You can find the steel cap here

And they make diff covers that have bolt holes beside the jack bolts to allow a support bracket to bolt to it from each side. You would have to make something that welded to the back of the housing by the spring perches and bolted to the cover, similar to mentioned above. There is more than one way to skin a cat, this is just one of them. It seems like some chassis company make a kit for this
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

Whats going on guys? This is my first post here. Ive been emailing back and forth with Deckhand about the rear in his truck. He sent me the link to this thread and I was kind of browsing through it. I was unaware how popular this drag truck trend has become. haha.

I figured I would maybe post up a little info to give you guys some things to think about. Obviously, being that I work for Currie, I would suggest going with a 9". Unfortunately, they do become pricey when you need one that is going to handle some power. The biggest problem with the 10 bolt rears, is that being that there are only 2 pinion bearings, the gears will actually deflect under a hard load and cause the gears to sheer, like in this situation. The gears will end up seperating and breaking. Trussing the housing wouldnt help out that much in this situation. Going with a 10 bolt, 12 bolt, 14 bolt, etc., they all only have the 2 pinion bearings, however obviously some would be a little stronger than others. Going with, say, a 9", other than being able to build a rear that could handle that much power easily, you get 3 pinion bearings which will hold the gears in place and keep them from seperating and breaking.

Im not saying pull out your rear end immediately. Obviously if its not broken, then theres no need to fix it. Just throwing out a little bit of information to chew on.

Some of the trucks Ive seen on this board are extremely nice. Keep up the good work guys.

 

Welcome
I do agree a 9" is superior in a lot of ways and have run several throught the years but it seems cost is an issue with him. $2000-2500 for a rear is steep. On the other hand a rear end that you WILL NOT BREAK is a 10.5 14 bolt. They have 3 pinion brgs as well and can find good used ones for less than $1000 easy. They weigh a ton though is their downside.

 

TRUTH, from experience.

 

Yeah, that would probably be the only drawback...they do weigh a ton. But they are strong. Alot of times people just build a 9" to get the strength and not have the extra weight. You are correct though, they are a little pricey. lol

 

from what i am seeing a built 9" rear end with a locker and brakes is around $3k . thats out of my budget. lets say i toss axles into the 9.5" and i am up to $1300. thats a little more within my budget. is the strength of the 9.5" in question? add sticky tires, drop 1000lbs off the truck and eventualy add another 200hp or so....

maybe i am wrong on the price. if a built 9" were more like $2k then i would consider it.

 

Ok, so does anyone sell a 10.5" 14bolt that has the 6 lug conversion?

 

Honestly, that was the price I paid for a built 14 bolt locker too. When I asked the shop, the 9" would have been about $400 more, plus mods for getting in into the truck.

Of course I bought a brand new 14 bolt housing because I couldn't find a used one that would fit without mods, but I paid ~$900 for that, so it's only ~$500 more than the used one if you ditch all the parts. You might save a few hundred on various aux parts (vac plates, caliper brackets, etc.) if you buy one with brakes.

 

anyone have a guess as to the weight diference between a 9.5" sf, and a 10.5" ff? what about track width?

 

Ran into this problem on with the Chevelle, ended up going with on of these and it is holding up good so far. It was killing rearends now it seems to be under wraps.