Do the three holes in the thing that's welded to the axle, where it sites on the leaf spring adjust steering or affect suspension at all? I want to put the nub on the leaf spring in the front hole instead of the middle one, so that my axle will fit. Is this going to cause me any ride/suspension/driveability issues? Any help would be most appreciated.

By the way, changing axles in the dark, not so bad, you can't see all the other crap you want to fix on your car.

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the most expensive free car I ever got - 74 special edition

The bolt in the center of the leaf springs goes into the middle hole on the axle housing pad. No other location is correct. The middle hole in the axle pad is the centerline of the axle. The bolt in the spring locates the axle in the correct position fore/aft and side-to-side. Take note of the plate under the spring. It has a hole in the center that fits over the other end of the spring bolt. That spring bolt keeps everything lined up. If the axle were fore or aft of it's intended position the U-bolts would be angled, the wheelbase would be off, etc.

Why do you want to move the axle?

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Joshua

I know the middle hole is the correct one, but if the axle is set there, the driveshaft is about an inch too long. I thought I could get away with moving it back a little bit. I have another driveshaft that I'll try tomorrow, it's got a dent which throws the balance off though. I should probably just take some measurements and go to a shop to have a new one made.

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the most expensive free car I ever got - 74 special edition

Yes, you need the correct length driveshaft. if you've replaced a 7 1/4 with an 8 1/4 the original driveshaft is more than 1" too long. The u-joint centerline to axle centerline on the 8 1/4 is 1.60" longer so that's how much shorter the driveshaft should be.

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Joshua