Rear ends

[lt14mla]

I am aware that the infamous rear ends in our cars are very weak. I own a 97 firebird formula with some mods. I was wondering how much hp and torque can i add to my car without blowing out the rear end. I don't know too much about this stuff. I knew wehn i blew my tranny(auto) a few months back that it was from all the torque. So i had it rebuilt with all hardened parts. The mechanic said the next thing to go would be the rear end cuz its the next weakest thing back. Is there anything I can do to strengthen it (cheaply)without buying a whole new moser rear end or anything. Some help please. THanks

[lt1maro]

Man there is no use in even trying to make the "Twig bolt" any stronger. Its an undersized rear end for our cars, they put them in S-10s for christ sake. It was never ment to be strong. But a T/A gridle will help a little and stronger gears. But this will only be a temporary fix. Do a seach on this board and youll find lots of info or im sure Joe or Fred will chime in on this one (those guys know everything!!! It amazes me)

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

You can beef it up enough to live behind an auto on street tires even if the car makes a lot of power. Autos are easier on the 10 bolt than manuals are. Slicks and a six speed can spell a disaster for one, but some guys run pretty fast auto cars and the thing lives.

Lots of weak points include wimpy crush sleeve, axle bearings ride on axles, axles are weak, caps flex, the whole housing flexes, higher gear ratios have tiny pinion gears, spider gears are weak...

But, you can fix one up with stronger gears, girdle cover with preload bolts, Raytech spacer to eliminate the crush sleeve, cap studs, better diff, and better axles. At a minimum, do Raytech spacer, gears, studs, and girdle cover. Used to get take-off diffs from SLP at a discount for changing to series 3. Welding the tubes is a good idea.

You can put less than a grand into it including gears, spacer, kit, cover, welding tubes, fluids & labor and make it stronger.