How to narrow a rear housing

rod7515 said

Im thinking I might want to have the 8 3/4" rear in my 66 Dart narrowed do to clearance issues. I bought new axles from moser back about 15 months ago and havent used them yet. The few questions are: can I cut the splines shorter or would they need to be resplined once cut? Is narrowing something I could do here without buying jigs or special equipment. How do I cut to be sure to keep the flanges straight?
Are there any good threads on this?
Thanks
Rod

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Having done this once before but on a ford 9 inch, let me say first, sell the moser axles for whatever you can, or return them to moser and get the correct ones, resplining isn't cheap and costs almost as much as new moser axles. And yes, they'd need the correct length splines in.

To cut one down, don't use a plasma or saw of any type, you need to source a big tubing cutter similar to a pipe cutter used by plumbers. Get one with a carbide wheel if you can. This will keep the cut as straight as possible. we did dads on a home built jig and it worked very well to keep the axle straight. Also, measure 10x, cut once.

You might hunt around your local area and see if someone locally has the experience to cut and weld it for you. Race shops, engine shops and your local drag strip would be places to ask around.