How many horsies can it handle?

[Stormer]

The 67 Polara build is moving along & I've almost gathered everything I need for the engine swap.

I'll be a little over 500 horse on the 6.1L. Can the 2.76 stock rear handle that without breaking anything? What's the weakest link in the drivetrain?

 

[1978 NYB]

Your 2.76 will handle the HP no problem.......I take it that this car is going to be a cruiser and not a 1/4 mile car. The weakest link will be the u-joints. I would get new u-joints and get the driveshaft spin balanced. Next would be the left side motor mount.

 

[Stormer]

Thanks, Bob.

Yep, cruiser & I'm gonna have the tranny rebuilt & send the driveshaft to be balanced, etc. I'm hoping to run 6.1L, six speed motor mounts. Fingers crossed that they'll just bolt right up.

 

[1978 NYB]

I also had an adjustable pinion snubber on my Super Bee and Challenger back in the day. I had a 4.10 in the Super Bee and a 4.56 in the Challenger.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-3690182/overview/make/chrysler

 

[commando1]

Ross, with a beefed up tranny (Hemi spec) tranny you can easily go up to 550 hp without it nuking itself.
Chain the engine down by the left motor mount and buy the best U-joints money can buy.
What number differential case are you using. There's three 8 3/4 rears.
Traction bars are a must.
Some guys add some plate to the tranny mount, too.
All this is assuming that you are going to stomp on it every once in a while.

 

[Stormer]

I'm gonna stomp on it every chance I get.

I'll get the numbers off it for you.

I'm thinking of ditching the leafs & going with a ladder bar setup.

 

[commando1]

Umm... plenty of guys kept the leafs back in the day, Ross. Nothing wrong with them if you set them up correctly. Might save yourself a lot of grief.

 

[detmatt]

With a 2.76 you're going to have to worry more about keeping the car together at high speed not so much what's going to happen coming out of the hole.

 

[commando1]

That's what I was thinking. Something's going to snap before the leaves corkscrew.

 

[tallhair]

That's what I was thinking. Something's going to snap before the leaves corkscrew.

A pinion snubber would be a wise investment for the wheelstanding exhibitions but adjusted down for the daily driving

 

[Stormer]

I just want the ladder bars so that I can control ride height.

 

[tallhair]

I just want the ladder bars so that I can control ride height.

Air ride suspension with on board remote controlled compressor.

 

[Stormer]

Air ride suspension with on board remote controlled compressor.

That's exactly what I would do if there were room for bags in the front. But there's not so I might as will just use coil overs in the back.

 

[tallhair]

That's exactly what I would do if there were room for bags in the front. But there's not so I might as will just use coil overs in the back.

Oh yeah. I was talking about just the back if you want to adjust rear ride height. I put a set on 93 Dakota that I used to pull a 22 all steel (including floor) Dragmaster car trailer. That things weighs a ton, actually about a ton and a half+ to be more accurate. Needed the adjustability in the rear to handle the tongue weight with my 70 RR with 440 in it. Now I was pushing probably about 8K total trailer weight. Air bags handled that with no problems.

But back to the point the airbags or airshocks can also raise the rear ride height and you can either add air or release it to get the ride height you want and would be cheaper than the ladder bar setup.

 

[Stormer]

I put bags in my rear coils on my RAM 1500 so that I too can haul a heavy trailer. No moving parts though. Just a hose & 2 bags.

 

[1978 NYB]

Air ride suspension with on board remote controlled compressor.

I have air ride suspension on my 78 NYB. Mechanical adjustment.

 

[tallhair]

I have air ride suspension on my 78 NYB. Mechanical adjustment.

Nice huh .. what's your favorite part and what's your opinion of the ride difference with air / w/o air? In my Dak I ran'em at about 20 PSI when I wasn't towing IIRC.

 

[jake]

I have bags in my ram, I keep mine at about 15-18 psi, it gives it a little rake and helps out greatly when pulling camper. When the truck is loaded and camper on it I run about 24-26 psi

 

[1978 NYB]

Nice huh .. what's your favorite part and what's your opinion of the ride difference with air / w/o air? In my Dak I ran'em at about 20 PSI when I wasn't towing IIRC.

Mine is a factory air ride suspension. Has a compressor under the left fender that runs off of engine vacuum. It builds 150 psi in a reserve tank that is under the left rear door. There is an air adjust valve mounted to the frame and connected to the rear axle that adjusts with a changing payload. I have a few problems with right now. I'm not getting pressure in the tank. The compressor operates, I can feel it sucking air through the filter, I have to check the output and the bracket mounted to the axle is broke. I did pressure up the air tank and manually operated the valve and the shocks raised the rear of the car quite a bit. I measured 17.5" from the bottom of the chrome on the skirt to the ground with the shocks fully pressured up. I hope the compressor works......if not I'll be putting NYB Gas-A-Just shocks on the rear.

 

[tallhair]

Mine is a factory air ride suspension. Has a compressor under the left fender that runs off of engine vacuum. It builds 150 psi in a reserve tank that is under the left rear door. There is an air adjust valve mounted to the frame and connected to the rear axle that adjusts with a changing payload. I have a few problems with right now. I'm not getting pressure in the tank. The compressor operates, I can feel it sucking air through the filter, I have to check the output and the bracket mounted to the axle is broke. I did pressure up the air tank and manually operated the valve and the shocks raised the rear of the car quite a bit. I measured 17.5" from the bottom of the chrome on the skirt to the ground with the shocks fully pressured up. I hope the compressor works......if not I'll be putting NYB Gas-A-Just shocks on the rear.

Oh WOW I thought you were talking about an aftermarket set up like I put on the Dak.. Didn't know they did that on Mopars.