Hot Rods Best Rear Axle for Full Fender A

I just got a maverick rear for my Plymouth.I do believe it is 56 1/2 drum to drum.It came with a 2.79 gear.My brother found out that the later 70s mustang II with 4 lug axles used the 8 in center section and had mostly 4.11 or high 3.80 gears with the four cylinder cars.I am not postive of the years and it might have been the 1974 and newer Mustang II.A friend of mine is putting a 6.1 hemi in his 1934 Dodge with a Maverick 8" rear.Currie told him to put a posi in it and it would be ok as long as he didnt run slicks.I do know my brother ran the crap out of 65 Comet 289 3 spd with a 8" and never broke it.Course he always ran street tires and that was back in the late sixties.

 

I used a S10 in my A, I dont know the measurment, but it was almost too narrow for standard offset wheels. I used 55 chev wheels in back. The gear sets are low due to overdrive trannies. They are pretty much the same as a narrow nova, looking at the pumkin.

 

was it the 4X4 rear end or the 2 wheel drive rear end?
I think they are different in their width.
2 wheel drive being the wider one of the two. .

 

Wonder if chevy does offer a rear end that is close to 56" wide?
Or any Mopar guys that can confirm the width of a Mopar A body rear 8.75 rear. is it 55.70"

 

Not sure of the width's, but the 4x is wider.

 

Stop screwing around on the internet and just take the one out of your wifes car...

 

The super narrow 67/72 Dart/& 2nd generation cuda(pre 70 cuda) has the small 4" pattern. That narrow 8-3/4 rear was never available with anything except the 4" bolt pattern. Darts got a wider rear in 73 with the normal mopar 4.5 pattern.

Because it's a drop out center, there will be access holes in the flanges to get at the axle retainer nuts, so I don't know how you could redrill the pattern?

That narrow rear can use some super deep dish wheels on any early car.

 

I used a 1991 Ford Explorer 8.8. It fits good and is plenty strong. There are explorers all over the place too!

 

i just happened to be doing a search on rearend measurements using the search feature. i quit. then came across this post.
man the sizes are all over the road like an old drunk person on a rough 2 lane with a sloppy sector.

56.5' --- 71-77 maverick. that seems to be correct
57'-58' -- 77-81 granada. anywhere between that inch?
never did get actual measurment on a 4X4 S-10 rear.
57.25' -- for 57-59 ford rancheros & wagons.
i suppose some were measured with a 50 year old tape measure & they had a few kinks in it???!!!
i hit a few sites with listed rear measurements & they were not exactly the same either. i wrote down alot of measurements & now im just tossing this sheet out.

heres the deal i guess JUST GET A MAVERICK REAR & BE DONE! MAVERICKs the magic word!
get anything else out of your mind they are 56 1/2 & tough & easy to get brakes for. i got one the other day for myself but a friend of ours that does alot of favors for us like drop off his new skid loader etc... wants/needs it so i said fukit take it. --- i have a guy droppin off 2 granada rears tomorrow for iron price so ill measure them myself when they get here.

i guess mavericks are tough to get. screw it ill get on the phone & have 1/2 dozen by next week. i do have some 57-8-9 ford rears.

 

I prefer to use the Ford Maverick 8". Not to be mistaken with the Mustang 8" which is 2" wider. The Maverick is 49" from backing plate to backing plate. That is an ideal width for the Model A because that will put the rear wheels in the center of the rear fenders. Otherwise they will stick out too far and look goofy.

 

Guess its back to hunting mavericks.

dont see many that have tried alternates, so what is the dimension on the Explorer 8.8?
if those are close that would be an easy one

 

Hey I have a 305 and a 700r4 or 460le with 3.73 in a elco and it works great swapped out the 2:79's that were stock and it made a man out of it seemed like I always had my foot in it before Also the first rearend I had in my 34 was out of a pinto wagon and was 8" center drop out with small bearing n 4 lug wheels used adapters to put 5 lug ford on it had gearing around 3:50 if memory serves me correct
Ken

 

well ifound the article and it states that the 75 granada is 51.25" from backing plate to backing plate. i had this rear end on my car when i was going to run fenders originally. the tires fit inside the fenders and were not sticking out.

 

I wonder ..did it have 5 lugs? was it 5 on 4.5 pattern? was it an 8"..i think most of the granadas had 6 cly in them..probably with the width of the drums it would come close to 57" that would probably work too.

I think i want a Maveric, or the Mopar A body 8.75"..think that mopar axle can be a mean mutha

 

I used a Halibrand quickchange cause i like the look on the back showing the whole rear on an A.

 

yeah it is pretty darn close to 57. the bolt pattern is 5 on 4.5, 8" rear and 2.79,3.08, or 3.55 gears. also if you did not know the master cylinder will work with most brake assemblies that do not use power brakes. a budy of mine used an old bronco rear end and it was a 9" with 4.11 gears and around 56-57. not sure what year, id call him but he is kind of long winded and it would take along time to get of the phone.lol

 

I'm using the 350, 700r4 and a Granda 8" rearend. I figure the 700r4 has a .7- something first gear and the rearend has a 2.78, according to the tag. This combination should work good all round unless you are all out drag racing. The A is a lot lighter than the Granada so the 350 shouldn't have any problem pushing it around. I have full fenders and the tires, 235s,fit perfect. I bought the Granada from a friend for $75, not bad. You'll probably have a tougher time finding a Maverick. I researched this combination quite a bit so I feel comfortable with it. I don't have any performance stats for you cuz the A isn't running but I hope to have them soon. With this age of high fuel prices this setup should be easy on your wallet. Good luck.

 

Drhotrodmd..thats a bad ass A.!!
always liked that car, like it more now..

Aman, so the granada rear will work..it is a bit wider..right?
was it out of a granada that had a 6 cyl. in it?
what wheel back spacing did you use?
any pictures?

thanks guys this is helping alot.
VRF

 

I have used a 76 Granada with an 8" rearend and 3.55:1 gears in it. This is a really potent package, but hard to find. The attached picture shows the rear of my roadster pickup with a 1988 S10 two wheel drive rearend in it---good strong 10 bolt Chevv rearend, and 53 5/8" from wheel mounting face to wheel mounting face.---using stock 7.5" wide chev rims.---Brian

 

briangus, i wonder if being a pick up bed insted of a tudor body makes any difference?

I have the same rear in my 53 chevy, it is a good rear end and easy to come by.
I'll have to see if the different body style has an impact on how this rear end would fit up and look like

 

I honestly don't know how it would work on a sedan body. Logic tells me they should, since model A rearends were all the same for sedans, coupes, and roadsters and roadster pickups, and that is a stock width box. If it was me though, I would try and measure the distance over the body at the highest point on the sides of the car and compare it to the width inside the tires.---I am running P235-R75-15" radials, and I just ran out to the garage and measures 45" inside to inside of the tires at the narrowest point (bulge of the tires).

 

good info Brianangus..thanks

 

any more takers on this issue?