bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go ahead and do this.. Cheap and easy first, ya know? Someone came up with this idea a while ago and I am in no way taking credit for it. (see reference thread below)

My buddy and I are basically building street cars.. Both are already Heads and cammed at over 500 hp.. But we don't do a lot of drag racing (if any) and our rears are still stock (2000 and a 2002) and we both want gears on a TIGHT budget. (And I'm concerned about weight)

I'm wondering, if there was the problem of the axle tubes walking FORWARD, couldn't you place the reinforcement braces on the FRONT of the rear housing?? Brace them from the front of the axle tubes to the gussets near the 'rear' of the pinion?? Radiused tube steel on one end, and fab something up for the 'pinion' end. I just noticed that you're basically risking strength on a metal that is weaker than steel = ALUM. Granted, the weld SHOULD be stronger than the original piece, but still.

You may have more room..



Feedback? I think it'll work. Compression stress on the front and stretch stress on the rear of the housing.. I'm brainstorming a couple of ideas here, still.. Plate steel maybe, notched to fit around the housing, at a low angle with, possibly an extra strip of plate steel welded to the front of the steel notched to fit around the housing to create a little bit of a "T" for added strength.



Reference thread;
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=486663

Original idea;


My MS paint idea.. Sorry, I lost my Photoshop CS3 when my Storage HD sh*t the bed.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

im a welder so this looks like an awesome project. any updates???

jmm98LS1

iTrader: (28)

I think it's probably a pretty sound idea, but you're still stuck with that puny 7.5" ring gear. Start running lower gears (4.10+) and gear teeth start getting real small. Even with that "bullet proof" 10 bolt, I'd still have worries in the back of my mind about blowing ring/pinions whereas with my 9" I'm laughing as I dump the clutch off the limiter.

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

Is tube bowing related in any way to the
predominant failure modes (breaking teeth
and Torsen guts, snapping axles, etc.)?
Seems to me like the semi-floating axle
would tolerate a degree or two of bow.
Plus, the pumpkin has no fore-aft thrust
force, it's all outboard at the LCAs and
the lever arm seems like not much
mechanical advantage to bend.

Not that it couldn't, I just don't visualize
it being that big a problem in the larger
scheme of breakage?

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

could you weld this with the rear end still together? i dont see why it would hurt as long as you didnt go crazy and get the rear too hot.

SladeX

Since I've snapped gear sets 3 times in my older camaro, I'd have to say that the physical gear size dictates breakage far more than the snapping axles, the differential going etc. My torsen lasted longer than 3 sets of gears. Each gear set lasted 80k+ and I didn't break the teeth at the track, They just gave up the ghost one day while driving normally, not even spirited.

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (8)

Richmond gear documented that the #1 reason for gear failure in GMs small 10 bolt was due to rear axle housing flex.

LPW introduced a axle tube brace kit specifically designed for the F-body 10 bolt, and claimed that tubes aft of the axle were a superior design.

This was common knowledge back in the mid-late 90s. I don't know why people seem so unaware now?

And while the gear size has some truth to it, it's mostly crap. Ever see how small some of the performance RWD import gearsets are? How failure prone are they?

Redlinez

iTrader: (5)

http://www.lpwracing.com/p_axletubebrace Talking about that? Every single one I have heard about or seen has been broken off ring gear teeth.

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (8)

I've had one on my Camaro for nearly a decade. I've got 2 cars that have a 10 bolt and have seen high 10s.

When installed correctly that tube brace kit works just like the bracing integrated with the Moser M9.

MplSS

Looks do-able, looks like a good idea at its core, but in the end the best solution for the bulletproof 10 bolt is a hand grenade.

Redlinez

iTrader: (5)

I'm talking about 6 speed cars too. A4's put nowhere near the stress on the 10 bolt.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

As stated, and it's worth reiterating, the problem with the 7.5"/7.625" GM 10-bolt is the physical size of the ring gear, pinion, and differential. A simple brace is not going to fix that problem.

alamantia

iTrader: (10)

Not sure why the tube would flex anyway. The inertia of the car is a load exerted on the hub. The lower control arm is only a few inches from the hub. The lower control arm transfers the inertia to the frame which moves the car. What load is exerted on the rest of the tube from the area between the LCA bracket to the diff case...?

linegtdt52

iTrader: (12)

IDEA!!!!!! Buys a 9"!! what a thought!

L7 Sierra

I would start with a 8.5 inch 10 bolt, and fully weld the tubes into the housing. Its 97% as strong as a 12 bolt, and parts are cheap.

Look into the 70's trucks as many came with 4.11's, and also for some reason many have a posi.

Cut and narrow to taste, get moser axles, and bolt on your brakes.

All Black SS

And spend the next few months learning to properly weld a torque arm mount onto the cast iron center section?

I often sit and wonder how many chopped up rears are laying around with failed, crooked torque arm mounting provisions falling off of them from people trying to save a buck rigging up a potential disaster.
I'll take breaking 100 stock rears over one broken home made TA mount that sends the whole rear spinning-housing and all..

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Here we go again.