is the 7.5 10bolt that bad?

[j17_mia]

i have a 84 cutlass with a 7.5 10bolt rearend. the car has a 350 sbc. its just a plain jane street car. my question is, is this rearend that bad? i wanna keep it because im on a budget. is there anyway to beef up the 7.5?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Don't run slicks or sticky tires and you should be fine. Many of us have run 7.5's with mild small blocks and automatics for years without trouble. You only get into trouble if you are trying to hook at the drag strip, tow a big load, run it with a manual trans or beat on it often. Just keep the gear ratio below a 3.5 and you should be fine. Why keep it that low? The higher numerically that you go, the smaller the pinion gear becomes and the more stress the individual teeth have to take.

 

[Silent viewer]

i have known of several guys that have done some mild drag racing with maybe under 425ish hp and never had issues. my regal is gettig a factory posi and 3.42 gears but i have not driven it yet so i cant say what it will do but i am also only looking for 350 hp. i say unless you are getting crazy upgrade tp posi and better gears and you will be ok.

 

[shotgun]

No, not that bad at all.

Here is a good read: http://www.maliburacing.com/forum/viewt ... t=7.5+rear

I posted my opinion there.

 

[Phoenyx]

From what bI have heard over the years. As long as your running street tires, the 7.5 should hold up.