One of the first things on the list after the Dart was streetlegal was getting it aligned.
I had set out to try doing the alignment myself with a homemade tool and an app for my iPhone, but without being able to set camber and caster at the same time, it’s pretty much impossible to do correctly.
After my own ‘garage-alignment’ where I mainly set the camber slightly negative and as much caster I could get out of the adjusters, I made a trip across our tiny country. Eventhough the car still pulled slightly to one side it still was predictable to drive.
Later on I did make an appointment at a local tire-shop which proceeded to align the front suspension to modern day specs. Again this was a night and day difference.
I also own a Dodge Dart, a 1972 which has a big block, and I also am in need of a narrow rear end. I wish you would give more details, and pictures, and how you determined the length you needed. To buy one out here they are $750.00 without shipping. So I would like to build my own. I have been a welder fabricator and machinist for nearly 35 years, so I can relate to some of what you did. Thanks for the information you did give. I have a dana with 355 and also a 8and 3 quarters, some people say the dana is too heavy to build. What do you think.
Hello Ed,
If you’ll be doing some serious dragracing with a highstall convertor and slicks/sticky tires, go with the Dana. Otherwise I would just use the 8-3/4″.
I ordered stock length Dart-axles from Dr. Diff and sized the housing accordingly. Housingflange-widths of various cars are listed on my site aswell under Tech -> Mopar RearAxle Dimensions.
I copied these numbers from other sites, so double check if they are actually correct.
With the ‘green bearings’ which are usually delivered with new axles, you don’t want bearing-preload like on normal coned-roller bearings. So I left the axlehousing a tad wider while still maintaining good spline-engagement of the axles into the center carrier.
I’ve noticed I forgot to show a pic in my post where the center alignment-spindles are mounted in the centercarrier. I will update the story soon with this picture.
I had a 8/14 dillivered today with very tall gears but I don’t think the 81/4 rear is worth putting a bunch of money into when I could spend it on he 83/4 After talking to you I think I will just sell the Dana with the 355 and consentrate on the 83/4 and put the car on the streets.Thank you so much for the information.Wish I had access to a lathe. I could have bought one last year for $600.00 and It was a 60′ oh well.
Thanks for the come back.
A narrowed Dana is ‘cool’ to have, but an “A-body” 8-3/4″ will work just as good on the street and is a bit lighter than the Dana.
Another advantage with the 8-3/4″ rear end is that, because of the 3rd member, you can change the gearratio much faster and easier compared to a 8-1/4″ or a Dana rear end.
Too bad about the lathe.
I used mine a lot this weekend when I did install the narrowed 8-3/4″ under my Dart, along with a poly-urethane leafspring bushing upgrade. I also had to shorten the driveshaft about 2″, because I went from a 7-1/4″ axle to the 8-3/4″.
Without the lathe I couldn’t have completed this task by myself.