96 to 99 Front diff swap

[Blue 04 Z71]

Can I take my diff from my 96 and put it in my 99? The 96 is push button transfercase and so it the 99 but the 99 has the auto feature. I want to swap to 373 gears from 342.

 

[great white]

Nope.

Pushbutton to pushbutton is no issue.

Auto to auto is not issue.

Pushbutton to auto pushbutton is a no-no. Won't work. Different boxes.

 

[Blue 04 Z71]

Damn I was under it today and the front diffs look identical minus the actuator.

 

[great white]

Damn I was under it today and the front diffs look identical minus the actuator.

Hold on, I mislead you:

The transfer cases are a no-no. The front differential should be a straight swap.

Sorry, had transfer case stuck in my head when you said pushbutton.

 

[Blue 04 Z71]

Hold on, I mislead you:

The transfer cases are a no-no. The front differential should be a straight swap.

Sorry, had transfer case stuck in my head when you said pushbutton.

Good deal. I figured it "should" swap but ya never know.

 

[great white]

As long as they are both 8.25 differentials, you should be good.

 

[Blue 04 Z71]

I will have to swap actuators though. The 96 is still thermal and the 99 is electric. They should just unscrew and swap out right? Ive been reading about when switching the 96 over you need some sort of spacer?

 

[great white]

Oh, you want to keep the servo actuator.

The servo is a direct replacement for the TLA:

http://www.getdieselpower.com/cars/actuator_upgrade/GM_TRUCK_4X4_ACTUATOR_UPGRADE.html

In your instance it should just thread in to the 96 case and you're good to go.

 

[Blue 04 Z71]

Ok I wasn't sure if I needed that spacer or not.

 

[great white]

Hmm, it's possible I may have mislead you again.

If you look at the link I posted, there is indeed a spacer included in the retrofit kit....which is essentially what you are doing minus the wiring.