hey guys I have a problem. I was talking to the guy I bought my car from to see if he would possibly put a bigger holly carb and a bigger cam in my car for me. He said when he had bigger on my car but he kept breaking the ring and pinion in the rear end, and he said this is very hard and expensive to fix. I have 3.73 gears and a Detroit locker and it is 7.5". What should I do? Is there a way I can put a tougher rear end in ?

 

With some modification a 4th gen rear will fit and it is much stronger.

 

A 4th gen rear is identical in every way to a 3rd gen rear as far as the gears are concerned, and absolutely identical to a 90-up 3rd gen in every way except the axles are about 2" longer on each side. No help there really.

Driver technique makes a big difference. 4000 RPM clutch dumps or trans brake launches on slicks, or speed-shifting a manual trans, will trash one. Avoid those destructive behaviors and it will last a long time.

There is plenty you can do to strengthen the whole thing. Weld the axle tubes into the housing all the way around instead of the 4 spot welds; use a stud girdle type of cover; synthetic fluid; a crush sleeve eliminator; there's a few other things, but those are a good start.

 

Not true. A 4th gen rear is exactly the same strength as a late 80's and on 3rd gen 10 bolt rear.

Miles
Diff Solutions
www.9bolt.com

 

4th gen > than 9 bolt

 

Wrong. You're not listening to facts, you're fantasizing.

A 4th gen 10-bolt is identical in every way to a late 3rd gen 10-bolt, except for the length of the axles and axle tubes. They use the same gears, the same carriers, the same bearings, the same center section, the same splines on the axles. They're the same. And, since they're a different length, they don't exactly "fit", although I guess that depends on your definition of "fit". They're not far from fitting at all, but they're not really an exact fit.

A 9-bolt is somewhat stronger than a 7½" (or 7-5/8", whatever you want to call them) 10-bolt, regardless of whether the 10-bolt in question came fitted to a 3rd gen or to a 4th gen car.

 

That is interesting. Thanks for proving me wrong I was always under the impression that 9 bolts were junk.