7 1/4 Vs 8 1/4

I know this is the case for the 7¼ and am pretty certain it's true for the 8¼ as well. If you have a 2.45 or 2.21:1 gear ratio in the diff, there's going to be complications getting a lower gear set installed. No problem with the 2.76 and numerically higher ratios. I did the 7¼ to 8¼ swap with no problems. Besides the axle, I swapped the driveshaft and used the clamp hardware from the 8¼.