Suitable rear end sources for Gen II Barracuda

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Minercar

LargeDreamsSmallCapital
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I'm going on a weekend excursion to one of the local pick and pulls and they have quite a few jeeps and some Dakotas to choose from. I would like to change out my 67 Barracuda 7.25” rear end for something a little more robust and maybe even get rear disc in the swap. Is there a list of suitable donors that will not need a lot of modification to go into my car?

Thanks in advance.
 
Depends what you consider "a lot of modification". None are bolt ins, at a minimum needing the perches located correctly for your application and set the pinion angle.
As far as overall sizing:
A body rears are about 57" drum to drum, depending on which rear it is.
Dakota rears are a bit over 60". BUT after 1990 they went to a 6 lug axle, so '87-'90 is your year range. Be careful, Daks also used the 7.25 axle. Look for the V6 4wd or any V8 for an 8.25. 9.25s only came later, were only 6 bolt, and as far as I know only in the R/T 5.9.
Jeep Cherokees (XJ) were about 58", and had 5x4.5 axles. They used a bunch of different rear ends including the 8.25, so familiarize yourself with how to ID them so you don't end up with a Dana 35, which can look similar. You could find 27 spline 8.25s in '91-'96 XJs, and 29 spline 8.25s from '97-'01.
Jeep Grand Cherokees (ZJ) rears are about 60.5 wide, but were coil sprung with control arms, so there's a lot of junk to cut off of them in order to use them. They are, however, (along with the Jeep Liberty) a great source for rear disc brakes, which will bolt on to virtually any 8.25. Several other rears were also used, so know what you're looking for. Somewhere around '99-'00 they went to a 5x5 bolt pattern.
Jeep Liberty (KK/KJ) widths are similar to the XJ. But unlike the XJ they had rear disc brakes.

With any of these rears you will need to shorten your driveshaft and possibly use an adapter U joint, and you will need the larger U bolts and shock plates from a 8.25 or 8.75 car rear end. Parking brake cables will need to be modded, too.
I'm sure there's other things I'm missing, too.
 
Good job, Mr Lemmon!

Don't overlook the obvious sources before pick n pull. I called a guy in the local Craigs list who's ad just said "Mopar parts".
He gave me the number of his buddy who was parting out a '72 dart.

I got a complete 8-3/4" 3:23 rear and complete Kelsey Hayes disc brake set up for my '67 dirt cheap. The car was only a few minutes from my house too!

I would've never thought those parts would just be so easily available, much less just down the street, but they were...
 
I was able to put an 01 explorer 8.8, disc, tru-trac or whatever, 3:73 in 71 valiant. I did use newer rims, but changed nothing but spring perches. And at that, only replicated the angle from the 7.25
 
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