Hey guys.

I have a two part question actually. I'm planning a LSX 454 build on a '98-02 camaro, M6 and want to know the best/strongest rear end. I have read good things on the Strange Engineering S60 and 12 bolt, as well as ones from Moser.
Also there are a bunch of people using the 9" Ford. So which one would be the preferred? The car will be a DD too btw.
The other question is thoughts on a narrowed rear end. Will I need one? I'm going to be running Fikse Profil 13s 18x11.5 with 335 Michelin Pilot PS2 tires. Someone said that I would need to have the rear axle narrowed. Yet a guy on here (h8bnslo) had a camaro with 18x11.5 IForged Aeros & 335s and he said all he did was quite a bit of BFH'ing the wheel wells. So idk. Suggestions or advice? Thanks.

 

454 LSX with a 6spd? Definitely don't get the 12 bolt..hah

I think either S60 or 9" will be a good choice for you. According to what I've read, the S60 weighs more than the 9", but doesn't lose as much power. But I don't think I lost much going to a Moser 9". My 1/4 times dropped only 0.1 and that was switching from 3.73 to 3.50.

On my car with 315s, I had to hammer the inner wheel well, and get a fender roller. But my car is lowered on Eibach Sportlines..

 

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the reply. OK cool, I am kinda leaning toward the Strange S60 but not 100% yet. Hell I don't even have the car yet. Ha ha. I'm just in the planning stage and gathering info for the mods I'm going to do.
I won't be racing the car so it's not a question of that, I'll just be going to car shows, cruise nights, etc. I just want something that will hold up, you know?
As far as the wheel & tire issue, have you seen h8bnslo's car? Here's a couple of pics. As I said before he said all he did was a lot of pounding on the wheel wells. No mention of modifying the rear end at all. But if I have to narrow the rear axle, that shouldn't be a big deal. Strange and several others offer custom length axles anyway. I just do not want to mini tub & won't do that.

Pics of 18x11.5 & 335s

http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/44...600x600Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/44...600x600Q85.jpg

That's what I'm talking about!

 

Big HP six speed I'd go with the 9'.

 

Hey man,

Thanks for the input. Can I ask why the 9"? I'm a newbie to most of this stuff.
What's the advantage and why is the 9" preferred? Stronger I take it? What makes it stronger or better than the others?

Remember I won't be racing it. Maybe get on it a little once and a while.

Also since it's going to be a DD, I want the ABS and all that to still work. Will the 9" accommodate the ABS? Thanks.

 

I'd think the S60 is stronger because it is 9.75" compared to 9". But the 9" can be built strong to. The S60 will need a shorter driveshaft, and most people run an 1" longer driveshaft with the 9".. So don't forget to factor that.

I removed ABS from my car because it was cheaper..hah But, Moser does have an ABS option.. I think it is $175.

If you really want a nice rearend, go with the Midwest Chassis fab 9". It is pretty cheap even fully loaded.

Either way, be prepared to spend about $3000 if you get a new driveshaft.

 

Yeah I was looking at a 9" from Exotic Performance Plus and with the options I chose it was like $3900. I have a while to think about it, I don't even have the car yet. Ha ha. I'm just gathering info and am in the planning stage.
I'm thinking either the Strange S60 or the Moser 9". DD so what gears should I use? 3.73? 4.10 maybe? The car will be an M6 most likely.

Oh btw, did you take a look at h8bnslo's camaro? I want that big meat look so bad! But I do not want to mini-tub, is there a way to fit 18x11.5 & 335s without doing that? Narrowed axle & a good amount of BFH'ing? I know a lot of it is the right offset too. So any info on that would be great as well. Thanks.

 

The 9" is ideal for the racer, lighter, and can get alot lighter, easy to swap centers at the track, or street for a multitude of reasons from different tracks, to street or track setups (spool). Honestly, they are very strong, and while the s/dana 60 does have a larger ring gear, I dont think you can say either is stronger then the other really, 9"s are used in everything from trucks, to 6 second and faster drag cars.... And are the most versatile, by far, but pricey.... I will never look back, I love my 9"

 

Cool, but since I'm not going to be racing is it still that much more beneficial to use the 9" or would it be just a preference? I do want it to be strong but I also want it to have excellent street manners and no noise or whine. The growl from the engine is all I want to hear.

