7.25 questions

[37fleetwood]

You know, of all the stuff I've played with, a 7.25 isn't on the list.:-D
so I've been reading about the possible options.
I'm putting a rather mild 318 in my '64 and eventually want to go with a 5 speed, and wanted to do some other upgrades. I have 73 Duster disc brakes up front and want to get to the larger bolt pattern in back and possibly a better rear gear for the 5 speed.

question one, the axle flange on my '64 has 4 bolts and I want to go to large bolt pattern which has 5, can I just pull the axles out of the 7.25 I have out of a 77 Aspen and change the flange (on the axle) and they'll slide right in? are the bearings the same? are the axles the same? do I use the '77 bearings or the '64 bearings? has anyone done this? I could simply just change the whole rear end if it's easier.

next question, I've been reading about gear ratio. will the 3.90:1 gears out of a later Dakota with a 7.25 simply fit in my housing? will I need the whole center section or just the ring and pinion?

is all this even worth it? I can just go to the junk yard and get an Explorer rear end, and cut it down fairly cheap. I'd probably need to cut the drive line.

 

[grumpuscreature]

Doesn't really matter what you do to it, a 7 1/4" rear will grenade behind a V8. I wouldn't waste money I could use to install an upgrade on parts to beef one up.
Having said that, the Aspen axles are too long for your housing and won't work without being cut and resplined. The '64 also has a ball and trunnion driveline which won't work with a slip yoke style 5 speed. I would run what you have until it was time for the tranny swap and do the rear swap at the same time.

 

[37fleetwood]

thanks for your input. the aspen rear end is exactly the same width, flange to flange, as my Dart rear end, is there some reason to believe the axles would be a different size?
my idea was to get the rear end to large bolt pattern so the front and back are the same for now and start working on a rear end for when I get everything gathered for the 5 speed swap.

 

[Kernel Sanders]

I do beleive the axles (and housing ends) are different and NON-interchangable to the best of my knowledge and from what I have read the last couple days.

I just pulled my 7.25 (1976) last week and tore into it before disposal to see why it was done-done lol