I found a used Strange S60 rear end and driveshaft that I may purchase from a shop for $2,400 installed. It also comes with the Strange LSD Differential, Strange Engineering 35 spline street/strip axles, Strange Chromoly driveshaft with upgraded slip yoke and u-joint. This rear is off an LS1 Camaro that was totaled in the front. Note the shop owner cannot confirm which differential model it is since he's had the car a while and lost contact with the owner. These parts have 20k miles on them and has 4.10 gears (I currently have 4.10s in my stock rear with 85k miles; M6 car. Mods in sig).

Does this sound like a good deal? I want to maintain the streetability of my car and may get a head and cam package soon. I don't think my car will ever exceed 500 rwhp so I think I should be all set with this setup. Not sure if it's 3 or 4 channel but my car doesn't have traction control so shouldn't matter?

I am a newb when it comes to rears and would really appreciate your insight on any questions I should ask. Some other random info I have on this car/rear:

• The Camaro was an M6 street car (H&C but never saw the track)
• The rear end was not shortened (Camaro has stock tires)
• Shop owner is going to measure the driveshaft to confirm dimensions

Thanks in advance!

 

That rear and driveshaft will run around $3250 new, so having it installed for $2400 sounds like a decent deal to me. I think all the diffs offered by Strange for that rear are helical gear type (or a spool). The only question I'd ask is if the ABS / ASR setup on that rear matches your car (3-channel vs. 4 channel), that might cost you a few extra parts to adapt. I wouldn't worry about 500-600HP w/ the S60. I'm looking forward to the same swap this summer.

 

Thanks!! My car doesn't have traction control so I assume it's 3 channel. The shop owner doesn't know if it's 3 or 4 channel but said that the Camaro it's coming out of had traction control that was removed via a tune. Therefore I don't think it matters whether the rear is 3 or 4 channel since I can't use traction control anyways (nor do I want to!). The shop owner said that this will not complicate the install into my car at all.

Does this sound reasonable to you?

 

Sounds like a good deal to me as stated above the parts alone would cost you way more than your installed cost.

Miles

 

If having ABS matters to you, I suggest carefully researching the ABS topic as 3 channel and 4 channel (traction control) rear ends are not interchangeable. There are a lot of aftermarket rear ends that don't accommodate ABS either 3 or 4 channel.

Non traction control cars have 3 channel ABS that read a reluctor in the differential. 4 channel cars read from abs sensors at rear wheels. If the S60 rear was set up for 4 channel, the ABS probably wont work with 3 channel ABS like your car has without some major modifications.

ABS 3 & 4 channel discussion that maybe of interest.

 

Sounds like good deal. I would think you are gonna want to figure out what model the differential unit is because that's going to dictate what oil you run in it, synthetic or non, and whether or not a friction modifier is necessary.

What does your rear suspension look like? I believe the 60 is significantly heavier than the 10 bolt. Upgraded LCAs and possibly rear shocks may be necessary, or not depending on your choice of sticky tire and power output. What torque arm do you plan on running? Will you have to clearance the tunnel?

 

thank you. I will look into this more. I def want to keep ABS and don’t want to make major mods.

OK thanks. How would I figure out which model the differential it is? I suppose the shop owner can look at it when he installs it but not sure if he’ll be able to figure it out. I have Strano springs, koni sport shocks and adjustable PHB. everything else in the rear is stock. How much heavier is it? I have street tires and 300 rwhp. Was planning on keeping the stock torque arm for now. Not sure what you mean by “clearance the tunnel”.

 

Yes, pulling the cover is probably the only way to tell, other than driving it and you'll know right away if it's a spool or a detroit locker. I'm not sure how much heavier, maybe 30-60lbs. With street tires at your power level I doubt you will have issues. A lot of guys (myself included with a 9") have had issues with the larger rear end overcoming the shock and wheelhopping on sticky tires.

As for the tunnel, when you have an aftermarket torque arm on a bigger rear end it has a tendency to "clunk" against the floor/tunnel area when compressed. Again, this is a bigger issue with the 9" and 12 bolt axles but I have seen it addressed here with the S60 as well. It's not a big deal, you can either take a hammer and piece of wood and punch out the tunnel a little bit or let it do it's thing. More of an issue on a lowered car than at stock ride height. See here: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...ng-tunnel.html

 

If the current rearend is set up for 4ch you can not maintain your ABS (3ch). This means you will have an ABS light on the dash and no longer have ABS.

 

Here's one way to determine rear end gear and it may not be perfectly accurate but it works. Jack the rear of the car up and mark a line on the driveshaft yoke in line with mark on the differential housing then mark another set of lines on the fender and the tire. Now with someone under the car and someone else to rotate the tire you turn the tire one complete turn while the other counts how many turns the driveshaft will turn passing the marks. If it makes just a little more than four turns past the marks then most likely a 4.10 gear.