curtis73 wrote:Gasoline wrote: 8.5"? or 7.5"? Pretty sure Monte Carlo SS's got both.Nope, Montes got the 7.5" The SS got 7.625 which is the same case with a bigger ring gear/carrier. Its no stronger since the main failure point is the bearing caps.
They put a bazillion of those 8.5" rears under everything, I would have thought the SS would have got one, but you are right small 7.5x rear end with 26 spline axles.
G Body 8.5" are big $$$ bucks. The ZR2 S10/Blazer might be a canidate for a 8.5" rearend. 5X4.75" pattern. Might be a tad too wide?, but probably has a good gear choice, possible posi, and the late ones got disc brakes. Just a thought.
AI will add another vote for the Explorer rear. Explorer axles are also bigger 31 spline compared to the GM 28 spline.....if you are into breaking axles.