8 3/4 for 73 dart swinger

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You know if you find and A body one, it will be a small bolt pattern.
I can't say a cheap way to do it.
Get a B body and shorten everything? I don't think that would be really cheep.
I venture to say most people get the housing and put Moser axles in it with back spacing for the wider (modern 2 1/4?) brake shoes and a big bolt pattern.
 
Whatever you do please do not redrill the axles for the BBP. That's a death wish waiting to happen.
Watch the can of worms I just opened. And all the people that will chime in on the topic. Let the games begin.
 
Get a C-body and have it narrowed. You get 742 or 489 case, 11" brakes, chance of non-tapered axles that can be cut/resplined.
 
65-70 B body rear...apparently people run the perches with a 1/2" difference per side with no issues, or you can knock off the old ones and weld on new ones from Mancini...and is probably your most likely candidate, you get the BBP and it gives you a little bit more rear track to fill the wheel wells...just gotta measure up before you buy wheels.

A body rear with Dr Diff axles

C/E body narrowed to fit

Any option is gonna relieve your account of at least $500-600 minimum unless you're the type of person who falls into puddles of **** and comes out smelling of roses...
 
For a Swinger I personally wouldn't use a 68-70 B body rear, although I would consider a 65-67 B-body 8 3/4. The 68-70 is wider than a 65-67, and because the Dart body style has narrower wheel tubs the 68-70 will be a tougher fit. With 17 or 18" rims it could still work but getting enough backspace on 15" rims would be tough, and pulling the wheels on and off would require dropping the suspension to full extension because of the low wheel openings. I run a 68-70 B body 8 3/4 rear in my Duster, but Duster's have more room in the wheel wells and a taller wheel opening than the Dart's do. Regardless, if you use a B body 8 3/4 you need to move the perches. B-body perches are 44" center to center, A-body perches are 43" center to center. Wallowing out the holes in the perches and forcing the springs laterally to match the wider perches is a lousy way to do things and will have consequences (less tire clearance for one). Yes, you can do it, but there's a lot of shadetree crap that you can do that's still the wrong way to do things. And if someone says they've done it and not had "issues", they just haven't noticed the issues, which is not the same as not having issues. There's no way to avoid the decrease in tire clearance, that's just a fact. Side loading the springs will have a negative effect on handling, which may go unnoticed, and the spring bushings will wear out faster, which probably also would go unnoticed given that most people don't log a lot of miles on their A-bodies anymore. Doesn't mean it's not happening though.

E-body 8 3/4's would not be a good choice to narrow, the axles have a tapered step down so they can't be re-splined. The housing can be shortened no problem, but you'd still have to buy new axles. Most C-body or truck 8 3/4 axles can be re-splined, so if you want to save some money you can have those housings shortened and the axles re-splined, which is a little cheaper than buying new axles.

Depending on your build, you may not need an 8 3/4. If you want to keep in Mopar, you can use a 73+ A body 8.25 rear axle, or even an F-body 8.25" rear axle. For a moderately build street car you'd do just fine with one of those. The F-body 8.25 axle will be a little wider, it's about the same as a 65-67 B body 8 3/4 rear for width, but it would still work if you moved the perches.

Here's a list showing the 8 3/4, and some 8.25" rear axle specs including width, perch locations, etc.
An accurate 8 3/4" rear axle width list
 
I would look for a 8 3/4" A body rear first, sometimes things just fall into your lap. Check for A body car too, some pile of junk that might contain the 8 3/4". You never know.....
 
txstang84 said:
Brilliant points blu
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I dunno about brilliant, most of it's just stuff you run into when you start swapping rear axles into different model/bodystyle cars.

Lelo Dart said:
I would look for a 8 3/4" A body rear first, sometimes things just fall into your lap. Check for A body car too, some pile of junk that might contain the 8 3/4". You never know.....
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If you can pick one up for less than the usual eBay asking price these days the A-body 8 3/4 might actually be the "cheapest and easiest". Just buy a bare A-body 8 3/4 housing and a set of Dr. Diff axles, then source the BBP brakes from a wrecking yard (they came on RWD cars until the early 90's). Buying a complete A-body 8 3/4 is kind of a waste unless you want the SBP axles and brakes, otherwise you have to get rid of that stuff anyway if you want BBP axles. Then all you have to buy is a 3rd member, which you might also be able to pull out of a truck or van at the wrecking yard. If cheap is what you want, just look for an open carrier 741 3rd member, they can be had pretty cheap if you don't have to ship one.

If you can get a decent price on the A-body housing, you might actually come out ahead of buying a C-body or truck rear axle. Especially if you have to pay someone to shorten the housing. Having the longer axles re-splined does save some money, more if you can find someone local to do it. Otherwise shipping them to Moser and back will eat up most of your savings. Dr. Diff sells the whole axle set up with green bearing installed for $300.
 
Ok, perhaps not brilliant, but salient and concise.

I merely offered that I know that people on this forum have swapped in B body rears without relocating the perches (although I agree it's not the greatest idea), also, swapping in a different body rear should always be accompanied by measuring before dropping green on wheels (which is what I'll hopefully be doing in the not so distant future).
 
txstang84 said:
Ok, perhaps not brilliant, but salient and concise.

I merely offered that I know that people on this forum have swapped in B body rears without relocating the perches (although I agree it's not the greatest idea), also, swapping in a different body rear should always be accompanied by measuring before dropping green on wheels (which is what I'll hopefully be doing in the not so distant future).
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...and, knocking off the perches and welding on new ones is pretty easy, and the perches are only $40 maybe??
 
Here's a new one- Dr. Diff is selling A-body housings!

He's asking $695 for an A-body width housing and his BBP axles. That's $400 for a powdercoated housing, which isn't bad. Seems to me the bare housings go for around $500 quite a bit, so, getting a good, straight, powdercoated housing and new axles for $695 isn't a horrible deal. You might be able to do better sometimes, but you can certainly do worse too.

Mopar A-Body 8 3/4" Housing & Axle Package

Maybe Cass @DoctorDiff will chime in, this must be a pretty new offering from him.
 
I honestly didn't even know they carried new housings...billet ends and the powdercoating sweeten the deal.
 
txstang84 said:
I honestly didn't even know they carried new housings...billet ends and the powdercoating sweeten the deal.
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Neither did I, saw them while I was checking on something else at doctordiff.

Alaskan_TA said:
Quote from the link - "built with vintage center stamping"

So not 100% new but still a good price.
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Right, most likely shortened housings from other applications. Still not a bad deal, especially for someone that's looking to go BBP.
 
Well, yea, but if you're taking that "vintage" center, fixing any issues, jigging it, and installing new billet ends and correctly installed perches, it might as well be new. And for that price, it's a damn sight better than buying an untouched 40+ year old unit that needs all the same treatment and is the same price.

It makes me shake my head when I see that **** on eBay...empty housing where someone just gutted a scaly old rust bucket and wants $600...I guess I found a steal when I bought my housing with good axles (even though they are SBP) for $400 (including shipping) then a 741 pig with 3.23 SG for $410 (again, with shipping). And I still had to buy the lock tab, and backing plates, shock plates...and I still need the brake lines. I'm gonna be in that thing for over a grand by the time it's ready to bolt in-and they're all USED parts...I don't even know if the SG unit is good, so I'll probably rebuild it just for good measure before it all goes together.

Oh...and I'll still need new leafs too...lol
 
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