LsXblaze

After countless hours of googling and searching on other forums and comming up with no REAL answers to what s10 trucks had which rear end... i tookit into my own hands to find out exactly which trucks had the 8.5 rear end. I work at a dealership so finding out was fairly easy.... writing it all down wasnt haha. if you feel like i missed something or need to clarify feel free to ask or point it out. also i can get just about any GM part number you think of if you need one.
RPO codes:
GT4-3.73 gear ratio
GT5-4.10 gear ratio
GU4-3.08 gear ratio
GU6-3.42 gear ratio
G80- Positraction, Limited Slip
LB4- 4.3 V6 TBI
LN2- 2.2l 4cyl MFI
LU3- 4.3 V6
L35- 4.3 V6 CPI
M30- Auto 4 SPD trans
M50- Man 5 SPD trans


S10 Pickups
1995 s10 2wd 8.5 rear, (LB4,L35,M30,GU6)
1995-1997 s10 2wd 8.5 rear, (LN2,M30,GT5)
1996-1999 s10 2wd 8.5 rear, (L35,M50,GU4,G80)
2000-2002 s10 2wd 8.5 rear, (M50,GU4,G80)
2003 s10 2wd 8.5 rear, (LU3,M50,GU4,G80)

S10 Blazers
1995-1997 s10 blazer 2wd 8.5 rear, (L35,M50,GU6,G80)
1998-1999 s10 blazer 2wd 8.5 rear, (L35,M50,GU6,G80)
2000-2001 s10 blazer 2wd 8.5 rear, (L35,M50,GU6,G80)
2001-2004 s10 blazer 2wd 8.5 rear, (M50,GU6,G80)
2003-2005 s10 blazer 2wd 8.5 rear, (M50,GU6)

So... for example if you are looking for a 8.5 rear end with 3.42 gears and posi, you can find it in a v6 blazer 2wd with a manual 5spd trans...

There are also 8.5 rear ends in 4x4 s10's but i did not list them... i can if the majority wants them. Hope this helps find the rear end you want.

L$X$10

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for taking the time to post the info up. Hopefully this will make life a little easier for someone.

LsXblaze

Yeah no prob. I just figured theres other people out there that were having as hard of a time as i was trying to figure it out. Nice s10 you got there. pretty cool you were in the 5-1-5-0 music vid.

JoeGibbSilverado

iTrader: (9)

8.5s will also have two square lugs under the inspection cover, while the 7.5s have two small "points". There is also something about the axle tubes going into the center section. Cant remember

nonnieselman

iTrader: (10)

The axle tubes expand before goin into the pumkin.

TXsilverado

iTrader: (19)

s10 4x4 8.5 rears are wider than the 2wd version.

for the most part, only standard 6cyl pickups got the 8.5 rear end, and the standard v6 pickup is pretty rare. very very few automatic transmission have an 8.5 behind them. you are more likely to find an 8.5 in a blazer, but they are still tough to find. i searched craigs list, ebay and car-part.com for months before i gave up and went with a ford 8.8 rear.

LsXblaze

yes visually the 8.5 rear end is wide at pumkin and tapers off, you are correct sir... and the 4x4 8.5 rear ends with posi only came in the zr2 package if i am not mistaken and the zr2 rears are wider than base model 4x4 rear ends

L$X$10

iTrader: (4)

Thanks man and yea it was a damn good time

Koots

I had no idea they came in that many S10 models. I heard about it once or twice and assumed they were something that would show up in the ZR1 models only.

Thanks for digging it all up!

slammedsilvy

iTrader: (3)

My S10 has it, 2001 4.3 5 speed. It came with the factory third hop shock as well.