Will an 8 3/4 rear end fit in a 73 dart sport?

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missing linc said:
There is a difference between the Ford and Mopar hub size as well. I don't remember for certain but I think the Ford hub is smaller.
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Yea they would be different. It currently has centerlines, and I'm pretty sure they are properly seated. Ill check this once I can.

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Update:

I pulled the driveshaft

I had the car jacked up and I could rotate the passenger wheel about two inches, and the joint from the driveshaft to the center section would barely move. When I did this to the driver side, there was no play. When I moved the driver side wheel, it was perfectly in rotation to the third member gears.

I have the passenger axel out, but the driver side axel is stuck.

I have all the bolts off for the center section but I think both axels have to
Be pulled out from the center. Is that correct? The passenger side wheel bearing seems to be ok.
 
ratty dart 340 said:
Update:

I pulled the driveshaft

I had the car jacked up and I could rotate the passenger wheel about two inches, and the joint from the driveshaft to the center section would barely move. When I did this to the driver side, there was no play. When I moved the driver side wheel, it was perfectly in rotation to the third member gears.

I have the passenger axel out, but the driver side axel is stuck.

I have all the bolts off for the center section but I think both axels have to
Be pulled out from the center. Is that correct? The passenger side wheel bearing seems to be ok.
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I’m aware this is a ford rearend in a mopar forum, but any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

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Use a slide hammer if you have one, or a good heavy chain attached to the axle and several pulls may dislodge the bearing from the housing.
 
Got a pair of 11" drums? Turn em around put the lugs on about ten threads with the flat side toward the reversed drum, use it like a slide hammer.
 
I have the drum bolted on the opposite way and she ain’t budging. Unfortunately don’t have much room between the wall and the car. I will keep trying
 
Ended up putting it all back together. Just purchased some local headers that will fit, and exhaust to the rear axel. Also have a new gas tank. I think i will end up dropping the whole rear-end with the leaf springs and will have it all rebuilt. Previous owner changed the leaf springs mounting locations I believe, and they also appear to be very poorly welded. I think i will keep the ford 9 inch just because it does fit currently and the driveshaft mates to it as it should. Will end up replacing wheels, tires, u-joints, shocks and some other stuff while its out. However, I will have to figure out why the leaf springs look modified..
 
Are the brake shoes adjustment run in so the shoes clear any ridge that's on the drum?

Difficult to do, but sometimes you gotta.
 
Got the 9 inch out. Found a local shop that will rebuild it. The owner before us moved the leaf springs and the shackles, so that the rear end would fit. My only question is, was there a reason he didn’t just move the bracket that mounts the leaf springs to the dif? That seems that it would be a lot easier.

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Moving the spring pads on the rear-end would enable it to fit, with the springs in the stock location.
Moving the springs in (done poorly imo, judging by the photos) give more room for a bigger tire, if wheels with more backspace are used. Usually the wheel tubs are also modified at the same time.
 
33IMP said:
Moving the spring pads on the rear-end would enable it to fit, with the springs in the stock location.
Moving the springs in (done poorly imo, judging by the photos) give more room for a bigger tire, if wheels with more backspace are used. Usually the wheel tubs are also modified at the same time.
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Yes I agree. They did a very poor job. We will end up down sizing tires too I think.
 
ratty dart 340 said:
Yes I agree. They did a very poor job. We will end up down sizing tires too I think.
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Now we see why they did what they did. Almost tempted to do what they did, but a much better job. This means using the the same mounting locations for the springs that they did, but welding better and better fitment. If we did use the factory locations, the tire would have to be very small to fit. I really like the looks of these meats on the back.

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If you end up swapping out the 9”, an early b-body is the perfect width for the Dart Sport, in my opinion. Before and after pics. In the end, I personally spent WAY too much money rebuilding the “cheap” b-body rear I found. I’d stick with the 9” if I were you, unless you can’t figure out the mechanical issues. Good luck!

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Ok we are going to keep the mounting pad on the rear end the same. We will keep the position of the leaf springs so we can have a wider tire without interference on the spring. We will get new springs and spacers and will redo the mounts and shackles. We will redo the welds and do what they did, but much better. Hopefully the rear end rebuild will fix our issue.
 
Yeah that rear axle is just too wide for the car. They they rigged the front hangers and shackles. I wouldn't be havin any of it like that, but it's your car so you need to proceed how you want to. I would narrow that rear end to stock A body width like I did the 9" I am getting ready to put in my car......but of course then there's more expense involved. In the end, it would be more "correct".
 
RustyRatRod said:
Yeah that rear axle is just too wide for the car. They they rigged the front hangers and shackles. I wouldn't be havin any of it like that, but it's your car so you need to proceed how you want to. I would narrow that rear end to stock A body width like I did the 9" I am getting ready to put in my car......but of course then there's more expense involved. In the end, it would be more "correct".
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Interesting. We are still thinking on it. Maybe we will end up narrowing it like you. What are you putting your 9 inch in? And if we were to narrow it, how would that interact with a new set of leaf springs? Any fabrication required for that?

Also really the only reason we aren’t too worried about the leaf spring location was because they ran the shackles along the section of the frames that go toward the back of the car. However, we would still need spacers between the dif and and leaf springs to account for the mounting location. The spacers they used were very uneven…
 
ratty dart 340 said:
Interesting. We are still thinking on it. Maybe we will end up narrowing it like you. What are you putting your 9 inch in? And if we were to narrow it, how would that interact with a new set of leaf springs? Any fabrication required for that?

Also really the only reason we aren’t too worried about the leaf spring location was because they ran the shackles along the section of the frames that go toward the back of the car. However, we would still need spacers between the dif and and leaf springs to account for the mounting location. The spacers they used were very uneven…
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No fabrication necessary on the except to eliminate "whatever" you have there for spring attachment and replace it with stock shackles and front hangers. Mine is a 64 Valiant, which has the same rear dimensions as your car as far as the rear axle. I had the 9" narrowed to about 1" narrower than stock and of course new spring perches installed at the 43" stock A body width.
 
Hey rusty, what is the correct way to measure the length of the dif. Online we have seen many different answers and we are unsure if it’s hub to hub, flange to flange, or something completely different. If it is hub to hub, where exactly are these measurements taken?
 
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