2.76 vs 2.94 gearing

the 7.25 gets a bum rap for a few reasons. it was a lightweight axle to begin with, and people tend to forget these cars were built as basic disposable transportation back then. ma mopar didn't intend for these axles to last 40, 50, 60 years.

another part of it is that as people upgraded they quickly exceeded the limits of the components. from the start they weren't intended to take that much power. then you add bigger tires with more traction and now you've just pulled the pin on a grenade.

a final piece of the puzzle is that these rear ends have been in service for-ev-er. underneath bread and butter hand me down cars that every teen and 20 something (and 40 something) takes great delight in doing brake stand burnouts and half a block long one wheel peels.

is it any wonder that they break after that much abuse? you have something that's far exceeded its intended application in use, time and power level-- and been doing so well past the whole "best by date".

to me, 7.25 is just a stop gap. sure you can go get another one for $10 and a burrito. and then one afternoon you're making a right and dip your 205/70-14 into some water at the curb, goose it a little to get in front of the on coming bus and she sizzles just a little, hits the dry pavement and suddenly it sounds like two robots ******* in a dumpster and all the toofs of them gears is in the bottom of the housing and you're back in the same boat again.