9.5SF Swap

[Tonyrodz]

Well it's done. Stand by for burnouts.......

One picture is full drop the other at ride weight. Bags still need the lines routed and I plan on some more bling bling after a could weeks of testing.

View attachment 245870 View attachment 245871

Well it's about time lol! How is it?

 

[Dantheman1540]

 

[Dantheman1540]

Like stock but actually locks like it's supposed to.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Actually on hard launches the exhaust is now hitting the spare tire cross member. Kinda strange since I didn't low it any more. I guess the bump stops were limiting it before. When I get air in the bags it may cure it but I will likely notch a little out.

Also I have a little less than 1" between the panhard and diff cover. Glad I got the QA1 curved bar. Going to email some companies tomorrow and see if their covers will fit but I'm thinking not. Not a big deal since the 9.5 isn't known to suffer terribly from carrier deflection.

Sway bar ended up with plenty of room so I'm still on the hunt for a hellwig!

I will try to update the first post tomorrow with a breakdown of what parts and mods were actually needed.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Strange I was going to update the first page with an exact breakdown of what parts need to be ordered and modified to do this swap. However it doesn't give me the option to edit my post like it does all the other posts in this thread.

So you have a GMT800 SUV and you want a better rear end for well under $1,000. Find yourself a rear end from a GMT900 SUV with RPO code AXN which has the 9.5" ring gear, 14 bolts on the rear cover and 33 spline axles. I used one out of a 2011 Yukon Denali.

Parts needed to buy:

-AXN coded axle with your choice of gear ratio

-U joint that is GM 3R on one side for the factory drive shaft and 1350 on the other. Part number (5U211-Neapco)

-QA1 Panhard bar (With the bend in it) Part# QA1-5262

-Zipties to secure parking brake to panhard bar



Parts needed to reuse off your original 10bolt rear end:

-Parking brake/splash guard

-Brake rotors, calipers and pads

-Brake lines from both sides


Overall the swap was very easy and can easily be completed in 1-2 days.

 

[mattt]

Is there a reason that you did not use the brakes that were on the 9.5SF axle?

 

[Dantheman1540]

Is there a reason that you did not use the brakes that were on the 9.5SF axle?

Didn't come with any or I probably would have. Also the 10bolt had nearly new powerstop rotors and pads. Plus this way I can order brakes front and rear for a 2004 tahoe and not have any issues.

 

[mattt]

Ahh okay. I didn't know if there was something about them that was different enough that they wouldn't work on an 800 application. Keeping all original brakes for an 04 Tahoe does make sense and keep it easy. Very nice work and write up, Thank you.

 

[randeez]

if the axle does come with the backing plates, rotor, caliper it all should work. brake line may need to be adapter but i think its pretty common upgrade from gmt800>gmt900 brakes so might work. but yea most scrap yards will pull the calipers, cause thats 50c worth of aluminum scrap!, instead of just leaving them on - when my axle came they cut the brake line also so i had to transfer the one from my 10bolt over


up a few posts i have the spohn adjustable car with the del-phere ends (straight) and its only a few mm from the cover. pretty large diameter but i doubt the hellwig will have much more room

 

[Dantheman1540]

Ahh okay. I didn't know if there was something about them that was different enough that they wouldn't work on an 800 application. Keeping all original brakes for an 04 Tahoe does make sense and keep it easy. Very nice work and write up, Thank you.

Another thing I've heard is the bigger GMT900 brakes throws off the brake bias and makes the rear want to lock up requiring a new proportioning valve. I believe I read that about pickup trucks not SUVs but its still possible. To me it was really about using what I had.