Truck Tranny Question

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Palmetto

Palmetto

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I want to upgrade my rearend from a 7.25 to a stronger one. A local guy has a rearend he has pulled from a pickup with a 318. Will a truck rearend work in my A-body Dart? Or will I need to modify something? My car has a 318 with a 904 trans. It was originally a slant 6 car with the wimpy rearend and I want to put a beefy rearend up underneath it.

Thanks
 
if this is of any help, i was after a whole new 8 3/4 for my 74 W100 (thanx to the dumbass who blew a red light) i had one sitting around from an early 70s B body, and the truck setup had a solid inch more width to it, and the spring perches werent even close.
 
The truck rearend will be about a foot wider than the A-body rearend and the spring perches are way off too. It will need the spring perches relocated and narrowed and shorter axles to fit your a-body. In fact any rearend you find that isn't out of an A-body will likely need some sort of modification(s) to work in an A-body.

BTW: an 8-3/4 is quite overkill for a 318 unless your running a big shot of nitrous. Why not look for a 8-1/4 rear? Their tons cheaper and plenty tough for most any 318. I ran one in a 93 Dakota I use to race and it lasted for yrs. and it was in a much heavier vehicle with a pretty stout 318 magnum.
 
Palmetto said:
Would an F-body rearend do? I know where a rusted out 76 RR is sitting.
Click to expand...

If it's an 8-1/4" it can be made to work farily easy. I'm running into some conflicting info but it looks like it will probably be approx. 2" wider than a A-body rearend but if you use wheels with more offset that'll put them back where stock A-body wheels set. The spring perches are 43" center to center on an A-body and 44-1/2" center to center on a F-body. You'd need to cut them off and weld them back on where they need to be. Be super careful welding them back on as it don't take much at all to warp axle tubes. Weld 1/2-3/4" at a time with plenty of cooling time in between welds. Also make sure and get them back on at the exact same angle as stock so the pinion angle isn't thrown off.

BTW: you may also have to modify the driveshaft length depending on what you've got now.
 
Palmetto said:
Would an F-body rearend do? I know where a rusted out 76 RR is sitting.
Click to expand...


unless you run a duster or another A that is as wide an F body rear won't fit without mods; the 76 RR will likely be 8 1/4

why not just find the proper 8 1/4 A body rear? will be cheaper in the end then having axles made/finding A body ones and having the axle tubes cut/perches moved
 
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