I started taking rear ends apart today to find that the one with the gear set I was planning to use, a 3.23, has shelled out about 1/3 of its teeth so that one's history. I'm beginning to question now, since I will more than likely have to buy a ring and pinion, if it's wise to go any further with the 7.25. I'll probably also forego the suregrip at this point. I'm thinking that my best course is to try to find an 8.25 and get the gear set that I want for it. Failing that I guess I'll go the Phord route though I hate to. The ratio that I'm shooting for is a 3.23 or 3.21 but I could probably live with a 3.55. I want to have reasonable, but not neck-snapping, acceleration on the street and decent legs on the highway. The advantage to the 8.25 is the ability to put discs on it via a late model Jeep Cherokee. My research tells me that an A-body 8.25 is 51.4" wide, an F-body is 54.34" and a B-body is 57". The latter two would likely need to be narrowed. Thoughts? Sources?

Related question. How to get the ring and differntial house out of a late, LBP, 7.25? The early one I just pried it out with a large screwdriver but that isn't working with this one. It appears to have some kind of threaded collar. I looked into the axle tube with a flashlight and saw a hexagonal opening but I could not tell what size it is. What tool is needed to reach in there to adjust them?

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

hi, a c-body torsion bar works great and fits the hex adjusters. ron

I have a few 3.23 7 1/4s and have shipped these to far away places at a surprising low cost. (usually I pull-out the axles and remove the backing plates)

I could also "gut" the gears out of the unit and just ship those.
Drop me a PM.
DD

Thanks Doc. Let me go ahead and get the sure grip out of its housing and see what the spider gears look like. If that all looks good I might take you up on that. I'm also going to be looking into the possibility of picking up an 8.25 but I was kind of looking forward to having that suregrip in back.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Good plan, keep me posted. If I remember right, it's a 1 3/16 hex, the right hardware store nut, welded to the end of a steel rod (rebar or ??) get's the job done.
DD

Yah, or you could do it the hard way like I did. Weld a big bolt to the end of rod and file the flats down until it fits.

Oh well, it's what we had on hand at the time, so I made it work.

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'15 Chrysler 200S V6
'74 Duster 360, factory 4 speed car

One more question I need to ask... is the later setup any stronger or more reliable than the early? I know there is a change in the size of the pinion nut but I don't know if that translated into a larger pinion shaft. I also noticed that the axles were considerably beefier. Does the sure-grip contribute to the strength of the unit at all? I don't want to sink a bunch of time and, more importantly, money into a dead end.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

A Sure Grip in a 7 1/4 makes it much stronger but I would not spend a bunch of money to set one up that way.
Bottomline, if you have the parts and can do the work yourself, for the cost of a gasket, seals and gear oil, do it.
DD

An installation kit is just shy of $100.00. That includes all new bearings, seals, and spacers. How much of that do I need? As far as I can tell there are no side spacers in the housing I want to use but I still would need to be able to correctly set the pinion depth, which requires a spacer. I guess I can inspect the bearings and see if they are good. At a minimum I think I probably should get the pinion installation kit.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Well, there was some good news when I took the sure grip rear end apart. First of all, the sure grip seems to be working. The brake adjusters had been lock down for storage and handling and when I released one side and pulled the drum I was unable to turn the axle or the pinion. When I released the other side I could turn them and they both turned in the same direction. Then I pulled the axles and the cover to drain the oil. The the oil drained out and there was no evidence of chips or filings in the oil or in the housing. The gears (2.93) appeared to be in excellent condition with no sign of pitting or chipping. I couldn't see the spider gears and didn't want to disassemble the unit since everything else looked so good. One thing I did notice, the sure-grip appears to have 4 spider gears instead of the 2 that I've been seeing in the open differentials. This, I would think, would add to the overall strength of the unit. The bearings looked good and the races were not pitted or scored; they just showed what I interpret as probably normal wear. I think I've got a good one here.

To revisit the late model housing: I tried an A-body torsion bar and it appeared to be too small to engage the adjusters in the axle housing. A 1 1/4 socket gits over end of the bar perfectly so it seems that size need is in excess of 1 1/4. The bar feels like it's slipping through the opening and turning freely without engaging the adjuster. Could it be that the size is 1 3/8? I'm pretty sure that 1 3/16 will be too small.

Does anyone have the FSM for a mid-70s A-body and can scan the differential section for me - or point me to a place I can find the info.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Did 70 B bodies get 7 1/4's? I have a FSM somewhere.

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's

93 D350 Cummins THD Maxfuel 35mpg parts to hit 400hp+ Suncoast Cat2 A518, converter DDP Stage III injectors 62/64 HX35, 3 piece manifold, 4" Diamond Eye, Gear Venders OD. Stage I street/tow PDD head on order.

I believe some of them did. They were used in Dakotas through 96 as well.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

I put my 65 7.25 gears(3.23) in my 75 housing(2.76?) without a tool to adjust .
I used the handles of a large pair of waterpump pliers to turn the adjusters with the gears out. Stuff handles in hole as far as possible. Turn jaws of pliers to adjust. There are variations on this theme.

It took about 3 tries to get them adjusted to very close. I reinstalled the gears for the last time and took up the last teeniest (.0289 mm ) bit of adjustment using a long drift and judicious "tapping".
For those who must know I measured nothing and set up the whole thing to spin and "feel right". ...

Yes I broke this setup. ....and yes It whined like every other 7.25 but it lasted prolly 30 000 miles like that.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

The problem I'm having is that I cannot seem to pry the old carrier out of the case. It looks like I need to back off the adjuster to give it some room. Also, part of this is intended to be a learning experience so I want to learn how to do it correctly. At this point I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I can pick up an 8 1/4 for a couple hundred then put another 250-300 into gears and do without the Sure-Grip plus have the driveline shortened, or I can put a couple hundered into gears and have the Sure-Grip in the 7 1/4 and have everything bolt up simply and cleanly. Yesterday I was sure I wanted to go the 8 1/4 route, today I'm leaning the other way. No easy answers it seems.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Im liking the 8.8 swap more and more.

Ive been working 12 hour days .......

The U bolts have been shipped wrong twice now.

I have looked at the brake lines and E brake cables.

Stay tuned.......

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....