Ok, so I snagged the EDIS for our fuel injection today
Time for the next junkyard item: Rearend.

I see that some people on the board have or are trying to put Dakota axles into their A-Body rear. My question is will the whole rearend itself swap under an A-Body? It appears to be the correct width. If so Will the spring perches line up, and will the driveshaft bolt up?

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1971 Valiant, Bone stock
1993 Saturn SW2, Not very stock.

We put a Dakota rear in our Duster. The spring perches were right on, but overall width is quite a bit wider. If I remember right it was about 3 inches per side (overall 6 ) The driveshaft will need to be shortened as well. On the Duster we had to use the parking brake cables from the 7 1/4 and they are about an inch too short to clip into the brackets on the frame.
Putting one in anything other than a Duster/Demon would probably be a chore because of the overall width. You can use negative offset wheels from a minivan or LH car with the larger bolt pattern to help a little.

A-body 8 1/4 rears usually had 2.7 or even 2.4 gears, but they accept the Dak gears which were usually 3.5 or so. Just swap the gears and go have fun. I think the Daks also used 7 1/4 rears, esp with 4-cyl, so those gears should fit our 7 1/4 for the pathetic ones who run it (like me) .

Wow, 3" wider on each side is quite a bit. It looked to me like maybe "2 overall. I guess I'll have to find another good donor vehicle. What about a Jeep Cherokee 8.25?

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1971 Valiant, Bone stock
1993 Saturn SW2, Not very stock.

I'm also told that the center section is offset enough to cause interference problems in some models.

I wonder what it would cost to have Dakota rear ends narrowed? You would need axles with different bolt patterns if you use later model Dakotas.

The thought of shoehorning a dak 8.25 under many an A-body has crossed my mind many a time. while i do know people that can both narrow the housing and make up some custom axles i was trying to keep it on the cheap (yeah, imagine that!).
So here's the deal, i found the axle i was working with (96') to be just over 2.75" (per side) wider than a stock A-body unit. Well, not a big deal considering that i was going to run some BIG offset cobra rims (like 6.275 backspace). And then that's where it all fell apart. 6 lug vs. 5 lug-- or basically in the words of the immortal Homer Simpson: DOH!
So in the end, having custom axles made up in 5X100mm (furd size) far out weighed any advantage to the cheap, avail. and wider tracked dak. rear.
However, if you don't mind carrying two spares... definitely a possibility.
reporting from the front lines:
-JYH
64 Dart, 73 dart rear and other assorted parts

Hmm, well I am trying to keep this cheap. Guess a Dokota rear is out. What about an 80's Diplomat. There seem to be quite a few of those around. I also read that the knuckles from a Diplomat all the way up to '89 will work.

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1971 Valiant, Bone stock
1993 Saturn SW2, Not very stock.

There was just a little discussion on the dippy rears.
Basically it comes down to relocating the spring perches and running custom offset/backspacing wheels to deal with the width. Do a quick search to get the real scoop on it.
Yeah the dippy knuckles will work. remember that they're 3/8" taller so align accordingly.

-JYH

The dippy rears are identical length to an F body, which is a little wider than an A body but I do not remember by how much. I have a 90 Dak with a v6 and it has a pathetic 7-1/4 in it.The key to getting a Dak rear to work, the housings are the same length from 87-96 BUT if you find a 90 or older donor, it will have the 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern, NOT the 6 lugger.

Pre-92 Daks had 5 bolt rears.

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It is easier to REACT,
than it is to THINK!

Middy.