VmanUSA

iTrader: (1)

I am currently working with a well known rear end/chassis builder to adapt a Ford 9" straight axle to be worked into our V's. This rear will look like it came from the factory and will come with a one piece drive shaft option. NO MORE half shafts required!! This is probably more for the die hard drag race junkie but if you are interested then please post along with any questions. We are looking for interest among the V community for when this is ready early next year. This will help keep the costs down if we can come up with a list of V owners that are ready to go with the install.

My car is going to be the test vehicle and on my application I am going to go with a posi set up and 390 gears with the 1 piece drive shaft. Everything will be extremely strong and the best of the best. One of our main goals is to make it look like it came from the factory as so. We are also trying to keep costs under $5,000!

Who is interested and what questions do you have? I am not the expert here, only the customer that wants this badly and found someone willing to do it and help us out with a lower rear end cost option! I will do my best to answer any questions and mine will probably be installed in Jan of 2010.

Jim

rjoffe

Can you give us an idea of what is involved ?

LS123679A

That sounds bulletproof. Very nice. Would love to see pics of that axle when its done.

VmanUSA

iTrader: (1)

rjoffe-basically he will take out all of the IRS crap with the two piece drive shaft and install the Ford 9" straight axle for you and all you have to do is pick out the gear ratio you want and if you want a posi track or limited slip put in. We are checking on what mods we would have to do to mount the brakes up or what other options there are for that but thats pretty much how it will go. We are also checking on the Anti-lock system with Strange to make sure that we dont have any issue with that as well.

I almost forgot-one of the BEST things is that you can narrow the 9" and go with a 5"-6" lip on your custom rims now if you want, how sweet is that!! I'd prefer having the large/deeper lip so I am game for that! I am use to my Vipers that had a 7"+ lip and its hard to deal with only having a 3" lip now .

Jim

onebadcad

iTrader: (1)

Jim,
Thank you for bringing this to us, hopefully all will work out perfectly. Expect a few comments regarding going with the straight, as some still hold on to the 'Luxury Car with IRS' tag. The IRS means shiat if you cannot launch your beast, so unless your car is used only to take Grandmama to church every Sunday morning, forget about the luxury/comfort factor, as no other car in the history of the world has such a deficiently inadequate rear.
Keep us updated,,,

rjoffe

Jim,

I'm actually more interested in the suspension setup that will result from the conversion. Got any details on how the solid will be mounted, and the type of suspension components that will be provided?

cts-vls6

iTrader: (7)

if u build it,they will come

RobDalton

under $5000im down. will it be a home install? or do i gotta bring the car to you? ford nine inch will we be able to order one with a locker? let me know if its a kit or in shop install?

VmanUSA

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, I thank you all for responding and your interests. I honestly feel that if my guy can pull this off, which I am pretty sure he can, then we will all have at minimum an option for those of us that want to go racing and do not car too much about the luxury IRS loss.

I do hear you on the IRS luxury issue and the ONLY reason I would consider doing the straight axle swap is that I plan on keeping my car for and not selling it so please do keep that in mind. It will hurt the resale if you do this swap in my opinion.

After the swap I am going to go crazy on the engine mods and hope to have a 1,200 HP Cadi to run 9's one day that I can still take my son for a cruise in around town; a V1 at that too! I know it sounds crazy but I like to be different and do things out of the box.

As far as what suspension and how this will be done exactly I dont know yet but I do know that I will have the list of whats to be done next month and I will post it for you all to see. We are going to try to make it as simple as possible and yes he may even offer a "do it yourself" kit for those that are pretty talented as I am sure its not a simple project.

You will not have to do this yourself and you can drop off your car at his shop and he can do this for you in approximately two weeks from what I am told and again we are shooting for an installed price of around $5,000 and hopefully a tad less. This is not only about strength but also about affordabilty, I would like all of those that want to have this be able to afford it.

I know there are a lot of ????'s out there and I will answer them the best I can and will post up the list of mods with the price once I get it so please stay tuned.

