**r*a*n*t**

Well I for one am not mad or upset or anything like that, I hear what your saying, I just dont see that your hearing what is being said. The 8 3/4 (rare and special jewel that it can be) is simply a better rear than the 8.25, 7.25, beyond all doubt in refrence to strength, even in the 8 3/4 world their are three flavours in respect to the actual pumkin (banjo) housing in that their is a 741 housing (weakest), 742, and 489 (strongest), as has been mentioned they are a more "effiecient" reear as far as parasitic drag and horsepower consumption (one of the major arguments for why one would use a 904 auto trans over a 727, it uses LESS horsepower which means more of the power you are making is going towards making your car move forward ("Quickly"). One of the points not mentioned is the fact the 8 3/4 runs a tapered timken roller bearing, for any who are into SERIOUS road racing, auto cross, etc, this is an important item to consider. A dana 60 is "A BIG F*&^IN REAR, PERIOD) we all know it, is it HUGE overkill in an A body, hell yah, but if you got one and the cost is right, I would never knock ya for running it, (knocking 1 to 2 tenths off your ET will always be better than me tryin to make mine 1 or 2 tenths faster). The Ford 9 is a good rear also, has an outstanding history in drag racing, BUT it is still a non mopar rear (a big deal to any hard core moparite) and is generally not as good a rear for the above mentioned auto cross, road racing, etc. They do have huge gear selection for them and if your truly hard core I am sure you can swap tapered bearings into them , but it is still not a mopar item. Part of what makes my mopar great to me is it is a MOPAR, not some cross bread bastard with a half dozen makers parts mixed together (I already have one of those in the form of a jeep).
In the end, you may not like what some have to say on the subject, but the facts speak for themselves, and you'll run what you 1.Want 2.Have available 3.Can afford. I don't think anybody here cares whether it's an 8.25 that your going to run just because everyone else says it wont survive or a Dana 60 because you got money and horsepower to spare, as long as your willing to line up and have your butt handed to you at the track :twisted: