by Shdwdrgn » Fri Jun 19, 2015 2:53 pm
It's possible to take the diff out through the bottom without removing the oil pan (you have to drop the steering linkage and jack up the motor a little). You might get lucky and find the magic hole right off, or like me you might spend hours twisting and turning before it finally falls out... but once you find that point it seems to slide in and out like butter after that. Oh, and spend a little extra to replace all three seals before you put the new one in, because the last thing you want to do is lose another weekend pulling it again for a $10 part.
And yeah, for the effort involved you might as well switch to the 4.10s. Unless you spend 100% of your driving in the interstate, the 3.42's are good for nothing except making GM's numbers look better. Most of my driving is spent in rush-hour traffic, and the 4.10's respond a lot better, and haven't affected my mileage. Once you make it through the front diff, swapping out the rear will be a breeze. It's a rather expensive upgrade, but its oh-so worth it.
GT5/G80, 265/70-16, PCMforLess + personal tuning, quad headlights
Self-made steel front bumper / pushbar / skid / CAI / lightbar