66 chevy truck rear end?

Will the axles from a 71 or 72 rear end fit into a 66 rear end ? Im trying to go to a 5 bolt pattern on the rear end.

 

No, they are too long.

 

what can i do to make my rear end five bolt? thanks for the previous answer

 

get a 71 or 72 rearend....

 

will it bolt right up or do i have to do some modifications? thanks

 

i was on the stovebolt site and one of the posters claimed you could take some length off the newer axles and they would work. claimed you wou still have enough splined area to engage spider gears. never pursued the claim so get your tape out and compare. better yet have the 66' rear redrilled to 5 on 5" bolt pattern.

 

71-72 bolts right in. Can't shorten later axles because that would cut off the c-clip groove and the there would be no way to retain the axle. Easiest thing to do is have your existing axles redrilled.

 

71/72 will bolt right in but they are a bit wider. Not a real problem unless you run fat rear tires then you run into fender clearance issues.

I'd think that in the Memphis area there would be a shop that could redrill the stock axles to five lug. There is bound to be someone doing axle work for the circle burners in the area.
Dutchman motorsports in Portland Or http://www.dutchmanms.com/pricesheet.html#Anchor-65143 redrills them for about 65 a pair if they don't have to plug them plus 45 for the pair of drums redrilled. Then you would have ups both ways so having it done locally would be a better option.

 

thanks

 

I just shortened some 71 axles to the same length as the 66...cost me $75.00 at a machine shop..gave me 5 lug instead of 6 lug..I had to shorten 3/4 inch each. The machinest cut a new c clip groove