Well, it is finally done! I could not find an 8 1/4 or 8 3/4 rear for a decent price up here, and after reading heckshemi's post about fitting a ford 8.8 rear under his car, I went with that. It was pretty straight forward. I had an automotive machinist shorten the one side of the housing and weld on the spring perches. I replaced all the bearings/seals and crush sleave myself. I still have the one barrel carb on the engine, but with the 3.75 gears I found it pretty peppy. The trac loc works great. I have a holley 7448 two barrel that I will try to get on this week. The car is a 72 dart with a 904 trans and 225 engine.

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That's cool. When you say you had the housing on one end shortened, did you replace the axle with a shorter one as well? Why only one side?

This thread may be better in the suspension section, but I can't remember how to move a post...

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

i did not have to shorten the axle when i did it for a 74 Dart. i used an 8.8 out of an Explorer.

came with trac-loc and 4.10 gears.

sb

Rob, the explorers rear has two different lenght axles. The drivers side is 3" longer than the passengers. When the drivers side is cut down 3", you can use a passenger side length axle in its place. mopar_nocar, what wheels are you using with that rear?

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What does the width come out to? That is, between wheel mating surfaces.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

the overall length of the cut rear is 56 1/2 from wheel mount surface to wheel mount surface

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i used diplomat 15x7s for a while, the car has sold and the new owner purchased some chrome wheels from discount tires....they seem to work ok. sorry i can't be more help on the wheels.

by the way, it also had disc brakes on it. i used 2 DS brake cables to hook up the E-brake. worked like it was meant to be there. car worked well, stopped well, and the e-brake works.

sb

mopar_nocar, what are DS brake cables?

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DS: Driver's Side?

Thanks for the info on the 8.8 rear swap. Trac-Loc and 4.10s, similar track width... Seems like a good alternative swap for the A body.

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

yup, drivers side....from the explorer. problem is, now that i think about it, it may have been 2 passenger side....in any case its the short one. one brake cable on the explorer is REAL long and doesn't jive with the a body cables at all, the other is short and if you get two of them, they take the place of the factory a-body cables almost perfectly!

sb

what did you do for a driveshatf? I am getting ready to do this swap this summer using a 8.8 out of a ford ranger (got a good deal from a friend)

I had to have my driveshaft shortend 2".

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Oh yeah, make sure you measure the difference between the two axle lengths. That is the amount you shorten the axle tube, on a ranger I dont think it is 3".

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yeah i'm not sure if its the same on a ranger or not. I know my buddy swapped in an explorer rear into his 94 ranger becuase he is into off roading and certain explorer rears have 31 spline axles and i think stock ranger is 28 spline.

If you can find an 8.8 out of a ranger you should grab it. You don't have to narrow it. Ranger and car 8.8s are 28 spline, Explorer and fullsize truck 8.8s are 31 spline.
Look under mazda PUs also as some had 8.8s.

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Franklin
'61 Valiant