James' rear end and 4-link adventure
Let me backup a little bit, I had decided to go with Wilwood rear disc brakes. I did run into a problem measuring the offset. Called and talked with Wilwood two different times about how to measure and why my measurement wasn’t matching their options. Sadly, I rationalized that the axles were not bolted down. Which would take place during the install. Order the brakes 2.36” offset and moved on.
Now back to the install. I get a call from Brian that he can’t bolt up the disc brakes with the axles. It turns out most 8-3/4 axles do not have 2.36" offset, the Wilwood rotors will not fit over standard wheel studs, and you need an access hole in the flange to reach the retainer nuts. Yeah! I wish Wilwood would have let me know about this. Hurriedly we jump on a call with Doctor Diff (who of course knew all about these design quirks) and ships out the required axles
A few days later, axles arrive, and we are back in business. The next day, I see I missed a call from Brian and then I get a text “call me”. Damn, this can’t be good. I call him back, after a pause Brian says “I am just going to come right out and say it, your axle housing is bent and is not usable. Basically, it is trash.” I will admit that was a gut punch. At least I didn’t powder coat the housing.
We talked over options – which were few since everything was based on the 8 ¾. And finding a new housing was limited. Basically, Moser was the only option. I ordered the Abody housing, with perches and the back brace installed. Once again, I passed on powder coating the housing. With a little research I found I could order everything through Summit Racing and save $175 on shipping. Ordered.
I called up RMS and told them my story about the bent housing and that I had to order another pair of housing tabs. They sent them free of charge, great product and customer service. About a week later the new housing arrived. No perches! Damn it. A couple days later the perches arrive.
After that everything moved somewhat smoothly. Soon the drive shaft was ordered and installed. There was some drama around the exhaust fitting around the new drive shaft. A little debate if I could run open exhaust. Luckily Brian and his dad were able to muscle the H pipe exhaust to fit.
Next car pickup and test drive
Let me backup a little bit, I had decided to go with Wilwood rear disc brakes. I did run into a problem measuring the offset. Called and talked with Wilwood two different times about how to measure and why my measurement wasn’t matching their options. Sadly, I rationalized that the axles were not bolted down. Which would take place during the install. Order the brakes 2.36” offset and moved on.
Now back to the install. I get a call from Brian that he can’t bolt up the disc brakes with the axles. It turns out most 8-3/4 axles do not have 2.36" offset, the Wilwood rotors will not fit over standard wheel studs, and you need an access hole in the flange to reach the retainer nuts. Yeah! I wish Wilwood would have let me know about this. Hurriedly we jump on a call with Doctor Diff (who of course knew all about these design quirks) and ships out the required axles
A few days later, axles arrive, and we are back in business. The next day, I see I missed a call from Brian and then I get a text “call me”. Damn, this can’t be good. I call him back, after a pause Brian says “I am just going to come right out and say it, your axle housing is bent and is not usable. Basically, it is trash.” I will admit that was a gut punch. At least I didn’t powder coat the housing.
We talked over options – which were few since everything was based on the 8 ¾. And finding a new housing was limited. Basically, Moser was the only option. I ordered the Abody housing, with perches and the back brace installed. Once again, I passed on powder coating the housing. With a little research I found I could order everything through Summit Racing and save $175 on shipping. Ordered.
I called up RMS and told them my story about the bent housing and that I had to order another pair of housing tabs. They sent them free of charge, great product and customer service. About a week later the new housing arrived. No perches! Damn it. A couple days later the perches arrive.
After that everything moved somewhat smoothly. Soon the drive shaft was ordered and installed. There was some drama around the exhaust fitting around the new drive shaft. A little debate if I could run open exhaust. Luckily Brian and his dad were able to muscle the H pipe exhaust to fit.
Next car pickup and test drive