I thought my rear end went bad along with my VC so I got a new tranny and rear for a good combo price. Turns out the rear is perfectly fine, works as good as ever. My friend wants to buy the 4 bolt to swap into his car because he messed up his driver's side axle. Should I sell it to him or put it in my car??

My goal for this car is about 330-350 awhp on my 16g and later a little bit more on a HX35. Would a 3 bolt handle that realiably? They seem like tough little buggers, and the diff itself doesn't look too much different, just the axles...

Opinions??? I'd appreciate it if you gave me concrete reasons...

Hard launches will kill a 3-bolt, so if you plan on doing track duty where you're dropping at 6K every time you line up, then swap it out.

Put the 4 bolt in yours and sell him your 3 bolt parts to fix what he messed up.

Yah, I'd keep the 4Bolt for sure.
Sell the 3Bolt and parts for it.

Well he was going to buy the thing for 300 bucks... so I'm wondering on whether or not I really need it. My 3 bolt works just fine... I launch hard but I don't do clutch drops, I have a feeling the tranny would go before the rear. Anybody with real experience have anything to add???

I've run 12's on mine without issues, and a local here runs mid 11's on his, the stock 3 bolts seems fairly strong to me.

Sell the 3bolt and put the 4bolt in your car. 3bolts will hold quite a bit of power, but over time will slowly begin to fall apart, or let loose all at one. The 4bolt however is proven into the 9's and still hold up. Its better off to start off with the good stuff rather than kicking yourself in the foot when weak stuff breaks and you have to go though hell to get another 4bolt.

I would keep the 4 bolt as well good insurance.

Keep the 4-bolt and do it right the first time, you won't regret it.

I broke my 3 bolt axles twice when I was still running 13's! And no, I didn't do 6k clutch drops... I quit abusing my cars back when I was 19.

Keep the 4 bolt, sell the 3 bolt. Upgrading is never a bad thing. You always want to have a little more than you need, not need a little more than you've got.

Rick - '91 GSX

agreed, keep the 4 bolt and sell the 3 bolt. i snapped an axle on my 3 bolt after launching it, which in turn tore up the diff. i replaced it with another 3 bolt cause i couldnt find a 4 bolt, and that busted on me after about 1 year. i now have a 4 bolt and its holding up great. i mean you have the 4 bolt, why not swap it?