"David Medeiros" <orange383@comcast.net> wrote:
: Does anyone know what kind of horsepower/torque the 8 1/4 rear ends can
: withstand reliably?
I've seen an article about building the 8 1/4 for strength, but
unfortunately I don't recall now how much power "they" say you can
put through it. It does depend somewhat on the intended use and
the transmission also. For example, hard accelleration will be
easier on the rearend if you have an auto; you generally can't
put as much power through the rear with a stick since it will get
"hit" harder during the shifts.
Just for another data point, my '96 Dakota (5-speed) dyno'd at
235hp and 293lb-ft at the rear wheels, and tore the spider gears
up at the track one night. That was about a week or two after I
had tried out a set of sticky DOT tires. It had a few thousand
miles of trailer towing (~4,000lb) on the rear also. After the
spider gears were replaced, I haven't had a problem with it since
then however, so it may have just been a fluke. (I haven't tried
the sticky tires again either though.) ;-)
--
-Jon-
.-- Jon Steiger ---- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com --.
| 1970 Barracuda - 1990 Dakota 'vert - 1992 Ram 4x4 - 1996 Dakota |
| 1996 Intruder 1400 - 1996 Kolb FireFly - 2001 Ram QC 3500 CTD |
`------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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