I need your support and interests to get this to production as you well know; I know he appreciates my business but 10 interested buyers are a lot better than 1.

thanks guys, Jim

scatillac

iTrader: (12)

It's not about "Luxury Car with IRS", it's about keeping the unsprung weight down and keeping the tires on the ground during cornering on uneven/rough pavement. If a straight axle could be made to do this consistently in a non-racing application, the 2010 Camaros, G8 (gone but not forgotten), Corvettes (IRS since '63), Challenger SRT8, etc. would all be so equipped. It is, after all, a cheaper setup to manufacture and install initially (as in GT500).

For me, I believe that the HE axle is going to be enough, but I'm old and my testosterone level isn't what it use to be.

For those of you who are drag racers (and there seems to be plenty), the straight axle will be the shizzle, provided the proper geometry to hook it up can be utilized.

I've done enough 4-links and ladder bars to learn that there is a lot more it than meet initially meets the eye. Trial and error doesn't cut it here.

All F bodies since 1982 are in this category, except for the late '80s - end of run '91's with the dealer installed Dana 44.

VmanUSA

iTrader: (1)

thanks for your input Scattilac, you seem to know your stuff.

FYI, I dont have your LS7, which I would love to have by the way, and I just hurt my differential last week by just burning out first and second with absolutely NO wheel hop so be prepared to continue destroying the diffs even with the stronger Axles.

We will just have to see what my fab guy can do, stay tuned.

scatillac

iTrader: (12)

Since you're in pretty close proximity, is it Madman?

VmanUSA

iTrader: (1)

no its not but the fab guy is also located in La. Madman is very good but is very pricey as he wants $7,500 for his IRS rear. I was actually going to call him but was referred to this other guy who is absolutely amazing at what he does. I wll post the shop up once I have his list of mods to be done with the price. I just dont want to post up my secret weapon yet but I think you guys will be impressed with what he has done in the past if you are interested in this mod.

thank you,
Jim

chad3113

iTrader: (1)

I almost got a hard on when i saw that you are in Louisiana . I'm def interested if the price is right...

JJSimon904

iTrader: (8)

^ me too..although I'm still thinking about holding out for the Madman rear.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

I will sell the car before i pay $7500 for a rear end. Being able to drag race a 4000+ lb luxury car is not worth 7500 just so you can do burnouts and shift gears. Ill find other alternatives(like 2 yrs of warranty), after that, might be time to move on if i still wanna go straight line with it. If someone can come up with a legitimate solution like the madman rear at a not so ungodly amount of money, i would be all about it. but im thinking half would be tops for me.

chad3113

iTrader: (1)

I agree 100%. Theres soo many more things I would rather do with 8 grand. Honestly I don't know how anyone can spend THAT much on a rear and not feel like a douche

JJSimon904

iTrader: (8)

I'd still do it. Later next year, this car won't be my DD anymore and I intend to spend lots of time at both the drag strip and road course. Seeing as how these rears MIGHT last 1.5 passes down the strip with anything better than drag radials, replacing rears gets expensive and time consuming. That rear isn't for everyone of course, the Madman solution is worth it if you intend on putting it to use IMO. ...blah blah blah I know you can buy an $8k LS1 fbody(I've had 5 fbodys and hundreds upon hundreds of track passes), throw a $2k 12 bolt in it and run it forever, but I'll probably stay with my current plan and wont even feel like a douche about it

VmanUSA

iTrader: (1)

I feel your pain guys as money does not grow on trees unfortunatley (otherwise I would be a money tree farmer )and I am too looking for a cheaper option and hope the 9" is it. I will have many more details for you by Mid Dec on price, the installation process as well has how it will be done and what parts will be used.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I will talk with you soon.

FYI, I have chosen the 9" over the 12 bolt due to the weight of our cars. I would not design something that "could" break with those of you out there that will abuse the hell out of them and try (you know who you are, LoL). I want to give you an option for something that you can do whatever the hell you want with it and it will just keep on going!!

Jim

JJSimon904

iTrader: (8)

keep us posted!