2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (20)

Ive been doing some research and it seems like these H2 rear ends are a hot item and pretty hard to get. I called a friend that runs a yard and he said he would keep a look out for a wrecked H2 but they are bid up insanely high when they come up on auctions.

Considering this --- what the real advantage to go for the swap? I believe the stocker will handle **** tons of power. Are you doing this for the dually conversion you mentioned earlier? Can you get better lockers/diffs with the H2 rear?

I also heard that some H2 rears come stock with an electric locker!

arthursc2

iTrader: (5)

All H2 rears are equipped with an e locker from factory.

Any 14bolt stock will handle what an 80-90% built 10bolt will. The op and thousands of other 10bolt owners have destroyed it with just stock power.

Spend 1500 on building an axle that is still weak, or spend 1200 to swap to an axle that won't break under a 5000lb, 500hp vehicle? Seems pretty straight forward to me.

I bought my H2 rear for $600, which is less than a carrier, axles, girdle cover and gears would have cost to build my 10 bolt.

Suburbazine

I got this one for about $750 from the local yard, has 71,000 miles on it and brand new brakes (at the time of wreck). My primary reason for getting it was for the significantly improved durability. The dually desire is just icing on the cake.

All H2 rears have Eaton electronic lockers. The locker is not intended for high speed use though, the engagement slots are pretty elongated so the pins can bang around and tear them up. The stock H2 rear end can survive 7-800HP in a truck, it's weight limited more than power limited because of the semi float design.

The stock 10 bolt can handle about 700hp in a Corvette. In a truck, they'll die at 300hp. They can go a long ways, but it's asking for trouble to hot rod it. You can't see it in my picture, but the ring gear on mine is broken in 7 places in addition to the other carnage (but the pinion gear still looks good haha) and there is a hairline fracture of the case around the drain plug. The axle shafts are both twisted and can't be removed.

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (20)

That probably explains it then. I have 400 HP (guess) and AWD. So the rear never sees that much power. But in this last snow storm I felt like my G80 wasn't working at all. One tire was always spinning.

Im about to go either NVG4500 or 4L80E since my tranny increasingly feels more slushy so that will include a 4WD tcase. Which is where I might get into trouble and need one of these. Sorry for the thread hijack here but everything you guys said might be very useful in the next couple of months.

Thanks!

Suburbazine

About time for an update: Got the rear end in and almost installed. Spohn sent me the wrong spacers for the panhard bar so I'm waiting a few more days to get the replacements in. Got H2 wheels for now until I can budget for dually wheels (about $1000 with adapters, plus body work). Planning to run 275/55R17 General Grabber UHP, kind of torn as to whether I should get the 255 for sidewall stability or the 275 for traction.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

Dually???

axisT6

iTrader: (3)

I would not convert to a dually using a semi-floating axle....

Suburbazine

Yep, definitely planning to do it in the near future. Aside from the added weight, offers a host of wet traction and cost benefits over a super wide tire in a daily driveable format.

I'm not using the dually as a means to increase load capacity so I shouldn't be stressing the bearings much more than a very wide tire would. My truck is considerably lighter than a Hummer too- almost 2000lbs lighter in stripped down configuration.

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (20)

And it will look mean as hell.

Suburbazine

Ok, got that off my chest.

Left rear axle is bent at the flange. It's not badly bent which is why I didn't notice it until letting the wheels spin (this side rubbed on brake pads though...) Now I get to do axles...