one over the other

I know it's different from vented.

If it really bothers you.. go find some slotted & crossdrilled rears.

that's totally different from vented,
and yes, vented would be nice on track.
most track guys run solid vented rotors. quality slot/crossdrilled are out of my price range, and the cheapo ones are dangerous.

Is it safe to say that if I want to build it once and never worry about it, a shortened 9" with a quality carrier, aftermarket axles and fresh bearings, if setup properly (proffesionally shimmed etc) will be bullet proof for 500hp or less? Obviously fluid maintenance is necessary, but the last thing I want to do is cheap out  and use the wrong axle, and end up redoing it down the road.

An 8.8 doesn't need to be shortened, has a good OEM posi (power trak.. or whatever Ford wants to call it), has axles that are just as stout as the 9", has a removable rear cover that you can bolt on a girdle style cover... unlike the 9" that requires you to weld on a bracket back there, can handle 600+ hp w/ the girdle AND it costs less overall than a 9"! If you like spending money.. get the 9". Ultimately I know it's your decision.. I've had a few 9" cars before (not built up because I priced out what it would cost 'back then') & unless you've really got a bad ass car you just don't need one.

Is it safe to say that if I want to build it once and never worry about it, a shortened 9" with a quality carrier, aftermarket axles and fresh bearings, if setup properly (proffesionally shimmed etc) will be bullet proof for 500hp or less? Obviously fluid maintenance is necessary, but the last thing I want to do is cheap out  and use the wrong axle, and end up redoing it down the road.

Fair. Another point someone brought up is the 8.8 uses C-clips and the 9" axles are bolted in, is this correct? I'll be applying lots of side force while drifting, last thing I wanna do is have an axle peace out on me.

Yes, that's true. You can get what's called C-clip eliminators for the 8.8 & they do the same thing.

Toying around with the IRS idea, via some sort of factory rear subframe modified to bolt or weld in. At a stand-still with the rear of the frame until I decide.

Got some decent work done today, but ran out of grinding disks.

Started off the day by stripping down my drop spindles. Guy I bought them off just cut the balljoints out of the control arms. I blasted the nuts off both spindles within 5 minutes... oh well. I also cut the steering stopper off of them since I have tubular control arms. They would dent the arms if they hit, plus I'd like to find a way to get a little more steering angle.




Then I heated up and straightened some areas of my frame that were dented in from scraping speedbumps and the like.




Then, covered up Graeme's car and put a shield infront of Mike's to protect from sparks during frame grinding.


then I chopped the bottom of both frame rails to 2 3/16 width so that they're the same width front to rear. This is being done so that I can make boxing plates without working around the uneven widths that s10 frames have from the factory. Didn't really get pics.

I also got both front LCA's installed with the coilovers.


Flipped the frame over, cleaned up and just hungout for the rest of the night. Need to get more grinding disks, then I can make boxing templates out of masonite.


Also crawled into my cab to pull the deck and gauges out, I miss this thing.

Bought some more cutting disks and finished cutting the frame. I'm going to start boxing it once I get payed.

I usually don't give in to peer pressure, but...


picked up a posi/disk 8.8 out of a '00 Lincoln LSC, apprently. It's 61.5" wide WMS to WMS, whereas my stock 7.5 is 54.5. That's 3.5" wider per side, no good. Looks like I'll be shortening it, possibly to use stock axles out of something else.

I grabbed it for $150 from a buddy which isn't a terrible deal. It has triangulated 4link mounts built into the pumpkin so I'm playing on sketchup to see if I can make them work.

It looks like they are 45 degrees (90 from each other), and start 12" apart. Inside of the frame rail is 36". According to my calulations, I can run a 15-16" upper bar at 45 degrees then straight lower bars. opinions?

sell/trade it to get an explorer 8.8 (59.5" wms-wms)

were the explorers leaf? this one has link mounts built into it, and it sounds like the axles are 1.5" longer than the foxbody but the housing is only 3/4" longer (each side)... gonna do more research still.

yea, leafs, very close to s10 leaf spacing too

I'm going 4link. I'll post better pictures of this one, it's kinda neat how they did it.

