Is a quick change rear end worth it?

For those of you who don't know, I have an old stock car that I bought on the cheap a few years ago and I'm in the middle of upgrading it for track day duty. I don't have any real racing ambitions yet, just HPDE stuff and maybe some hill climb events later on. The car currently has a standard rear end, probably a ford 9 Inch, though I haven't really looked at it. There are a couple of quick change rear ends in an ARCA team auction that ends today. They're expensive, but my question is, is it worth it to upgrade to a quick change if I'm not trying to be competitive? My guess is that the rear end housing and gear end up going for $1000, maybe more, based on where the bidding is at now.

BTW, if anyone is looking for a standard 9" rear end, there are a ton for sale in this auction and some will probably sell for really cheap. The link to the auction was posted in the parts for sale forum a few days back.

If you don't have any plans on being competitive, then no, a quick change won't be worth it.  If at any point in the future you decide that 'Hey, I like this, wanna get better, and want to compete for trophies', then it might be worth getting.  In my experience, car parts hardly ever get cheaper as time goes on.

The quick change is only really going to be helpful if you want to change rear end ratios quickly.  The only reason you would do that is if you race at different tracks or make extensive changes to the setup / engine / Trans to need to change ratios.

Even then, it is just a time saver (quite a bit of time).

I'd vote no!

Unless you want to be "that guy" trying to "win" HPDEs, I'd say no. 

It was super useful when we were running multiple dirt tracks in a weekend and changing the setup in a couple hours for that track. Otherwise, nah. If you have one, I wouldn't take it out but I wouldn't pay extra for one. 

Its a Ford 9".  You're going to need, at most, 3 different gear sets?

Why not buy three center sections, geared how you want, and just swap em out as needed?  What is the price of doing that?

Mr_Asa said:

Its a Ford 9".  You're going to need, at most, 3 different gear sets?

For track days and an occasional hill climb I'm not even sure you need more than one.  I've never gone circle track racing, but from what I understand there's not a lot of shifting that goes on there -- once you get up to speed you're basically doing the whole thing in one gear.  That makes rear end ratio an important tuning factor, and also one that's fairly straightforward to figure out.

On a road course where you're likely to use the entire RPM range across 2 or 3 different gears, the final drive doesn't make as big of a difference and it also becomes a lot harder to pick the right one because of the increased complexity.  If you're fighting for wins in a closely contested class then sure, but just for track days?  I wouldn't bother.

I have also been told that drivetrain losses through a quick change rear are noticeably higher, so even if it was free it's not a zero-impact part.

Cool, thanks for the info guys :) I let it pass me by, the guidance on here is always top-notch

bmw88rider said:

It was super useful when we were running multiple dirt tracks in a weekend and changing the setup in a couple hours for that track. Otherwise, nah. If you have one, I wouldn't take it out but I wouldn't pay extra for one. 

I was going to say this. The only benefit to a quick change is if you'll be changing ratios frequently.  It's a convenience at the expense of a larger chunk of unsprung weight and more drag.  It's nice to have if you get to a track and find you need a little more gear for qualifying or track conditions change drastically but otherwise there's no real reason to go through the bother of putting one in. 

But just look at this!    How can anyone say no?