no matter how much you support it it will always have c-clips. any real power and the massive side load on those little baby's will push the axle out... that is if you hook. if you spin it can live for a very long time.

 

I've thought about putting the money into my 10-bolt, but when I think about it I really don't wanna be the guy who spends $1500 "beefing" up my 10-bolt, when it's gonna break anyways. I can take that money and put it toward a MUCH MUCH stronger rear axle that I'll never have to worry about no matter how much power I'm making.

 

does the 10 bolt hold up long term, with just normal driving and stock power or can it still be a problem with an m6?

 

If you don't take it to the track and drag it than don't worry about it. You'll be fine.

 

If somthing can be done for pennies to make it stronger, fine id do it..

If I had to put almost 800 dollers into it?! NOPE 12bolt time

 

mine is a stock a4 and it has issues. i am going to get it looked at tomorrow, but unless is real cheap to fix, ill just find another used one and toss it in there. kinda like its disposable!

 

For what I do with my car, (98% street driving), dropping ~500 bucks into the rear end is a lot easier to swallow than a 2500 dollar loan. If everyone can afford to step up from 500 to 2500 dollars just because you want to, then by all means do it. I would if I had the money laying around. But the fact remains that many people can not afford it right away, so this is another option to make do with whats available. I would image it would work good for autocrossing also.

Another point to be had, is that I swapped out my gears and complete bearing set when I did my install. If I would have used the stock gears, I could have saved ~250 bucks. I also bought an extra rear end housing, had it sand blasted and painted. If you don’t care about appearance, then you could saved another 90 bucks there.

So total it up, I could have spent a grand total of 120 bucks to put all the links and braces on. I had the TA cover previously (like many people do) so I did not need to purchase another. TA Cover and braces is a total of ~270 bucks. That’s right, to brace up the 10-bolt from completely stock to significantly strengthen it, is less than a cat back exhaust. I do not think it is a bad idea at all.

Argue all you want at what to buy for a rear end, but until someone gives me 2 grand so I can get a 9” to agree with them, I am going to do it this way.

 

You can "stud" the bearing caps, and get a TA girdle which puts more pressure on the caps by tightening the 2 outer bolts (5lb TTN).

SteveC

 

Who welded the brackets on the cover?

 

i was looking through jegs last nite and the have mosier c clip eleminators for the 10 bolt and the only thing it says is fits all 10 bolts except impala and trucks i wonder if this will work

 

The cover is a long story.. I had one of the guys at my work tig them on, but I did not like how it turned out, they were very sloppy and didn’t seem to have good penetration. I personally was finishing up my mig class so I gave it to my teacher, who I also know outside of the class. He put it in an oven, got it nice and hot and stitched over all the existing welds. He made sure it was plenty stong for its purpose. It doesn’t look as pretty as I hoped it would originally, but I know its stong and I guess that’s the important part.

 

"Strengthening the stock 10-bolt"

T/A Girdle w/ stud kit!!!!!! It's about the only thing you can do to strengthen your 10 bolt by 20-25%. Had one on my 98 SS, and never had a rear end issue (no drag strips around here). Pinion seal never leaked again either which was so nice..

Driving habits for the street::::Always take the slack out of the drive train before you jump off the light or stop sign. If you have any "clunking sounds" you better have it looked at ASAP!!!! Avoid wheel hop at all costs. Don't ever do "donuts"!!! This is so hard on the posi unit as well as those gears. Just don't be stupid with the power and you should be fine for street, but if plan to drag, then seriously consider saving your duckets for a new rear end.

have your fluid changed regularly. 15/20K should be your mileage goal for rear end maintenance.

 

i had an idea for a reason to build a 7.5. i will soon have a full bolt-on car, headers, tune, no cats ans sub frames. now i dont believe these mods will snap a 7.5 but i rag on my car alot. the combination has a good chance of breaking it. i think a moderate beef up would be in order.

 

Hazard2K, I would like to see some track results our of your rear end.

When you get some sticky tires on it, and some mid to low 11's im sure there will be a lot of people that put quit giving you a hard time. If the rear breaks before you get that fast, atlest you tried!

 

Car is currently down because of a PCM problem i am working out... Once i get that fixed i should be good to go. I have been running 12.4's @ 113-114 on street tires WITHOUT launching the car. That was from idle, getting me a best of a 2.1 60' time. Once i get the car running right without pulling timing, I will try launching it to see what it takes. I think i can defentily pull another few tenths off of that time, especally with the gear swap and the suspension changes.

 

Well atleast he's using his head and trying to think outside the box a little. Don't take this as me being a d*$k but there is a company out there that makes a brace system exactly like that for the f-body ten bolt. good job anyways.

 

nice work, hopfully you can get to NYI this Fri. Im gona be there

 

Friday eh?.... I am getting my new knock sensor harness on thursday which shuld get rid of my 4* of knock retard. I might be able to make it up there, I will let you know. Anyone else going?
-Jeff

 

probally 3-4 others. past sun there alot alot.

 

Hey the rear end looks like a great idea, but if the rear end flexes and its forces are spread out towards the cover I would think it would snap the ears off the cover you tig'd on like butter. I think if you could change the bracket alittle and attach it to the carrier housing rather than an aluminum cover it would help the stress factor. You might have to stick weld it to the carrier house with it being cast but not sure. Just my 2 cents! But you are on to something.