In my experience of off road vehicles (mud boggers, rock crawlers, good old fashioned redneck fun, etc) I know of only one catastrophic failure of an ARB. Folks run out of air, or let them get contaminated and they fail due to the owners negligence, but they are pretty darn strong.
If your disliking for the ARB is due to it's being air actuated, there are cable kits available to change it over to that. Any locking differential will require some degree of your attention. Regular maintenance, fluid changes, and an occasional inspection is a good idea to keep one alive for a good long time.
Putting one (or anything for that matter) in an 8" is like putting a hat on a pig, it may fit, but it sure is silly.
Sinking any amount of money in such a twerpy axle if you are talking about big torque numbers is just foolhardy. I see the same idiocy in the Heep crowd in wanting to build up a 'super 35' Dana 35 rear axle. Comparable to the 8", it just won't cut it with that much torque being applied. You're throwing away your money.
See, that's my point. You're gonna build a Cleveland to go faster in a car that basically can't handle it - or more precisely, you can't handle the car with the "monster motor" in it! That last is not a slam; Jerry Titus' Terlingua Racing '68 had more than just a big motor - it needed the rest of the goodies to be manageable on the track. But hey, you'll be really "sexy" right up until you're smeared all over a bridge abutment or squashed under a semi.
Umm, no offense taken.. well maybe a little. I'll try not to get too defensive.
My stock junkyard motor (71 Montego) that's only guaranteed not to knock, smoke or burn excessive oil will hardly set the world on fire.
I guess that was a few posts up where I said that I wasn't going to upgrade the motor until I had everything else done. Also, you'll notice that I'm upgrading the suspension, brakes and "frame" prior to putting the tired 351C in. So, while I'll completely cop to doing things out of order, I think that the "squashed under a semi" comment is a miss.
My stock junkyard motor (71 Montego) that's only guaranteed not to knock, smoke or burn excessive oil will hardly set the world on fire.
I guess that was a few posts up where I said that I wasn't going to upgrade the motor until I had everything else done. Also, you'll notice that I'm upgrading the suspension, brakes and "frame" prior to putting the tired 351C in. So, while I'll completely cop to doing things out of order, I think that the "squashed under a semi" comment is a miss.
Okay, I'll give you the miss on the "squashed under a semi"; but the "bridge abutment" part was almost spoken from personal experience - with a somewhat tired "nearly stock" '73 Cleveland and stock 9" - in the car they came from Dearborn with. Just "got on it" (my Torino) a very slight amount pulling onto a very slushy Ina Road in Tucson..... Baby swapped ends and I missed by less than a foot the south abutment of the I-10 overpass over Ina; the continued my backwards slip 'n' slide towards on occupied railroad crossing! Good thing I did manage to get her stopped in time; because that moving frieght train was just a bit larger than the average semi
And yes, I was absolutely certain that such a thing couldn't happen to a skilled driver such as myself! After all, I had been driving for almost three years before I was old enough for a license and eight years before this happened! Nah, couldn't ever happen to me!
Okay, I'll give you the miss on the "squashed under a semi"; but the "bridge abutment" part was almost spoken from personal experience - with a somewhat tired "nearly stock" '73 Cleveland and stock 9" - in the car they came from Dearborn with. Just "got on it" (my Torino) a very slight amount pulling onto a very slushy Ina Road in Tucson..... Baby swapped ends and I missed by less than a foot the south abutment of the I-10 overpass over Ina; the continued my backwards slip 'n' slide towards on occupied railroad crossing! Good thing I did manage to get her stopped in time; because that moving frieght train was just a bit larger than the average semi
And yes, I was absolutely certain that such a thing couldn't happen to a skilled driver such as myself! After all, I had been driving for almost three years before I was old enough for a license and eight years before this happened! Nah, couldn't ever happen to me!
My Mustang with the stock 250 I6 and single legged rear end swapped ends on a freeway onramp in the rain. Yes, I got on it a little, but I wasn't pushing it hard or going that fast, IMO. Luckily there wasn't a hard curb there or anything. I just ended up on a nice flat gravel area off the road.
So, I can say I know where you're coming from. Things can go wrong much more quickly than you expect. I had previously owned an '89 GT, so I also thought I knew what I was doing... wrong!
I tend to think it has more to do with the fact that nobody sees the rear end and most people dont drive their cars hard so it will never really matter. Its nice for people to pop the hood and go "scope out my engine" but most dont go "here climb under the car and check out my 9 inch" <----lmao k that sounds strange...
I tend to think it has more to do with the fact that nobody sees the rear end and most people dont drive their cars hard so it will never really matter. Its nice for people to pop the hood and go "scope out my engine" but most dont go "here climb under the car and check out my 9 inch" <----lmao k that sounds strange...