Bent 7.5 Axel TubeTube

[Turbo Zach]

I have some thing, I think some of you would like to see. I am in the process of changing my rearend from a 7.5 to a 8.5. I blocked up the rear of the car to remove the rearend. While I was under the car I noticed a oil leak. I thought the rear cover was leaking a little bit, but once I took a better look at it. I found the oil was coming from the tube where it goes into the pumpkin. I scraped around and found painted silicone and a bent axel tube. I knew the left rear of the car had been recked before I got it. The last owner had fixed the left quarter panel very poorly . But wow what was he thinking when he hid the axel tube. Good thing I decided to upgrade the rearend first on my car. I was going to box the factory lower control arms, but decided against it. I think with the bigger sway bar it will stiffen the control arms up. When I start making real power I will do some bracing up back there and upgrade the control arms. It will be just fine with 175 horsepower! I have a set of good aluminum brake drums off my 7.5 and a set of new steel ones. Not sure which one I want to use. What do you guy's think of this? Should I go with aluminum or new steel drums?

My 8.5

 

[UNGN]

A big factory location sway bar will bend/distort the LCA's and the sway bar bolts and bushing sleeves will loosen...which will eventually drive you toward aftermarket boxed arms.

The AL brake drums will be fine if you don't power brake them and will help keep 275 wide tires off the frame with zero offset wheels a little better than Iron, as they are about 1/8" thicker than iron.

 

[64nailhead]

YIKES!! Did it drive down the road straight? How was the tire wear? You might want to get an alignment after installing the axle.

I agree with UNGN that a bigger sway bar will ultimately be a headache with the stock, unmodified LCA's. Right now is the time to upgrade the LCA's since you're swapping the rear. If your going to be be making a lot of power I'd box the stocker at a minimum. Without boxing them they are truly a flimsy piece IMO.

 

[pontiacgp]

I don't like the sway bars that attach to the lower control arms. I like a chassis mounted sway bar with boxed or aftermarket lower control arms. I have the F body GTA rear bar in my GP with UMI lower control arms

 

[Bar50]

Is it bent or just leaking? Hard to tell from the pics.

 

[Turbo Zach]

Is it bent or just leaking? Hard to tell from the pics.

Sure looks bent down to me. Either way it is going into the junk pile!

 

[Turbo Zach]

I am still debating boxing the lower control arms. I am afraid with the bigger sway bar the arms will flex wrong and mess something up. I probably will replace them eventually, but would rather spend that money on some thing else right now. I would like to see some pictures of boxed factory lowers.

 

[MrSony]

O_O is all I have to say.

 

[Longroof79]

I don't have pics available, but I ended up boxing my stock LCA's and adding new 1LE F-body bushings. You can go to HomeDepot and pickup a length or two of steel bar stock. It's approx. 1/8" thick by 1.50" wide
If you do consider boxing them, pickup some heavier electrical conduit, or pipe, and weld in pieces over the swaybar bolt holes to help support and keep the arms from crushing when you re-install the swaybar.

 

[pagrunt]

If that axle tube is bent, I'd make sure the frame is still square. For the the sway bar, I used a set of gate hinge ends to replace the OE inserts. They needed some grinding to fit, but after welding them together they held up. I just gotta clean them up to reuse them again. A set welded in before boxing would help keep the arms stiff with the at the sway bar.