Technical 8.2 or 8.2??

But if you read here, the 57 was upgraded with better bearings and axles? Me and Moriarty was having this conversation that those impala's came with a 409/4 speed and the same rear axle. But why did everybody put the Pontiac and olds axle in their 57? that's the reason I'm asking my questions. If it's not an improvement to put the later rear end in the car, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not as concerned about the ratio as I am destroying the axle. And I'm not gonna baby it, that's not what hot rods are about!

 

The olds and Pontiac was used because they were stronger.
A lot of guys had a lot more HP than the stock 409.
The 9 inch ford was not the “standard” according to my drag race friend that built cars then. They used the larger GM rears in lots of stuff
The bearing ends are still around. We had a Dana 60 with Moser axles with Olds ends built in the mid 90s
As the Olds/Pontiac rears got harder to find the 9 inch ford was improved and was easier to find.

 

The Olds and Pontiac was more of a race car deal where there was more hp and abuse. If you try hard enough you can tear up an anvil in a sand pile.

 

Thanks man.

 

The stock rear should be fine with a mild SBC
As long as it’s in good shape.
I would say wear would be more of a concern than HP
If I ever get the wife’s 56 going, I’m keeping the stock rear.

 

An Explorer rear is the right width, 31 spline, posi and cheap. Add the perches.

Early ones were drum and 95 up were disc.

 

No Ford in my future.

 

It seems it depends on the image you're trying to project & how much maintaining that image is worth to you ....enjoy ....

 

Whatever buddy. I've still yet to read anything positive that you've said. I'm just gonna hit the ignore button on you. Goodbye.

 

300 HP and an automatic? You'll have to work at breaking the '57 rear.

 

"Stock" rear-end in my 56 Sedan Delivery. BUT, it has billet bearing caps, Positraction (that alone doubles the spider gear count as long as it's the Dana Arma-Steel, and not the Nitro or Eaton's, 4.88 gearing (oh boy that's FUN!), aftermarket axles, and thicker, aftermarket ring gear. It also has traction bars, just the old slapper bar variety. Spring wrap-up/wheel-hop adds up to kill the rear end, especially with a manual trans. I had a 57 Olds rear end, with Summer's Brothers axles, a 4.88 and 5.38 Positraction third members with the Eaton Positractions. All new brakes and turned drums, with new spring pads added. Welding those on it was obvious I warped the housing some. In frustration, I sold everything for a decent price. I have two spare Positraction third members for the Delivery, another 4.88 and a 5.13 gear setup. As long as you keep the automatic transmission, with a stock or slightly higher stall speed torque converter, you will be fine. NO neutral drops however. The "later" model, prior to 1973 or 4, 8.2 is't that strong either; the 73 on have a pinion gear shaft that's the same diameter as the 12 bolts. They are somewhat hard on axle bearing and wear grooves in the axles. There are axle "saver" bearings that reposition a new saver bearing that rides on a different spot, otherwise, you have to buy new axles. There used to be "kits" to use the MOPAR 8-3/4" rearend axles; they were bigger and had more splines as the stock axles are fairly weak with any kind of power. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I found a couple broken teeth off of the spider gears in the 3.70 third member in my 55. I didn’t even know they were broke until I decided to pull the third member to reseal it. I ended up putting a 9” under my car thinking I needed it, but the old stocker worked good for a long time. The 3.70 is in my dads 55 now and still going.

 

Honestly, the 8.8 Ford that ffr1222k suggested is the logical choice.......
You get abetter ratio, stronger axles, posi and maybe the correct width all in one package and you can then sell your Chevy for as much as the Ford costs. I'm a Chevy (or GM) kinda guy, but when it comes to rear ends I'm going with a Ford most of the time. Probably have to have the axles drilled as an out of pocket expenses, but you would literally be "miles ahead" by converting because you would break even. Whether you swap for the Nova or keep the 57, you still either live without a posi or pay $500 for a posi and someone to set it up.

 

That's good info right there butch thank you sir.

 

I know you said you didn’t want a Ford rear. But, if you do decide to think about an 8.8 most of them do not have centered pinions. They are offset to the passenger side about 2 & 7/8s of an inch on the explorer axle we got. I have read some people don’t have any issue, but we could not get it to work without the driveshaft trying to hit the under side of the car.

 

Pull the axles and see if they have any twist in them, if not change gears and go.

 

My 37 Chebbie had a 62 Nova housing that had the same stump as 55-64 Chebbie . Lloyd , if your going to swap , swap what you know is better , a 9 in or 8.8 . The 8.8 is dirt cheap with disc brakes . I will rest my name on either of these will take anything you can give it and return home . I know it’s a different bolt pattern but that can be overcome also .

