Everyone's opinion for rear end to go with?

gagembassett said
So I recently created a thread asking if anyone had made a full floater Dana 60 that had a 5x4.5 bolt pattern and I got to talking with several members about which rear end to use in my long bed 83 D150. The plan is told build a 600 horsepower W9 headed 360 that turns around 7,000-7,500 rpm with a Brewers-built A833 and a clutch tamer to help the trans hold up as per the recommendation of Dan Brewer. Long ago my plan for the rear axle was to run an 8 3/4 for easier gear changes but a few members were worried that the 8 3/4 wouldn't hold up with the pickup's weight, that level of power and the 4-speed. So I'm going to poll it out to see what everyone thinks I should do. Go 8 3/4 for easier gear swaps but not as much strength or Dana 60 and forfeit easy gear swaps for guaranteed strength?

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I mean you can definitely build a really stout 8.75 rear. It's just how much $$ do you want to spend doing it, and how often (really) are you going to be changing the gears around?

The thing that will kill a rear end is power + weight + traction. So if you're slapping on slicks and tracking the truck, I would go D60. I mean, Hell, I put a D60 in my Scamp for the extra insurance. My motor, stall, trans, and tire height is setup for 4.10 gears - so realistically, I won't be changing gear ratios much. If ever...

And for a truck, there a ton of D60s available that you probably wouldn't have to narrow as long as your wheel backspacing is dialed in.

Just figure out the goals for the truck and then work backwards to get the right parts. If it were me, I'd say D60 all day.