My Daughter Firebird needed a rear-end replacement. My 0'1 WS6 Vert, has had the Bearings replaced twice axles once.

Do these Rear End Girdles (Proform, TA Performance or others) help with the reliability of our Axles? If So, both my Cars are getting them

 

IMO, those girdle covers do strengthen the case and bearing caps, but that merely raises the stress point before they explode. I don't think they do anything to increase the life of the bearings or axles under less-than-drag-slick launching conditions. IOW, if your failures are related to the rears being subjected to abuse, then they help a little, but if its due to high mileage or lack of routine maintenance, they don't help at all (although those covers with a drain plug make routine fluid changes much easier).

 

They look cool and can't be any worse than the stock cover. It's worth installing just for the drain plug.

 

I can only hope so....

 

When I had the rear end gear change in Sara (2001 Z28) back in 2003, at the shops suggestion they "studded" the main bearing caps, and installed a T/A girdle. Because our stock rear ends are so weak, I had the gears (3:73:1) sent out to be "cryod". Since the rear end gear change, I have been using straight 140W GL-4 dyno oil ( to dissipate heat) and have had no problems with the rear end, running a 3200 stall. The T/A cover is a bit deeper than the stock cover, and with the aluminum fins, I believe it takes care of the excessive heat the rear end produces. I live in a very warm climate. They tighten the girdle bolts down until they hit the bearing caps, then torqued them to 5 lbs.

 

Drive a stick shift and the gears/axles/diff will shatter like glass, no matter what you do to it. They're weak, period. Useless to upgrade them. And this is coming from someone who blew up my 7.5" 10 bolt 14 separate times before I sprung for an S60. An auto will let you get into the high 10's in the quarter with a 10 bolt, but with a stick shift, it'll break with sticky tires and stock power.

 

S60, I take it you are speaking of a Rear End Replacement? I have had plenty of issues with the hydraulic clutch as well. I figured one one of these days, I would start trolling the threes to look for upgrades to it and the Transmission. Now that I have the 2nd WS6 (auto), the 6 speed Conv't will get regulated to a cruiser.

 

12 bolt or S60 are aftermarket rear ends.

 

Is there a preference of the 2? I finally found the S60 on the Dano site, lots of Rear Configurations, both 12 bolt and S60.

 

S60 is about an inch bigger than a 12 bolt. They are nearly indestructible but the center section is bigger Near bolt in from what I've read.

 

They really should have used the 8.5/8.675" 10 bolt in these cars at bare minimum. That rear would have been plenty strong enough for most of these cars under most driving conditions.

 

8.5" is nearly as strong as an 8.875" (12-bolt) and can be built to handle 4-digit HP. Excellent rear. I have one in my '71 and '74.

 

Hell I think Flaco went into the 9's with his RCSB Silverado back in the day on an upgraded 10 bolt