8.5's are tough as nails. There are a couple of sore spots with them however which I found very quickly when I started hooking up hard and hitting mine with big power.
The factory posi carriers have very hard spider/side gears in them. I blew two of them to bits in a dozen runs. Switched to an Eaton and fine now for nearly 20 years. The Eaton has more spring tension for the posi unit vs the factory "S" type, and the spider and side gears have greater contact area and not nearly as brittle as the factory parts.
The axle tubes need to be welded to the center section as they have small factory welds that can let loose.
Mozier axles and c-clip elim's is a good idea, might as well upgrade to the larger axles and get the bigger carrier at the same time, IMHO.
Never had any issues with ring/pinions, I use and prefer US Gear. Richmond is good, but can be just a tad noisier but I don't hear good enough these days to even matter.
1350 yokes are readily available as well, another place to upgrade.
The leaf spring perch welds need to be checked and reinforced on that unit. I ripped mine loose after 200 or so runs with good traction. Nothing else comes to mind at the moment and mine has been flawless now nearly 10 years since the upgrades were done......Cliff
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https://cliffshighperformance.com/
73 Ventura, SOLD 455, 3740lbs, 11.30's at 120mph, 1977 Pontiac Q-jet, HO intake, HEI, 10" converter, 3.42 gears, DOT's, 7.20's at 96mph and still WAY under the roll bar rule. Best ET to date 7.18 at 97MPH (1/8th mile),
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