Rear End Swaps
 

Out of curiosity I was wondering if it is really worth doing a Ford 9 inch rear end, I make around 400 and some change horsepower, would a GLSE rear end do fine?

Probably, as I have one in mine with about the same hp. I have never had stickies on it or drag raced really though. I would go with the ford if I did it over just for better gearing. 3.9 on a v8 and all it does is spin in 1st. And by the time you go through the rear end and I have moser axles…..coulda had a ford and no worries about breaking it.

8.8 is the way to go. More swap kits, less weight, plenty of support. But it's not cheap for all the bits to make it fit.

I was looking at DriftingDadPreformance's 8.8 kit, I think this is probably the best possible option for being able to just slap it in and call it good, thoughts?

No.. def not worth it. 9" is Much heavier. 8.8 is more than is needed for 400hp. If you run an auto a factory gslse rear is good for 600ish. Ran one for years that way. If you’re a manual trans guy you may snap axles if you beat on it to hard off the line without preloading it and launching it correctly. I wouldn't' even bother with a rear swap for 400hp personally. Esp if its a street car with street tires.

I will definitely consider this option, I have a buddy with a few GSL-SE rears and tinker around with one of them in my spare time. I have committed to a 8.8 build since this post was made.

curious if that 600 was a rotary?

v8 much more torque

It was a LC2 turbo V6. (Buick grand national motor). Plenty of torque!

In my experience its not the all out TQ that breaks them. They are pretty tough. Its the shock from launching a manual trans setup. I've seen lots of rotaries break the factory rear's. Yet mine lived for years and years with slicks and an auto trans with 2-4x the torque the rotaries make. Its because I didn't "shock" the driveline. It was a progressive constant load.