Hello all, back from the shadows. I finally got the ol' 72 Dart back on the road, and after fixing what 6 years of sitting can do, I can say that I've missed driving it.
Now while it was sitting, I found a great deal on a 8 3/4 Sure-Grip to bolt in place of my sickly 7 1/4. I haven't driven the car with the new axle assy until this weekend. I expected cruising to be hindered with 3.91 gears (was 2.76), but it sounds like the title describes. At 60 it doesn't matter if the windows are up or down; you can't hear thunder for the axle noise! I pulled the chunk, gears look fine, I adjusted the lash to spec, and put it all back together. Better below 20 mph, same wailing any higher. From what I've gathered, the gears were probably not setup right (aka before I got em) and have "lapped" wrong. Sound about right? Any tips on rebuilding? I know some pros are here.? Oh, and I went
from 22 to 13 mpg with just the axle swap. No further adjustment to carb or timing yet. Around 3000 @ 55.
But I can bounce the headlights with the go pedal at that same speed. 