I think my 8 ¾ housing is toast.

Not trying to be an *** here but do you think maybe you could have cranked the U bolts incredibly tight that it may have bent or caused extra stress near the spring perch area upon hard launches?
The reason I ask is because I had a buddy do this with very similar results.

I don't think so...The Calvert instructions said to torque the u-bolts to 70-80 foot pounds. I thought that was a little high, so I only did 65 foot pounds.