3.45 Differential install

Drivetrain discussion including Transmission, Differential, Driveshaft, and related items.
Post Reply
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

I purchased a 2013 Camaro SS manual transmission differential on Ebay. It had 17,000 miles on it. $850 with free shipping and it had new axle seals installed. I removed the rear cover, checked for metal particles, drained the rest of the fluid, installed a new cover gasket and painted the rear cover. I also ordered some polyurethane, BMR BK-001, street durometer of 68. Drilled out the old bushings with a 2-1/4" hole saw and then with the edge of straight file cut a relief across the inside body of the remaining steel shell. Was very careful not to cut into the aluminum bushing housings. I used a couple of different drifts and chisels to push the old bushing shell towards the inside, peeling it away from the aluminum wall of the housing. I took my time and a lot of patience (two nights after work) to do this.
On Saturday morning I met my friend Jeff who owns J2 Speed here in Southwest Omaha, NE. With his help, we accomplished this swap in 2.5 hours.
Two things of note, from our mistakes that would make things go faster. 1) Drain the old differential first. We found out the hard way removing the old diff. 2) Set the trans into neutral BEFORE removing right rear caliper. We had the caliper removed before I had removed the 3 drive shaft bolts. I jumped into the car to put it into neutral to rotate the drive shaft. To get it into neutral you need to depress the brake pedal. DOH! Spent a little time gaining pad spacing to re-install the caliper.
NOTE: I have added the bushing removal pics further down this thread!
Attachments
1-Getting Started at 1100.jpg
1-Getting Started at 1100.jpg (152.29 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
2-Exhaust Removed.jpg
2-Exhaust Removed.jpg (109.93 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
3-Caliper and upper control arm removed.jpg
3-Caliper and upper control arm removed.jpg (147.04 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
Last edited by Pursuit on Tue May 27, 2014 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

As the install progresses. We also removed the ABS sensor connector, wire and the push-in wire retention clip from the hub assembly.
Attachments
4-Entire rear hub assembly removed.jpg
4-Entire rear hub assembly removed.jpg (159.55 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
5-Another view of rear hub assembly removed .jpg
5-Another view of rear hub assembly removed .jpg (162.95 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
6-Rear hub assembly with splines and CV joint protected.jpg
6-Rear hub assembly with splines and CV joint protected.jpg (200.6 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
Last edited by Pursuit on Tue May 27, 2014 9:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

Still making progress
Attachments
7-Driver's side differential bolt hits shield.jpg
7-Driver's side differential bolt hits shield.jpg (117.61 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
8-Differential removed with drivers side CV joint and bellows protected.jpg
8-Differential removed with drivers side CV joint and bellows protected.jpg (162.83 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
9-PPV Differential.jpg
9-PPV Differential.jpg (151.34 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

Camaro 3.45 Differential versus the PPV 2.92 Diff
Attachments
10-Camaro 3.45 on left PPV 2.92 on right.jpg
10-Camaro 3.45 on left PPV 2.92 on right.jpg (143.94 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
11-PPV diff on left Camaro on right.jpg
11-PPV diff on left Camaro on right.jpg (151.6 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
12-Another view.jpg
12-Another view.jpg (154.84 KiB) Viewed 29719 times
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

Camaro diff in car. It took one full bottle of the GM approved Differential fluid and one bottle of the LSD Friction modifier. Synthetic Fluid PN 88900401 and Friction Modifier PN 88900330. Filled right to the bottom of the fill plug. We had the right rear wheel back on at 1:30pm. All we had left to do was to install the exhaust and re-program with HP Tuners.We were hungry and decided to do a quick lunch. Tuning was quick and easy, verified with GPS later that afternoon. Did a few figure "8's" left and right and no noise coming from the rear end.
This modification really woke the car up. Right now the tires will slip at the 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 shifts, but does not spin through the gears like I thought it might. It does get into the traction control in Normal mode. With the Performance Mode engaged, it still just barks the tires.
One of the best mods I have done!
Attachments
13-Camaro differential in car.jpg
13-Camaro differential in car.jpg (155.41 KiB) Viewed 29717 times
14-Fill and Drain plugs.jpg
14-Fill and Drain plugs.jpg (158.6 KiB) Viewed 29717 times
15-Right rear wheel back on at 1330.jpg
15-Right rear wheel back on at 1330.jpg (169.74 KiB) Viewed 29717 times
Last edited by Pursuit on Tue May 27, 2014 9:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
User avatar
Tom Slick
Posts: 559
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:27 pm
Location: Midlothian, TX
Contact:

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Tom Slick »

Sweet!

I figured this would be one of the best bang for your buck mods for our cars!

Later!
Tom Slick
1932 Glassic Ford Model A Roadster Replica - Ford 302/C4, approx. 1400lb... :-)
2015 GMC Sierra SLE Extended Cab - 5.3L
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

Here are the Bushings and the carnage involved!
Attachments
All three bushing shells.jpg
All three bushing shells.jpg (160.46 KiB) Viewed 29713 times
Close-up of bushing shell.jpg
Close-up of bushing shell.jpg (164.46 KiB) Viewed 29713 times
Differential housing with bushings removed.jpg
Differential housing with bushings removed.jpg (207.9 KiB) Viewed 29713 times
Rubber bushings after being hole sawed .jpg
Rubber bushings after being hole sawed .jpg (154.64 KiB) Viewed 29713 times
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
User avatar
Tom Slick
Posts: 559
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:27 pm
Location: Midlothian, TX
Contact:

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Tom Slick »

Were the original bushing in that bad of shape, or did you just not want to worry about them?


Later,
Tom Slick
1932 Glassic Ford Model A Roadster Replica - Ford 302/C4, approx. 1400lb... :-)
2015 GMC Sierra SLE Extended Cab - 5.3L
Pursuit
Administration Staff
Posts: 969
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:39 pm
Location: Omaha, NE area

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Pursuit »

They were in good shape. Diff was out and available for a bushing upgrade. Why not change/upgrade them? The "street" durometer is just fine. No noticeable noise.

Maurice
Maurice Sheil

mhsheil@gmail.com

2011 Caprice Phantom Black 9C3
2012 Impala 9C1
1995 9C1 Caprice
1996 GMC Sierra C1500
1996 Chevrolet K2500 Extended Cab, long box, 454, 91,000 rust free miles
1974 SJ Grand Prix 455 well optioned with factory moon roof
Gerome
Posts: 322
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:07 pm

Re: 3.45 Differential install

Post by Gerome »

I have been keeping on the lookout for a 3.45 diff . I have seen some deals on the camaro forum but was just a bit late on the trigger . But great mod .
Post Reply