E-Body Rear End Swap

Is there a shorter 8 3/4 rear end that will bolts in to an E-Body?
Or should i just get the Offset spring mounts and move the perch?
Wanting to get a larger tire in the rear.
thanks

The E-body spring perch centers are 46", there is no housing with 46" centers that is narrower.

There's no bolt in E body axle swap per say, it depends on where you want your wheel/rim offset/back spacing, if your looking for a more positive or neutral offset on a set of wider rims you could move the perches on the E body axle inboard along with a spring relocation set up...

If your looking for more negative wheel offset on wider rims you can use the spring inboard relocation set up that allows you to bolt in the narrower stock 68-70 B body axle


You need to determine your rim offset choice first

You can use a 1968-70 B-body rear with Doctor Diff's 1" offset spring kit.

http://www.doctordiff.com/e-body-offset-spring-hanger-shackle-kit.html

Awesome thanks to you all

Gotcha, didn't give that any thought yet, but if i do the B body rear and 1" offset spring kit will i be shooting myself in the foot for harder to get wheels?

When I did mine, I had custom width 10" wheels with wide meats & they fit perfect.

They have sold since though & I do not have a record of the back space.

There are companies out there that make wheels to order.

I had the perches cut off a B-body rear and new ones welded on at the 46 inch spec. If you are running a factory sway bar that is the way to go. Using offset shackles to move the springs will throw off your end link geometry.

No sway bar or aftermarket sway bar then the shackles are the way to go.

I'd suggest really planning out your wheel tire combo before swapping rears. I think someone makes a tool you can bolt to the axle and adjust to simulate different tire and rim combinations and then rotate it to see if it hits anything. Measure twice, swap parts once... or something like that

For reference, if you install my 1" offset E-body hanger/shackle kit, a '65-'67 B-body rear, drum brakes and 10" wide wheels with 5" of backspacing fit nicely.

A '68-'70 B-body rear, typical disc brakes and 10" wide wheels with 5.5" of backspacing will also fit.

I put a b unit into my 70 e. Cut off the perches and placed them where they needed to be. You gain 3/4" per side clearance between the sidewall of the tire and the outer lip on the quarter. Tons of clearance for what I had on the tire/wheel combo of 15x8.5 torq thrusts and 265/50-15 comp t/a's.

I put a rear from 66 b body in our challenger. Bought the offset hangers from doc diff..all bolted right up. Fit a 28x12 m/t tire. On a 15x10 with 5 inch back spacing. No rubbing or cutting anything. Even wheel well molding

What about the previous comment
"Using offset shackles to move the springs will throw off your end link geometry."

I am using a b-body dana with DrDiff offset hangers with a Hotchkis swaybar. Hotchkis does offer a bolt kit for clearance if needed for offset leaf spring users. I didn't need it.

If I recall hotchkis bars ride under the axle unlike the factory or Firm Feel bars. If you go the offset hanger route substituting a rear sway bar from a B-body to match the width to the new spring location MAY work.

I'm using a 1967 B body rear under a 1971 R/T Challenger with Dr. Diff's offset spring hanger kit.
Everything fit perfectly and I'm using 15x10 wheels.

I put the factory sway bar in a big vise and bent each end in slightly, after a few attempts it fit perfectly.

The 65-69 C body 8 3/4s are a bolt in, you just have to shim the perches 3 degrees. The C bodies are 5 degrees I think, but the dimensions are exact for the perches 46" and the flange to flange is 1/8" wider on each side.

I put one in my 70 Challenger, it fits perfect.

Very interesting, thanks
Curious though, if i was to get a 67 B body Sway bar would that be a direct fit?
How does she ride with those Mods?

They didn’t have a factory 67 B-body rear sway bar.

The old Addco rear sway bars are the same for A,B,E bodies they have a more universal attachment.

I believe hotchkis offers end links or bracket for Springs that are moved in

You actually don't need a different housing for additional tire clearance. Where the axle ends are is not the limiting factor as the first interference point is the leaf spring. Moving the springs in an inch removes the interference.

If you move the springs in then you can either A)bolt in a B body rear or B) keep your E body housing and weld on new spring mounts to realign with the the new spring location. Bolting in a a B housing simply eliminates any cutting or welding. It doesn't actually create any additional room over using the E body housing.

Of course, different offset rims are required if you use the E housing compared to the B housing if you are going to maximize the new space from moving the leafs.

If you do go the B body route, there is a difference in width between 67 and older and 68-70 that will impact you rim offset selection as well.

that'd be my choice.

A b body rear is 60 1/16 " and an e body is 61 5/8".

You will have almost 3/4" more clearance on the outer wheel lip with a b body rear end.

Only if you don't change the wheel backspace between the two. As I said above, the different widths of the housings require different offsets in the wheels.

Using a 65-67 B body housing requires 5" wheel backspace. 68-70 B body housing needs 5.5" wheel backspace. The E body housing will use a 6" wheel backspace. Three different rim offsets will all fit the same tire within the same well matching three different housings.

If you really want to be different and reduce scrub radius all around, swap out the control arms and rear housing for some C body units and run 7" backspace rims on all four corners.