 

Ouch! Yea, mine isn't fully loaded..hah, no options except a drain plug.

Not sure about gears. I had 3.73s then went to 3.50s, but my car is an auto. It will still easily pull a 1.45 60ft, but I have a lot of off the line torque with a small shot of the juice

Not sure about the wheels. Depends on the offset and how low the car is. I just know what I had to do with Mickey Thompson 315s on 17x11 fake ZR1s.

 

Yeah, I just chose a few options to get an idea of the cost. I could do without a few of them. Like the powder-coating and a couple of other minor ones. Should get price down to around $3k. Still pricey though. That's why I'm still considering the Strange S60, around $2300 plus $70-120 for ABS. Or the Strange 12 bolt, if it's good enough for the Dick Harrell cars it's good enough for me. Ha ha.

 

Plus about $100 to have your stock driveshaft shortened...but do you really want to trust 500-600rwhp to a stock driveshaft?

What diff are you thinking about? Since you want it a DD, I assume not a spool..hah

I really like my Detroit locker...the popping/noises around corners is fun

You definitely want the lca relocation brackets. I thought I wouldn't need them, but wheel hop was horrible. I went from a 1.71 to a 1.45 60ft only thing changed was the relocation brackets. But it also didn't help my car being lowered about 2" from Sportlines.

And I forgot to add, don't be surprised if you spend ~$3k and have gear whine....my Moser 9" has it. I'd recommend spending a little extra change and having the gears checked by someone else. The good thing about the 9", you only have to take the center chunk and not the whole rearend! hah

 

9" for sure.....never break it....

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. I may go with a Strange chrome-moly drive shaft. Not sure on the diff though. Your thoughts on posi? Definitely going to get the lca brackets. I'll be going with the Eibach Pro-kit, Koni SA 3/4 shocks and UMI stuff.

 

I just went through all this a month ago. Ended up going with the midwest fab 9". Lighter than the s60 and the 31 splines with trutrac are plenty strong. You should change the driveshaft with either one. The torque arm mounts and design were better with the fab 9. Also, the ability to reshim the pinion on the car and set the gears on a bench is awesome-especially since these bigger rears tend to make noise.

 

That's cool. But the one of the things I'm worried about is gear noise/whine. Several of you guys with aftermarket rear ends have been complaining about it.
What causes it and how do you prevent of fix it? I do not want to spend the $$$ on one to then have to hear that annoying and irritating sound.
Also I'm really not concerned with weight that much. I won't be racing the car so that's not really an issue. Mainly I'm concerned with strength, reliability and best performance for the money. Thanks guys.

 

If your just gonna be on the street with street tires, even 335s, I would trust a 12 bolt or S60 just fine. For any kind of racing go with the 9in.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking too actually. It's kind of a toss up between the Strange S60 and their 12 bolt.

Yeah, not going to be racing. Just street driving, maybe get on it once in a while. Ha ha. Thanks man.

 

Why would you ever go with the 12 bolt or s60 when you can get the 9 inch for the same price? It is like a freebie getting a better rear for the same price.
As for the noise, 12 bolt with a torque arm will start making more noise because the housing will flex after some m6 launches. The s60 is a bigger setup and more likely to whine in the first place. The nine inch you can set up on a bench because of the way the pumpkin comes out the front. Gear whine has to do with the brand of gears, backlash, ratio, etc. The good thing about the 9inch is that I can remove 4 bolts, pull the pinion out the front, and adjust the shimming to get rid of noise. The other two you have to pull the axles, ring gear, and all sorts of **** to set pinion shim if you have a noise problem.

 

Oh OK, good to know. But you just made my decision harder again. Ha ha. I mean there are a bunch of people who have the 12 bolt, S60 and 9" and everyone has their experiences and opinions on the choices. Damn it this is hard!
Though Strange has the S60 with 3 or 4 channel ABS and 33 spline axles and torque arm mount, etc. for $2300. The 9" I was looking at was like $3900. But that was including the upgraded drive shaft, powder coating, ABS and a couple of other options. With the S60 I would get the chrome-moly drive shaft, not sure how much that would add to the cost.