[stanjr41]

I am getting ready to back-half my 65 Rambler wagon and a friend of a friend has an assembly that is 48" wide. This is perfect for my planned 15 x 12 w/3 1/2" backspacing wheels. I am looking at getting one of Chris Alston's chassisworks 4-bar back-half kits. I can't identify all the possible rear ends, so is there a generalization for the common rears that I can identify by the third member or the cover?

[SSedan64]

Which Make of rear do you need to ID? GM? Ford? Mopar?
Good GM 10-Bolt Pics here, GM/Chevy 12-Bolt will look like the GM 8.2" cover but, have 12 cover bolts>> http://www.oldsmobility.com/10bolt-tech.htm
Ford 9" Info >> http://www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm and http://dfwmotorsport.com/Fairlane/9inchrearends.htm and http://www.maliburacing.com/ford_9_i..._nine_inch.htm

Mopar >> http://members.tripod.com/~Mojo_Page/chry875.htm and http://www.4secondsflat.com/rearendtech2.html

[big gear head]

Does your friend not know what it is? Does it have a bolt on cover on the back or does everything go in from the front side?

Things to consider when getting a rear end that has already been modified. Is the pinion in the right location? GM cars have the pinion offset 1/2 inch to the right of center. Most people don't know this and they center the pionion when they narrow a rear end. Where is the pinion on your current rear end?

Is the bolt pattern on the axles right? Can you use brakes that will work with your car? Is the gear ratio something that you will be happy with? Does it have a spool or a limited slip differential (you don't want a spool if you will be driving this on the street)? Is this something that you can get parts for? Is it strong enough for your engine and transmission?

[stanjr41]

That's the problem,my friend just knows that this guy has a rearend. I just want to be prepared when I go to look at it. I haven't bought my wheels yet because that depends on what rearend I end up with. I know what a 10 bolt and 12 bolt chev. looks like, and I have another car with a 9" in it, but I'm not sure about a 8.8 or a chrysler or anything else, or even if I should settle for anything else than a 9", which is what I want. I'm probably wrong for trying to save some money. My engine is a 388 chev. dynoed at 497 hp and it has a built 350 turbo w/ a 2500 stall.

[big gear head]

The Ford 8.8 has a 10 bolt cover on it similar to the 8.5 GM rear end. The Chrysler 8 3/4 does not have a bolt in pinion housing like the 9 inch Ford. A 9 inch Ford will have a bolt in pinion housing with 5 bolts in it. Everything goes in from the front side. The 8 inch Ford looks similar, but the 9 inch requires a 9/16 wrench to remove the 2 nuts at the bottom of the case becasue the pinion hangs down far enough that you can't get a ratchet to it. If you can get a ratchet and 9/16 socket on all 10 of the nuts then it isn't a 9 inch.

[stanjr41]

FLASH ! I was just looking at my Summit catalog and in the section for differentials there was a "differential case reference guide" with samples of18 different types of housings. I think I'm o.k. now. Thanks for the help.