B-body 8 3/4 axle in a Duster! Photos

[racerbob]

I installed a 65 B-body 8 3/4 under my 73 340 D/S and it fit great ! even my slicks fit (29.5 x 9.5") . I think the Sports,dusters and Demons look better that way , the tires fill out the wheel wells better.

Sounds great , got any pictures showing this? what size and backspacing offset rims did you use?

Bob

 

[rumblefish360]

WOW! Talk about room! You can get some big back spacing wheels in there.

 

[goldduster318]

WOW! Talk about room! You can get some big back spacing wheels in there.

Yep...and when I bought the offset shackle kit it was only about $100 for the whole package...so this really was a very cheap way to get a good rear axle setup. The 742 3.23 Sure-Grip pumpkin cost about the same as everything else!

The grinding to get the offset shackle kit in there isn't for the faint of heart though. Gotta make a pretty big slot in the framerail.

 

[wracks71]

i have a Cbody 8 3/4 from a '68 fury. i am thinking of putting it in my duster this winter. what is the difference in width between it and a say '69 Bdody rear? i have a '69gtx clone project also,but i don't want to pull the rear out of it!

 

[waggin]

It's funny I have been working on the same setup the last few day's and making wide 15" rally's to do this to one of my projects,the b body rears are a dime a dozen but the extra width makes it a lil hard locating wheels.so thats how I ended up working on the custom wheels(wanting to use this seemingly endless supply of b body rearends) and also wanting plenty of meat under my barracuda project front and rear for a lil' grip in the corners and for the 1/4 mile asphalt dragstrip.having many early a's and later a's for measuring uncut wheel lips I was able to do some measuring to show the diffrence for all.from inside of the wheel lip(closest part to the tire) the measurement for early a's is 67 3/4" and the later a's is 68 3/4"I'll be moving the rear springs inward and a mini tub with 10" x 15" rally wheels and 8" x 15" rally's for the front,these are homebuilt wheels that are unfinished at this time but can be made.the first dimension for the rally wheel is 12 5/8". the measurement for the wheel shell is 12 5/8"(common aftermarket white spoker)third measurement is 66 1/2" but I can go in a lil' bit more as far as 65 1/2" so i have a lil' play room for the 275 60 15 bf goodrich tires that I have. these will look fine after welding and painting. here are some pic's Good Thread!!!!!!!!Dood!!!

I did it for increased tire clearance when I get around to getting wider wheels and tires. You don't have to, the axle is wider than a stock a-body one...you would only have to move the spring pads in 1/2" per side if you weren't moving the springs.

That being said, I don't think this would work so well in anything but a Duster/Demon/Dart Sport and maybe a 67-69 Barracuda

 

[waggin]

A-body66-72 -------------------------- 57 1/8"B-Body62-63 -------------------------- 58 1/2"
64-67(except 64 Max Wedge) - 59 1/2"
68-70 -------------------------- 60 1/8"
71-74 -------------------------- 63"
71-73 Wagons ----------------- 64 3/8"C-Body65-69 -------------------------- 61 3/4"
70-71(Chrysler and Fury)------ 63"
70-73(and 69 Wagons) -------- 64 3/8"D-Body
(Imperial)65-66 -------------------------- 61 15/16"
67-69 -------------------------- 62 5/16"
70-71 -------------------------- 59 3/4"
72-73 -------------------------- 64 9/16"E Body70-74 -------------------------- 61 5/8" this chart shows the dimensions from the wheel flange with drum installed,I have measured several diffrent rears and the measurements check out,hope this is helpful,looks like the early 65-69 c body rear or the 70 to 71 d body and definately the e body rears could be used with some custom wheels and maybe trimming the fender lip a lil' bit,after playing with these custom wheels the other rear end choices might not be suitable for your tastes,(My tastes are to keep the wheel and tire combo inside the wheellips without rubbing)the dusters and demons have a wider fender lip than the other a body's so you have some room to play with.