diff strengthing

Quote
79corolla
48 inches to the backing plates, i also have a 4wd 93 pickup and its 54 to the backing plates, is that to big of a difference, the rear drums on the trucks are gianormus id have to find bigger brakes for the front, a 70's early 80's celica would fix that , also the hubs would be larger..

That's pretty big difference.
That's why I said we look at the smaller pickups from the earlier 80s.

And knowing how spindly the stub shaft is on the AE86---might be smart to look for something stouter from something bigger: bigger bearings, hubs brakes ball joints...

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

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CALL +1 206 431-9696
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i guess ill have to make a trip to washington , gawd damn redneck junkyards out here havent got crap, and what they do have they want umpteen billion dollars for a rear end from a chevy luv.

Quote
79corolla
i guess ill have to make a trip to washington , gawd damn redneck junkyards out here havent got crap, and what they do have they want umpteen billion dollars for a rear end from a chevy luv.

They have some big yards in Spokane.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
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Well shit john I was gonna come visit you on my way to pillage salvage yards!

Quote
79corolla
Well shit john I was gonna come visit you on my way to pillage salvage yards!

Thatäs fine but never pass up a chance.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Strong enough to take this kind of abuse!!!!!

I wanna see the picture AFTER the landing......LOL

BTW the axle width difference of 48 to 54 is too much like John said. The early p/u axles are 3.5" narrower so ougtha be a decent change; see below. (Measurements on the linked site will be larger than you have measured as they are to the axle flange surfaces, not to the backing plates.)

http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/#widths

These p/u axles are going to be considerably heavier; the one advantage of your present axle is that it is light and will track better over rough surfaces, like where you have fist to grapefruit sized rocks embedded in the surface. If I was not going to up the engine HP a lot, then I would stick with the smaller one. If the HP was going up and/or I was welding the diff, then I would go with the larger one. And the truck axles seem to have lot of options and LSD's. not sure what you can do with the smaller one.

Quote
starion887
BTW the axle width difference of 48 to 54 is too much like John said. The early p/u axles are 3.5" narrower so ougtha be a decent change; see below. (Measurements on the linked site will be larger than you have measured as they are to the axle flange surfaces, not to the backing plates.)

http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/#widths

These p/u axles are going to be considerably heavier; the one advantage of your present axle is that it is light and will track better over rough surfaces, like where you have fist to grapefruit sized rocks embedded in the surface. If I was not going to up the engine HP a lot, then I would stick with the smaller one. If the HP was going up and/or I was welding the diff, then I would go with the larger one. And the truck axles seem to have lot of options and LSD's. not sure what you can do with the smaller one.

Mark, we often disagree with what we consider strong "enough".
I base my opinions on measurements, and precedent---ie various friends bending and breaking things over the years..

22mm---the diameter that AE86 axles are is smaller than the wrist pin in a old 55hp Saab 2 stroke,

The axle tubes sticking out as big long levers are thin--people bend them, see with own eyes AFTER THEY DNF and pissed away travel, money etc.

See the little Escort in the piccie somebody just posted?

That is not some 6.4" ring gear, 22mm shaft dia, axle..
A FEW pounds is a good exchange for the fit-and-forget-it

The big Toyota 8" axle is around 16 lbs ( I think, been a while) heavier than the Dana 30....why wait till you have 7 twisted off axle ends in a display case like one local savage before considering putting in something competition worthy?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

the 6.7" toyota rear end is good for a daily driver or a legends car but little else
the 7.5" (van,early trucks and supra) is worlds stronger

it would be worth it to have a stronger axle narrowed or the front end widened

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I would rather drive a slow car fast as a fast car slow!
first rule of cars: get what makes you happy, your the one paying for it!

As a contrast I have seen one axle tube bent as long as I've been involved. That was from a side impact with a stump. Trusses won't prevent that. Now maybe the Toy axle is that small and fragile that it is needed but there were a lot of those running back then and i don't remember them littering the sides of the stages with bent axles. So may be a worthwhile venture , maybe saved until eh 2nd or 3rd car?

Quote
heymagic
As a contrast I have seen one axle tube bent as long as I've been involved. That was from a side impact with a stump. Trusses won't prevent that. Now maybe the Toy axle is that small and fragile that it is needed but there were a lot of those running back then and i don't remember them littering the sides of the stages with bent axles. So may be a worthwhile venture , maybe saved until eh 2nd or 3rd car?

Well, that is kinda where I am coming from....I don't recall these failing a lot. And I don't know if these cars were using LSD's or welded diffs or just open diff' and I don't know the conditions under which the axles that John has surely seen failed were operating. And, I've agreed that a lot more HP would likely be a problem.

If it is an easy swap out, then that makes it a lot easier to decide to do. But I am hesitent to send someone down that road if it is a complex conversion if the car itself is low HP or otherwise will nto be putting a lot of load on the rear axle. Gene's point is well said IMO: unless there is a crying need due to HP or welded diff, then this should be a later upgrade. There will be a lot for any new rallier to do as it is with everything else as he/she gets started.

16 lbs difference? Is that all with the drums and all? I just want the OP to understand that extra weight in the live axle is not free; BUT it may not be a big factor for him though; it kinda depnds on the roads ot be rallied upon. All of my rally road experience are in the east and midwest. You get some fast smooth stages surfaces here and how the car handles the small surface rocks is important. But where you have a lot of roads with BIG rocks and undulations, then the unspring weight in the wheels, axles, etc. becomes a lot less of a factor than how the suspension handles the sprung weight (the car). So John has a fair point to question how much of this aspect is important.

I would have thought the suggestion of changing the axle out is not just because it is stronger, but that it also opens up more obtainable lower ratios and diff choices.

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Disappointingly not yet a Jackass

Quote
danster
I would have thought the suggestion of changing the axle out is not just because it is stronger, but that it also opens up more obtainable lower ratios and diff choices.

As usual you get it. It's virtually impossible or absurdly expensive to find alternate ratios for a lot of the tiny junk shit which came in RWD Japanese cars..
Much less a LSD.

So it's a kill 3 birds wif one shot sorta thing:
*cheap pick up the phone and spend under $200 for whatever ratio ya want
* maybe find a LSD
* stronger so a newb can blow thru a corner and smack some boulders

Some of the old guys seem to forget:
*we have way better tires than in the 80s
* we have waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better suspension affordable than the 80s
* even shiit box motors make more POWERZ reliably

And people are getting smarter cause some people guide them toward modern motors in their nice old car.

SO that means even rank beginners have potentially more power, and gears and tires and suspensers so POTENTIALLY go quicker...

Add less practice and the CHANCE of a Boo-Boo is higher.
Seems smart to anticipate the liklihood of boo boos and mitigate, espeically if all the shit costs so little and a little zap zap..

Somehow, worldwide, oafish lager lout Pommie bastids and others have been able to stick Atlas axles under hundreds of thousands of rally Escorts
going back nearly 40 years....

If those 100s of thousand galoots can somehow manage waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when there was no mig-welders around, we, collectively ought to be able to...

Why the resistance?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Absolutely nothing wrong with upgrading the axle for ratio and strength ..and a bit wider track. I would do that in a heartbeat. I wouldn't worry about the truss deal myself, just my experience.