I picked up a 2 wd Blazer 8.5" rear, going to figure out how to mount a torque arm to it.
I was hoping that it would have 3.73 gears in it, but no luck, it has 3.42 with an open diff. I would almost like to run it as-is just to see how the ratio will work out for me, but then I will need to remove it to install a possi unit. So I am not sure what to do. I plan on using a 26.1" tall tire, using 6th gear with the 3.42's will be iffy under 75 mph, Iowa interstate speed limit is 70. I have been trying numbers at
http://www.ringpinion.com/Calc_RPM.aspx and it actually looks like 4.11 gears may be the way to go.
Anyway, I need to get rid of that huge ring around the yoke.
8.5 Rearend B.jpg
8.5 Rearend C.jpg
The lower web is large enough for an attachment point of the torque arm, and that horizontal hole may be usefull too, the upper web is a bit on the small side but may be able to get some use out of it. I am using this post
http://www.forums.h-body.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=25789 as a guide for attaching the torque arm.
8.5 Rearend E.jpg
How does one actually go about removing the H-body brackets without cutting to much from them? Only way I can think of is to use a thin parting disc and carefully cut at the weld. May be tricky on the round tube. I can see that the Blazer brackets are welded better to the axle tube then the H-body ones are, glad I don't have to save those!
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