Answer to all Rear Questions!

[350-s-10]

If you want to know if your stock rear end will handle the power well then here are some answers for you.

First of all, i suggest getting the March 2004 Chevy High Performance Magazine. This issue has a complete write up on how to make the 7.5 inch 10 bolt rear end hold up to 400 Rear Wheel HP!!!! the cost may seem high, but when you compare it to the price of buying a 9\" or similiar unit, the build of the 10 bolt is cheap! If you were to buy all new parts the price that they give is around $950. this includes the purchase of new gears, axles, rear cover and posi unit. if you keep the rear planted with some caltracs or slide-a-links, you should be able to get all the 400 wheel hp to the ground without breaking the rear! wheel hop will greatly lower the expected strength of any rear and this should be your primary concern.



Reasons to keep the stock 10 bolt rear that came with your truck:

First is cost and time, the cost of a built rear will be over $1000 and you will most likely need to narrow the rear and change the driveshaft length also. keeping the stock rear will allow you to just keep all the current mounting locations. also modifing a rear to fit into the truck will take a whole bunch of time, this time could be used to drive it, and thats why we build them in the first place!



Second is weight, the weight of the 10 bolt is consideribly less. less weight = faster truck!



I currently have a 10 bolt 7.5\" rear end with 26 spline axles and eaton posi unit and i have run 12.65 @ 114.49 mph with my blown 350 and street tires.



Anyway, the choice is yours and if you are in doubt on what to do with the rear of your truck, call up a rear manufacturer and ask them what you should do, they have years of expierence and shouldnt steer you in the wrong direction! After you get the rear situation cleared up, get out there and smoke some unsuspecting Ford or some other unworthy car!

[loweredd]

You can build a 9\" for cheaper than that!

[mzoomora]

$950 for parts is pretty high. You could build a complete 9\" for just a couple hundred more, and it will handle much more power. I personally believe that the 7.5/7.6 is a perfectly good rear for most of the street truck on this site, but I would never reccomend putting $950 plus labor into one. Anything that will see much track time, or be running large sticky tires should get away from the 7.5/7.6 just for safety\'s sake. 400 rwhp is enough to get well into the 11\'s, and I would say that is time to change rears. 400 flywheel hp, you should be okay. You are correct about the weight, not to mention that a 9\" is less efficient and will take a few percent more power to drive, but you can make that up with the money you save not having to do your rear more than once.

[350-s-10]

well thats the most you could spend, the prices that they had were high and it could be done much cheaper..... i wouldnt recomend getting gears and they had them priced at over $300 and the rear cover is $160 and the axles are something like $275 so i say a resonable build to make it hold the 400 wheel hp would be around $500 done and done.

[afghanimobilerawks]

how does changing the cover add strenght?????

[wild85]

It keeps the pinion from riding the ring gear and keeps the case from flexing.

[s10rodder]

the cover is braced. similar to the braces found welded behind 9\"s when they\'re built for serious abuse at the strip.



As far as the prices the less $$$ you spend the more easily the rear will break. I\'ve read that article and those parts are needed to make a 10 bolt handle 400 whp consistently. If you cheap out on axles you\'ve just lowered your power handling capabilties. I\'d think $700 - $800 is more reasonable if you shop around but don\'t get cheap. And I\'d much rather save my pennies a couple weeks longer and just get something you don\'t have to worry about like a 9\".



350-s-10 not to disagree but try throwing slicks on your truck. Trapping 114 should put you in the 11s easy with better traction. You\'ll never have to worry about breaking your rear with street tires, but throw some slicks on there and really start hooking up and we\'ll see how long that 7.5\" lasts.

[350-s-10]

o i know, i am over the 400 RWHP limit of the 7.5\" and have been looking at something different. since that run i have increased my boost from 4 lbs to 7 and added a 6BTM ignition and a Mighty Demon 750 blower carb..... i am going to try and run some Drag Radials this year and see how fast i can get, but for now, the 7.5\" is perfect! its light, and has held up to the abuse so far! i will let you know what happens when and if it breaks! just waiting for this rain to clear..... from what i heard today, it is supposed to rain here until mid next week!

[zz5s10blazer]

I\'ll stay with my 8.8.