The Dodge Challenger Message Board

OK, this is my first post here, and technically I don't even HAVE a Challenger, though I'm in the process of acquiring a '74 now. My questions is about the rear end ratios. I spoke with a local Mopar guy while I was looking at a Cuda clone he had for sale (went for too much for me on Ebay)and he mentioned that the 8 3/4 rearends had "drop outs" that made changing the gears pretty easy. He claimed he could do it in about 2 hours. Anyone here know anything about these "drop outs" - how easy they are to change, acquire, cost, etc.?

Thanks.

What he was reffering to is that the entire "third member" or "pumpkin" or "differential" or whatever you want to call it is faily easy (in theory) to pull out and swap with another complete diff with different gears in it.

But to do it you have to pull out both axle shafts first and remove the driveshaft being carefull you do not loose fluid from the trans.

Then you can unbolt the diff and remove it.

Except this thing weighs a half ton (well it feels like it) so you need someone operating a jack under it as you pull it round under the car.

Getting it back in is just a reverse to the above except that unless you use special bearings you will have to set axle end play with a dial guage.

I have done the above working by myself and it was not what I would call "easy". A helping hand would have been a BIG help though.

Places like Mancini Racing sell complete third members for you to bolt in. But if you want to swap from low to high rear gears then a Gear Vendors overdrive is the smart way to do it.

Thanks Dave. I had a feeling you might have had some experience with this sort of thing.

Actually, the car I'm trying to get has a 727 w/2500 high stall converter, rear gear ratio unknown at this point. I'm getting a good deal on it, and am considering the Kiesler 5-speed swap at some point in the future, so I doubt I'll go for the Gear Vendors overdrive. Though I did visit their site and it does look pretty impressive. But my wife says I probably won't be totally happy unless I'm shiftin' gears, and she's usually correct on such matters.

Thanks for the info!

The Kiesler 5-speed is a very good choice. If I was building a manual shifted car it is the one I would go for. Be sure to use their clutch linkage too.