What are the rear differences between the Gbody and the 68-72 A body rear housings.

I know they both are 4 link, with coil spring on top of axle tube.

Is it the difference in angle of the control arm perches? or is it width, or just a completely different animal?

does anyone have any dimensions showing the differences.

i only ask because i see a lot of the circle track guys use metric chassis rear suspension parts. and these 9" housings are pretty cheap.. plus if i stumble upon an 8.5 from a GN, i would snatch it up if it would work.

this is just a technical post, i dont plan on doing any of this.. well not any time soon anyways.


thanks

aaron

The upper controll arm eyes are the biggest problem. The G body has these at a 90 degree angle. I have not checked the A body angle to see exactly what it is, but it is less than 90 degrees. The a body housing is also 2 to 3 inches wider, depending on the year, and the lower controll arm mounts are completely different. The housing width and lower mounts can be modified to work, but the upper eyes are more difficult to fix. There were some controll arm kits that had a different angle on the end that would allow the A body rear end to be bolted into the G body, but I haven't seen any of these in a long time.

ah,

thanks.

i was just curious to this. because it would be a much easier and cheaper way to find a stronger rear.

aaron

The G body rearend will be about three inches narrower than your 71, in addition to the upper control arm issue. The conversion stuff all flows the other direction, A body rear to G body car. The GN /442 rear end is just an 8.5" ten bolt, the desirability is that it bolts into any G body.

If these are 9 inch Ford rear ends that you are loking at then it wouldn't be that hard to move the upper eyes to the correct angle. The problenm with the GM rear ends is that they are cast iron and it would be very difficult to modify them. Just remember that these rear ends will probably be about 3 inches narrower than what you have.