ive decided to mini tub my nova and ive found that the wheel base i need happens to be the dimensions of a 93-94 s-10. the length of the housing should be just perfect to fit my 11'' wide rims back there. the 4.3L V6's with 5 speed manuals have 8.5'' rears with POSI's. do you think these will hold up to the 425+hp the nova is running?
I suggest what an S10 owner might do. Many people with s10 and any kind of horsepower or large tires should upgrade to a ford exploder 8.8" rear end. They have a chance at living at those power levels.. 31 spline axle shafts, 3.25" outer tube, 1.32" axle shaft diameter, etc. They are so much stronger than a Chevy 8.5 from an S10 it s not funny. There is no comparing them. Its a quite popular axle for performance use. The mustang had a weaker version but the ring gear etc is the same size(28 spline axles on the mustang and ranger-certain rangers have 31 spline-rare). Huge variety of upgrades for these axles.. very popular for swaps...
1990-49 are drum.. 95+ are disc brakes! They are a bit wider, but not much than an s10. I think some explorer axles are different widths? bolt pattern can be changed... heres an s10 forum with more details on it
im curious as to why not though... im running my stock 8.5'' 10 bolt 28 spline with 2.73 gears right now and i've beaten the hell out of it for the past two years. what makes the s-10 8.5'' not as strong?
the 8.5 s10 rear is strong. there are 9sec cars running them. and i have heard of 10 sec cars running a 7.6 rear. i have a built 7.6 with a support cover in my truck. i am well over 400hp with 275-60-15 tires. i have fun driving it, and i race it sometimes. but i don't do donuts. its holding up fine( 4l60e trans). i am looking for a 8.5 for it. but the 2wd 8.5s are HARD to find. i'm probably going to get a zr2 8.5 and have it narrowed.
Hope you've already got the rear axle. Very few S-10's ever had the 8.5" rear. I think you'll find that whenever you go "junkyarding"... The (31 spline) 8.8" Explorer is much stronger - actually Ford's remake of the 12 bolt. I have a (28 spline) Ranger axle in my S-10 and can rip off 12.0's @ 115 all day long.
The 8.5 S-10 should have an Auburn-style cone limited slip if I recall correctly.
And there are TONS of us Impala SS guys putting 425 and more to our 8.5s; even using 383s, T56s, and 4.56 gears with DOT slicks. That's a lot of shock load. Properly set it up, it should handle a lighter Nova with no problem. The later 8.5s have 30-spline axles. Go for a ZR2 truck and get the disc brakes, too.
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