How hard/expensive is it to switch out gearing on an A-body?

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IIRC (and I can check tonight), they were Moser large bolt A-body axles, green bearings, 741 case with sure-grip.
 
i would stick with original tapered roller bearings or install them if you have the green ball bearings.
I don't know why anybody would install green bearings?
 
i would stick with original tapered roller bearings or install them if you have the green ball bearings.
I don't know why anybody would install green bearings?

Because they come with the Dr Diff kits....
 
Because they come with the Dr Diff kits....

if they are already installed i might use them but really they are throw away money makers for the auto companies and do fail. Check any dealer scrap bin and you will find a quite a few sometimes.If i needed them i would install o.e. tapered rollers though.
 
if they are already installed i might use them but really they are throw away money makers for the auto companies and do fail. Check any dealer scrap bin and you will find a quite a few sometimes.If i needed them i would install o.e. tapered rollers though.
But there are millions of cars from all the manufacturers that came with that type of axle bearing. Mopar switched to them in, I think 1970. You very rarely see failures.
 
But there are millions of cars from all the manufacturers that came with that type of axle bearing. Mopar switched to them in, I think 1970. You very rarely see failures.

oh boy...i have changed 3 on my own newer vehicles.
Go to any dealer and check his scrap bin and you will find many replaced weekly.
 
oh boy...i have changed 3 on my own newer vehicles.
Go to any dealer and check his scrap bin and you will find many replaced weekly.
Yeah but how many millions did not fail. Ever?

You can find worn out tapered wheel/axle bearings in the "dealer scap bin" too! As well as any other part you can think of!

You are basically saying that the "Green" type axle bearings are junk. I'm saying that they have been used for 50 years in millions of vehicles. Billions of miles of driving. They are not failing all over the place!
 
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oh boy...i have changed 3 on my own newer vehicles.
Go to any dealer and check his scrap bin and you will find many replaced weekly.


i don't know.. my car has the same green bearing in it since the mid 90's. car was used as a daily driver for years then beat the hell out of on the street and drag strip, then it was set up for corners and driven a ton more like that.. green bearings still going strong.
 
housing stock too? something wrong there..
If you say so. I'm not the only one that has had this problem. What's wrong with giving this guy a heads up? It is not hard to remove the button. Why not remove it? Why not, if it might cause a problem? I don't get this board sometimes...
 
If you say so. I'm not the only one that has had this problem. What's wrong with giving this guy a heads up? It is not hard to remove the button. Why not remove it? Why not, if it might cause a problem? I don't get this board sometimes...


i'm trying to see where the problem was for your car..

like i said already, i've used moser axles with green bearings in numerous abodies and installed them in quite a few friends cars over the years and never had to remove the thrust button.. seems from reading threads over the years here that guys that had issues were running yukon axles...

why not take it out you ask? why take it out.. if your housing is right and you r axles are right you shouldn't have to pull it out.. thats why. plus what if i have two cars and swap that center chunk between them (i have multiple center sections with different gears) and the one doesn't have green axles? just makes for a pain in the ***.
 
i don't know.. my car has the same green bearing in it since the mid 90's. car was used as a daily driver for years then beat the hell out of on the street and drag strip, then it was set up for corners and driven a ton more like that.. green bearings still going strong.

just making a point that if it's an "either or" proposition,an oe tapered roller bearing is superior and will never fail if maintained.
 
i'm trying to see where the problem was for your car..
My guess is that production tolerances just stacked up in the wrong direction. Housing flange-to-flange width is most likely a little short. Nobody here can deny that a lot of crap came off of the assembly lines back in the day. I have no good/precise way to measure that width, and no simple way to fix it if it is actually wrong. The quick fix was to remove the button, which worked.
 
yea check i'm curious... like i said i've never had a problem with the moser axles...

UPDATE - they are Moser A-body axles with large bolt pattern (I dug out the receipt from when I purchased them 10 years ago). When I went to install them they wouldn't go in the last 1/4" or so, wound up pulling the center section to take out the spacer buttons.
 
3.23 with an 833...
The OP lives in Oakland..right across the bay from a lot of hills.
My 340 Duster had a 3.23/833. Fine for up and down the freeway, but a cloud of smoke and slip driving in San Francisco. Keep your 3.91, IMO.

Sorry, but CT and NJ folks can't imagine SF hills. 'Bullitt', the movie: Yes, it IS like that!

DO take note of the thrust button comments. My 'green' bearing Mosers did NOT fit in a button-equipped diff.
 
I have a 3:91 in my Swinger, I can slow down, make a left hand turn and not even downshift out of fourth..I will agree it screams on the highway, something like 3000 RPM at 60-65 MPH.
 
UPDATE - they are Moser A-body axles with large bolt pattern (I dug out the receipt from when I purchased them 10 years ago). When I went to install them they wouldn't go in the last 1/4" or so, wound up pulling the center section to take out the spacer buttons.
Refresh My memory real quick, what is the diff in length between R & L 8.75 axle shafts?
 
Couldn't recall if the adj. side was a tad different or not, not. Also can't remember if the thrust button lengths are diff between the clutch & cone style Sure Grips.
 
Couldn't recall if the adj. side was a tad different or not, not. Also can't remember if the thrust button lengths are diff between the clutch & cone style Sure Grips.
Oh, on the ones with the tapered bearings (adjustable). I'm not 100% sure on those.
 
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