Haven't got a whoooole lot done, boxed 3/4 of the frame, just got more steel today so I'll keep going eventually. I've almost decided on rear setup...

lookin good. kinda wish i boxed mine

Picked up what I thought to be a 6.0L out of a 2500 truck... turns out it's a f*!#ing 4.8L... No worries, I only payed $192 taxes in for it. $99.99 plus $70 core charge at our local U-Pull last weekend.


got it home while dragging hanger bearing crossmember on ANY slight bump... Belltech leafs sure suck.




The truck was a 4x4 5spd, I was going to pull the tranny too but didn`t have the cash. I also don't want to mess around with switching a tailstock and all the other 4x4 fun stuff. I think it was an NV4500, it was huge. I got the flywheel and clutch though, 12" 10 spline.

didn't get pictures of the tear-down, but it has a minimal ring ridge and good clean cylinder walls. The heads look good too. They're 862 casting which are 200cc intake runners, 61cc combustion chamber, and 1.84? intake valve. Seem like pretty good heads with lots of room to open them up. Just registered at LS1tech tonight, lots of research to be done.



Problem is, it doesn't look like he did an oil change since new.. I'm likely going to keep it around for mock-up, then sell it later down the road. I have a hook-up for a running LQ9 from a 2500HD at my local truck yard, awesome guy to deal with. I'm looking at $300 for a motor that they had running when it came in, or a little more for one I can hear running myself. Unsure which path I'll take still, either way, awesome deal.

Now, to find an affordable t56... or a unicorn, whichever comes first.

i dont think the 4.8s ever got a nv4500. only a 3500?
4500s are worth $, 3500s not so much.

also, did the 6.0s ever get a 5spd? im fairly sure the 5.3s did not.

i dont think the 4.8s ever got a nv4500. only a 3500?
4500s are worth $, 3500s not so much.

also, did the 6.0s ever get a 5spd? im fairly sure the 5.3s did not.

Yeah it would have been a 3500 from what I know.  The 4500 was used on the HD trucks which if it had been a 6.0, 5 speed it would have been the 4500.

I didn't realize it, but looks like GM made 2500LD trucks (not HD), so that may be why it had a 4.8.

Makes sense, either way the tranny is toast. bellhousing is chipped and such, dunno how that happened...

Topic 1:
I looked at every Chevy/GMC from 99 to 06 in our PartsWatch system at work (I work at PartSource and sell auto parts). We list a 2500, and a 2500HD. I forget which cases, but I never found a 4.8, only a 5.3L or 6.0L. I know for a fact 4.8's came stock in the 2500's including vans, but still boggles my mind why it's not listed at work... anyway, keeping the 4.8 for mock-up and the heads. Might switch the crank and make it a high compression 5.3 or just sell it and buy a 6.0L for $300 running haha

Topic 2: Single piston to c5 Z06 caliper with 12.8" c4 rotor

I went ahead and spent a whopping $37 on a new rotor. Why? I dunno, too lazy to sandblast one of the 4 rotors I have laying around...

I tried cutting the hat off with the brake lathe at work, but couldn't get in there properly. I brought it to my shop and rough-cut it with a grinder. That part was super easy, took half a disk and 5 minutes.


Note the groove in the wrong spot, glad I gave up on lathe. These flanges are thicker than I thought!


took it back to work and smoothed out the back


tried bringing down the diameter to get rid of the groove, but the blade sits at a weird angle and doesn't cut the best head-on (meant to machine face of rotor/drum)

Painted it up to prevent rust and threw it on my painted drop spindle. Also hammered in my extended studs for now. They'll be replaced with ARP studs later down the road.


I've yet to modify the spindle to get rid of the part that overhangs a stock rotor for the stock caliper, but I chopped the lock-to-lock tab off both spindles already.

I need to get more gas for my welder and finish boxing the frame. Money is an issue right now, and I'll explain that in my 98's thread. I've 90% decided to go with a rear suspension from an s13 Nissan 240sx, for $500 or so I can get everything I need including full tubular arms. Coilovers would need to also be purchased ontop of that price. This seems like the best choice due to similar WMS to WMS width, independent, and LOADS of aftermarket AND factory parts support such as q45? aluminum knuckles for hella light unsprung. I'll be running a hydraulic e-brake, so i don't have to worry about what calipers I run in the rear. Yes, I know it's an illegal/unacceptable "secondary braking system"