I know this has been posted before but Im having trouble finding info to ID this rear axle that was givin to me. Im thinking of putting it in my 53 210. Any help would be appreciated as far as gear ratio etc. The info on the axle reads as followed: GM 10 bolt A ND B23 P K-17 GM 22507717
Tiny ten bolt aka 7.5" ring gear, from a G body midsize or a B body fullsize as evidenced by the 4 link ears cast into the housing. Between the general weakness of that axle design, and the huge heavy things welded to the tubes that probably warped em.......move on. That's my advice. Good luck
Looks like a 7.5" rearend out of a G body car, 78 to 87 Malibu/Regal/Cutlas/Grand Prix/ Pull the rear cover and count the number of teeth on the pinion gear, and the number of teeth on the ring gear, divide the number of ring gear teeth by the number of pinion teeth, thats your gear ratio. Usually it's stamped on the ring gear, will look like this 10/41 if you find it on the ring gear, divide the lo number into the higher number, that your gear ratio also.
or hold one axle still, turn the other axle exactly two turns, and count how many times the pinion yoke turns, that's the ratio. for example, if it turns two and a quarter turns it's a 2.29:1, if it turns three and three quarters turns it's a 3.73
i have this exact rearend in my truck and just ordered the 3.73 gear ratio for it, any more important info i need to know, such as parts, shims, bearings etc before i open up this can of worms? I know the standard gear ratio is intact in it. im just upgrading, anymore helpful info would be apreciated,thanx.
The Richmond Gear install sheet will keep you out of trouble. Get it online if you have other brand gears. If I recall, you add maybe .010" shim on one side of the carrier to tighten preload a bit and reuse the same stack on the pinion. Should be almost dead on. These things were freakishly consistent in machining tolerances.
Just FYI, some later versions used a 7.625" ring gear, 28 spline axles / side gears, and one of the pinion bearings was larger vs. the 7.5" version. I think carrier bearings, carrier shims, pinion shaft seal, and cover gasket were the same. You can tell exactly what you have by decoding the letters and numbers on the front side of the passenger's side axle tube. Also, if your carrier is for 2.73 or 3.08, you will need a "thick" ring gear if going to 3.23, 3.42, or 3.73 gears.
the parts from an early 7.5" are interchangeable with a later 7-5/8" version, for example, I have the 3.42's that came in a '97 (7-5/8") in an '83 7.5" rear, and it works fine, you could even swap a later 28 spline axle carrier for an earlier 26 spline...
Somewhere around the mid 1980's GM switched to metric axle studs.Not a big deal but the metric studs have a different knurled diameter I believe and can't be swapped out for US thread studs.G Body axle backing plates have a shitty design brake cylinder reatained by a c clip instead of bolts.Check to see if the brake cylinder wobbles around. Later coil spring Camaros also used that axle,can't say if they are all the same. The 10 bolt 8.5 axle looks similar at a glance but has a larger center section with two cast iron tits ,one on each side at the bottom.