[78w72]

Originally Posted by 78MayanW87

So...upon further inspection, it appears that the carrier was involved in an explosion at some point in time. If you look at the attached pic, you will see where the teeth from one of the gears has cut into the carrier. The carrier was obviously reused when it was rebuilt as the cuts should have impacted the edges of the clutch plates but those show no signs of damage. From the research that I have done, it seems that a 2.56 carrier will not support any lower gears without a spacer (don't know what this spacer is or where it goes) as well as longer bolts (assuming these are ring gear bolts?). I know that some of you have weighed in on my other "Engine Built Recommendation" thread and know that I am building up my 400 to ~400 hp and am planning on upgrading my rear gears anyway. My plan is to go with 3.42 gears. So now my question to the rear end experts is: should I just go with a whole new carrier and if so, do you have a particular name you like or is the "spacer and bolt" upgrade to the existing carrier simple enough? As always, thanks in advance for the time and suggestions. Lee

the spacers are ok for low power builds but i wouldnt want to invest the money using one with 400+hp. i used one back in the 90's converting a 2.56 to a 3.90 behind a mild 455 with 6x4 heads, besides being horrible to drive above ~45-50mph, the spacer bolts would loosen up & eventually stripped a few of the bolts out, this was assembled by a professional driveline shop too. i beat on & street raced this car almost daily so im sure the abuse had a lot to do with it but the fact is those spacers arent a good idea for higher power/torque if you plan to use it.

best option would be to find a good complete GM rear end or center section with 3.42 or even 3.23 for a good all around ratio. or look into the eaton posi units, i have a 30 spline one in a 2nd gen 10 bolt with yukon brand 3.23 gears & moser forged street axles, so far has been great on a 500+ 467 stroker engine & lots of low 11sec drag strip runs on M/T drag radials.