 

I've had a couple of buddies tell me to go with the 8.8, but it would have to be a drum brake setup, and then finding the correct width/ year explorer, bolt circle issues, etc.... if my car had hellacious power and a manual trans, I'd put forth the effort, but that's just not the case. If something happens i do change this rearend, I'll give you the pumpkin out of it

 

The pinion is the week link on the 55 through 64 Chevy s compared to the heavier Pontiac and Olds . But I have known countless guys who beat the hell out of their 55 to 64 Bel airs and Impalas with every size engine you can think of over the last 50 plus years and unless your talking hard launches on a prep track with slicks it will hold up ! Unless it is already worn out. Any rear end can break. Most guys usually break something in front of the pinion yolk! I lost a front u joint on a 70 Super bee with out a drive shaft loop because it was a "street machine"! That will leave a stain in your shorts! lol Larry

 

So is it the pinion bearing that was bigger from 56 to 57? I read here somewhere that something was changed in 57, but i don't remember what it was thanks for the info Larry

 

Been there brother! Never dreamed that my driveshaft was the "fusible link" lmao!

 

OK, here's my 2 cents worth, (which is usually valued at a much lower rate ) From what I remember, the 57 and up rearend's had bigger axle bearing's so you should be good there. Third member wise, 55 and maybe 56 had barrel shaped rollers in the carrier bearing's vs. the more common straight roller bearing that we're used to seeing today. Those were the only 2 major changes, and they were for the better. Now here's the downside to both rear's, at this point their both old and you don't know what kind of abuse they've seen, so it's basically a crap shoot with either one. 3.08, 3.36, and 3.55 ratios were pretty common in the early rear's so finding a third member with one of those ratio's shouldn't be that bad, or look on E-bay for a 3-series carrier and gear set and swap it into your housing and go. Just keep this thought in the back of your head at all time's, Burn-out's don't break rearend's, it's the sudden application of traction at the end of the Burn-out that break's Shit! LOL!
P.S. Do you know what gear the ElCamino's got in it??? Might be worth checkin'...

 

Lloyd, on the heavy duty truck side, driveshafts are designed as the “fusible link”. If something has to let go, it’s cheaper and much easier to replace a driveline instead of an axle, power divider, ring and pinion, etc.


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Ok, now I have a better understanding of what you are asking. It sounds like you have an early open 4.11 in your car and you have a later 3.08 open rear on hand and you would like Posi but don't have it. As far as drivability, I personally would run the 3.08 ratio if I didn't have overdrive for a street/highway car.

I have zero experience with the early rear ends but I have heard they are not overly strong (hence the Pontiac swap). I have also heard that the later 8.2 is not an overly strong rear as well (when subjected to abuse) but I have used them in cars that I did not abuse and have not had issues.

Now, that being said, here is my suggestion ... the later 8.5 rears are WAY stronger than the 8.2 (buddy ran 10's with a 427 on the bottle and slicks in a 78 Trans Am with the 8.5 and the rear held up fine). Unfortunately the later 8.5 rears are usually too wide for your application. Here is what I would do ... If I remember correctly, the 8.2 and the 8.5 have the same axles, just different lengths so, you take the shorter 8.2 axles, find a complete Posi 3.08 gear 8.5 from a 70-81 Camaro/Firebird with Posi (Posi was very common in those cars), shorten the 8.5 housing to accept the 8.2 axles and you're good to go. The 8.5 did come in the shorter length but good luck finding one. In my opinion, you may break a later 8.2, you will NOT break an 8.5.

 

Holy shit! You're a genius Forrest Gump! I never even thought about the damn El Camino sitting here! lmao!!! I know it's an open differential from putting wheels on it when i loaded it, but I'll damn sure be checking to see what it has in it gear wise! Man you're on it!!! I award you 1 like

 

Ran the same 57 rear in both my 39 Chevys, first the sedan with 331 and 4 speed later my coupe with 6:71 blown 350 and 4 speed. Both had wide M/T street tires. Only breakage I remember is the ring gear bolts breaking one time when in the coupe but I think I was using a ring gear spacer at that time so probably not the best setup. Always used the factory posi though. Never had an issue with an axle, axle bearings yes but that was usually just the seal going out. Seal issues could have been from welding a couple different mounting pads on and never being worried about how straight the housing was. My only suggestion would be if traveling with it have a axle bearing with you. Did end up putting a 9 inch in the coupe after the ring gear incident.

 

You're not the first to tell me that lol. I've had multiple emails from guys saying they changed their rear end because they got tired of buying axle bearings

 

Just touching base on your distance from home with a break down. Use whatever you like, go wherever you like, drive however you like. But fix what you know is worn 1st. There are weak links in all vehicles, new and old. Unless you take an extra "everything" with ya, parts may or may not be available. Tools to fix da parts are a thing also. Unless you take your whole garage full of tools also. You seem very knowledgeable to say da least. I think if something was questionable, you would be aware b4 a long roadtrip. Not to mention, towtrucks are around every corner. JMO

 

Wasn't that so much for me, availability was the issue when you needed one in the middle of no where and this was in the 80's.