8 1/4 worth it?

[trevor74]

so I have a 74 charger with a 360 with a bit of a cam, headers, intake, holley double pumper, and 9.5 to 1 pistons, 904 tranny, 2,300 rpm stall converter. I am running an open differental 8 1/4 rearend and cant really find an 8 3/4. Is it worth trying to build up the rearend and make it stronger, or should I just look for a better rearend? Id like to put 3.55 or high gearing in the rearend.

any help would be great.

thanks,
trevor

[Sublime69]

I have an '89 Diplomat ex-cop car with a 8 1/4 that I plan on replacing the 318 with a 350HP or so 360.

They're actually pretty touch rear ends, just not big block material. The 904 is the weak point in your build, although it would probably be fine for a  mild 360.

[mopar_nut_440_6]

Personally I would look around for an 8-3/4 rear end as then you will not have to worry about it and they are plentiful! No sense spending money on something which may not work out versus something which will! Just my 

[Beer]

I picked up a 8 3/4 for $550 it had a SG and 3.91 gearset. 
They are out there if you look hard enough.

[flyinlow]

I have never broken an 8 1/4 axle.  A buddy broke one in a 69 /318 Charger  Repeated neutral drops and one wheel burnouts broke the spider gears.

He also ripped the sprag out of the 904 trans. abuse.

A healty 440 will eventualy break an 8 1/4 if you drive it hard.

I swapped my 73 over to an 8 3/4 axle before I put the 446 in.

73-74 Chargers have rubber spring isolators that make the swap more complicated.

[TylerCharger69]

I traded a 383 Eddy intake for my 8 3/4.  I guess that's a good deal?

[ACUDANUT]

 Eddy intake ?

[TexasStroker]

A built 8 1/4 will hold up fine behind your cammed 360.  If you are planning on abusing the car nothing will really hold up or provide long term durability (although the 8 3/4 would hold up longer than the 8 1/4).  If you are just going to do some cruising and occassionally "find" some action with the car I wouldn't sweat it out.

I'll agree 8 3/4s are out there, but they are getting harder to find and the price is going up.  8 1/4s are still easy to find and you don't pay $500 for a worn out rear end that needs to be completely rebuilt after you pay more money to get it freighted in. 

Build the 8 1/4 right and with good parts since you've got it and you'll be happy.

I'll also dissent on the 904 issue.  Perfectly fine behind your 360 provided you build it right.

Quality parts coupled with quality workmanship yield a good end result.