02GTP

before i get my GTO, some questions. i know lots of people with the 04's and the rearends are junk. my buddy with a intake/predator/catback/dss driveshaft 04 M6 broke his ring and pinion and sheared off a stub (drives it hard but always street tires and never seen a track)

. now is the 05/06 hardware stronger? also what gains are to be had with a aftermarket driveshaft?

and what are the most common problems with the 05/06?

i plan to be be bolt on M6 (05/06) and on street tires only with no hard launches, mostly roll racing. some opinions from experienced people is greatly appreciated.

Rob

iTrader: (6)

Same rear. The gears were shot peened though in the '05-'06, they also have better CV joints.

I've never had problems with my "junk" rear. Used to run drag radials as my daily tire also.

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

Rear ends are not junk in the slightest, they can hold up to a lot of power and the stock posi isn't even that bad. The CV halfshafts have a different heat treating process in 05-06 but it is a direct replacement for the 04 stuff. I'm almost willing to bet that the issue happened after the installation of the DSS driveshaft. If those aren't setup properly they can vibrate a lot which puts extra strain on the entire rotating assembly. Lots of people have complained about the one piece driveshafts and issues with them. I have 82K right now with more mods than your friend, new suspension, I track it, autoX and have dabble in road racing as well as driving cross country 4 times and my GTO still catches posi no issue, and still has its stock stub to hub system in place. I have put a harrop rear cover on and that is the only rear end modification I made to the pumpkin.

When I put gears in I will put in a new posi and maybe upgrade the halfshafts but not likely. I bought a spare set off an 06 GTO just in case I ever broke mine and they've been sitting in a box for a little bit over a year now.

V8EATR

the ring and pinion seem to be the culprit. my one friends went stock. the other went after DR's and no cats for three months. so for a aftermarket ds what would u guys reccomend? a two piece? and from where, also does anyone have any dyno numbers from an aluminium ds? thanks.

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

Stock driveshaft is the best and safest bet. Many of the fastest GTO's in the country are using stock ring and pinion, stock posi, stock driveshaft with upgraded suspension pieces and drag bags....

my first GTO

We ran 800+ Hp thru a OE posi unit for about 6 months.....Frank

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

Frank knows what hes talking about as the proprietor of Rocksand Racing. They are a distributo of the gforce1320 series of cv half shafts that will be my upgrade whenever I break something.

Frank and rocksand do a lot of testing on their own cars and frank is the man when it comes to buying parts from.

V8EATR

ive been reading about the cryo process, frank, how much strength does this add in your experience? i was looking to cryo the ring and pinion and the stubs. im just looking for the stock stuff to hold up to boltons with street tires. thank you.

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

the stock stuff will hold up to a lot more then bolt ons on street tires.

V8EATR

i would like to believe that. but i have seen it with my own two eyes on 04's the ring and pinion and stubs taking a **** with street tires with the most modded being a catback, intake, predator. thats y im asking if rear end issues are more of an issue in 04's.

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

No.

I have Longtubes, catless mids, catback, cold air intake, ported pieces, and a dyno tune and in 5 days its going down for heads and cam. The only thing I have changed in the rear end is poly bushings and a harrop cover, and of course diff fluid when it needed to be. Car has 82K with a ******* lot of track passes and street races under it. It still catches posi like day one, and I have not had one issue with the rear end. I HAVE cut sub 2.0 60 ft's on street tires, but usually I cut like 2.1 - 2.2 and my best time so far of 13.2 @ 109 was with a 2.31 60 ft spinning through 1st and second.

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

Actually here, just re-read the post above since you seemed to miss it.

Speedy0009

iTrader: (7)

..... where do I start


ProCharged LS1, 530rwhp, 440rwtq, Six Speed, Spec 3 Clutch, Stock Driveline with 3.91 gears.

ET Streets on 17" stock wheels last season on the track....

ET Drags on 15" Bogarts this season for the track.....

Everything is holding together just fine with 4500-5500rpm launches, cutting 1.54-1.65 short times.

Probably on borrowed time but I believe the tires have a lot to do with it holding together! Choose your tires and parts wisely then hope for the best!

TrakDay

iTrader: (7)

I blew up just about every part in the back half of my car atleast 2 times... But then again I seem to have **** luck with stuff like that. All of this happened making about 550-600rwhp... My Nittos tore up one setup, and then the MT et streets tore up the others...

Again I have had worse luck than most with the rear in my car... Which is why I now have a SRA Moser 9"... LOL

s/c'd cav

iTrader: (10)

ive seen 04's go through stub's more than anything , the axles usually fall out from lack of lock tite and improper tq , the lsd isnt the best but ive seen/heard of more 05-06's doing 1 wheelie peelies

havent seen anyone go through a gear set , and several guys have put over 750rwhp through um and 9-10 sec 1/4 miles

but as it goes with anything out there , you SERIOUSLY abuse the **** out it and its GOING TO BREAK its just a matter of time

and it sounds like the guys you know are serious abusers

TrakDay

iTrader: (7)

I broke a gear set!!! haha... It wasnt pretty. It was whining and grinding on a 2 hour drive from Valdosta to Jacksonville. Then I trailered it back to st. pete and drove it one more time to put it on the flat bed to haul it to the shop... gears gave out before we could line the car up with the flat bed... Just lots of loud clunking and no real movement!

s/c'd cav

iTrader: (10)

is that what started your straight axle swap ?

Summerwolf

iTrader: (3)

yeah but you're running way more than a "bolt on street tire car" lol.

V8EATR

i guess the majority of the rears are ok just some bad seeds. ive asked around alot and have seen guys running 11's hundreds of times with stock stuff and then a handful that have ruined them at 8,000 miles or so. and it seems to be a little more so in the 04's from what i see. so ill just get the harrop cover and see where it goes from there, thanks guys for the input.

Beach Goatxz

Many GTOs (mine included) have a wheel hop problem, that is cured by upgrading the suspension, and putting on better tires than the stock ****. If your buddies just tried to power through the wheel hop, they could very easily break something in the rear end. Aside from that, its just like any other car, a few of them are going to have stuff break. You just get it fixed. Most cars you find will have broken by now if they were going to.

All in all, there is not an epidemic of broken stubs and rear ends with GTOs, except maybe the nitrous or FI guys breaking them launching at the strip. Your story is actually the first I've heard of it on a near-stock car or on the street.