Nathan Winslett

I am in the process of doing some Fall/Winter updates on my '84 DLX 4x2. Have her up on stands front and rear completely redoing the front end, front/rear brakes. I was thinking... since I was gonna service the rear axles and have them out... why not find a nice 8" to throw under her. I know the simplest thing to do is find a 4-cyl 8 inch from a solid axle 1-ton with 4.30 gears already installed. Not always as simple finding them around my parts. Another option I was kicking is finding a early '88 V6 rear but from what I understand, these increased to 58" from 56" when IFS was introduces in '86. My question is... if I put the wider rear end in... will the spring shackle bracket still hit in the same spot as the 7.5" rear did and only the wheels will come out 1" wider on each side? I really, really do not want to have to saw off, grind and re-weld new spring brackets onto a rear end. If that is the case... I had rather keep hunting down a 4-cyl 8" rear.

Do these pics look like a 4-cyl 7.5" or 4-cyl 8" rear to yallz eyes? Seller says he does not have better pics. I'm not for sure what it is. Comes from a '88 4x2, 4-cyl, 5-speed vehicle owner says.
In all honesty... it looks like a Chrysler rear-end to me, lol.

Thanks in advance!
Nate

Nathan Winslett

More I look at the photos... me thinks the axle is upside down. The spring brackets should be on the bottom if it is a 4x2 truck. So... I surmise it is 7.5" rear end