Swapping rearends, need your input.

You may want to leave the Duster alone and consider an 8 3/4" for the Dart. What you want to do will work with some minor issues, but you are setting yourself up for a double rear swap down the road.

The Duster should have the 5 on 4 1/2" bolt spacing, while the Dart should be 5 on 4". You can get around this by swapping tires and wheels from car to car, but you will be left with the need for 2 spares for both cars or wheel adapters on the rear. The rears and attaching hardware are a direct swap from car to car, so the bolt in part is easy and straightforward. The only driveshaft problem will be length, if at all, and is easy and cheap to deal with. The 7 1/4" WILL fail behind a daily driver 318, it's just a matter of time. Broke more than one myself. The 8 1/4" WILL fail behind a street/strip 340. Ditto.

I am currently having an 8 3/4" housing and axles built for my 66 Valiant by liegel84.com and will wind up in the $600 range for the total rear from flange to flange with backing plates for 10" B/E body brakes. I got a screaming deal on the 3.23 chunk, but that's part of the fun. 8 3/4's are out there for a reasonable price if you know where to look. Hope this helps. :thumbup: