At what weight/60ft does the ole 8.6 usually give up the ghost? I have new tires on the way and fear I may soon find out! What are people moving to after the 8.6 won't hold? any cool new offerings?

 

plenty of bolt in 9" offerings if you want to keep stock suspension. or 4-link it and really be ready to rock

 

I think it really comes down to the power adder of choice and the use/non-use of a trans brake. Being that you are a turbo set up, that power adder (of the 3) plays nicest with the driveline. Followed by a blower and then a NOS set up which is the hardest on driveline parts (if you're really spraying like you are supposed to).

I see you have a trans brake, so that is going to be harder on the drive line that without.........

If you have a stock G80 equipped rear, once you start getting quicker than 1.70 on a regular basis, it won't be long. If you have a good clutch type posi unit (Eaton), I'd say a turbo trans brake deal would be fine for a while in the high 1.50's to 1.60's. Start going quicker than 1.50 on a regular basis (I'm not talking about going to the track twice a year) and it'll eventually pay to upgrade to a 9".

I'm with sprayedenali, if your gonna be racing, go ahead and start saving your money for a 9" and don't waist any money trying to make the 8.6" work.

Last thing to note, whatever you decide, don't make the stupid mistake of falling into the "14 bolt swap" hole. It's a waist.

 

Strange Engineering will build you a S60 or 9 inch and driveshaft that will bolt in good for 1200 Hp.

 

Not trying to make trouble but why do you say that its a waste? I don't have any experience with them, I'm just curious.

I'm looking at buying a wrecked 2500hd and swapping the whole drivetrain. My motor is eating oil worse then ever and now started eating coolant. While i was at it I was debating taking the rear out as well

 

I say waist because the little money you save swapping a stock 14 bolt comes no where close to the benefits of just doing a 9" to begin with.

You don't have to spend $7000 on a 9" although that is very easy to do. Buy a stock 9" cut the brackets off and weld new ones on. Very minimal upgrades needed to be near bullet proof for most.

Another draw back is the weight. Most of the people that do the 14 bolt swap are doing so to gain strength in a truck where performance is the goal. If you are racing, you shouldn't be adding weight with parts that rob power, cost close to the same as something 3x better and still require some custom fitting.

Another point is that converting to a 9" is like getting a free 5 lug conversion on the back.

As mentioned above, the 14 bolt soaks up more power than a properly set up 9".

 

In your case, I'd move ahead with the wrecked 2500HD driveline swap. Sell the 14 bolt to the plenty of people who disagree with me and put it towards a 9".

 

The 14 bolt's been a proven setup and requires no "custom fitting" if you get the correct one plus they can be attained for nearly pennies on what a 9 inch will run you...

The 10 bolts solid as well... Heck Flaco was out there setting records with it, Jarret, parish all ran a 10 bolts

No need to drop that kind of money on a 9 inch....

 

Different strokes for different folks. Like I explained above, there are plenty of people out there who disagree with me and would buy the rear from a guy doing a complete driveline swap.

The title of the thread is "Drag Rear End". So I'm sticking with my opinion. You may have misread what I typed as I said you DON'T have to spend that much on a 9" even though it is easy to do. For the purpose of drag racing, the extra work to fit a 9" is nothing compared to what is gained having a rear that weighs less, uses less power to turn, comes with a free 5-lug upgrade (which most drag guys do anyway) and tons of bolt on type drag brake packages.

I agree with you in that the 10 bolt has been proven to go pretty quick (quicker than most here) with a good posi and gears set up right. That being the case, I'm suprised the 14 bolt swap got popular in the first place. The 10 bolt will take you into the high 9's without too much worry and the guys that are faster than that shouldn't have to worry about the cost or extra fab to fit the 9".

I'm sorry, I just can not be convinced that there is any merit to the 14 bolt swap for a "drag truck".

 

Yea I agree with Blown all the way. Just do the 9" and be done. You'll always have that heavy *** power robbing rear end in your head if you do the 14 bolt conversion when trying to go fast.