C-Clip eliminators

[Keith]

I'm ordering all the rear end stuff I need right now and since i'm going with rear discs, is c-clip eliminators something that would be benificial in my application? It's a 10 blt. with 2.73's and I'm probably leaning towards the Eaton posi unit for it.....thanks. Also, I've done a little searching but is there a comprehensive website where I can get all the details of rebuilding the rear?
:cool:

[Keith]

Ok...so I found a good tech site here (http://www.fullsizechevy.com/fscu/axletech) and I'm pretty sure I don't want to get c-clip eliminators since the car will autocross a few times with light street use and I'm reading that they are prone to leaks. Does anyone have an opinion on this either way? Thanks again...

[XcYZ]

Several of my friends use them, and yes, they do tend to leak.

Since you're going to run disk brakes, you have a poor man's (yeah right, lol) C-clip eliminator setup. Unless the axle breaks at the hub, the rotor should keep it contained in the housing. All the axles that I've seen break, have failed at the splines.

Anyone else?

[harshman]

bah!!!

You don't need them as they would be redundant. Spend the money on more shiny parts!!! :D

[Blown353]

Personally, I would not spend any money/time upgrading the 10 bolt; step up to a 12 bolt or 9 inch especially if you plan on running a lot of power through it and ever plan on running slicks. The 10 bolt is sort of a "dead end" in my opinion.

That being said, the BEST way to do the c-clip eliminator conversion (regardless of 10 or 12 bolt) is not to use the bolt on eliminators, but to have the factory ends chopped off the axle tubes and have Ford style press-on bearing ends welded onto the factory axle tubes. Much stronger and no leaks. It may be hard to find a shop that can do this properly, as they will need a jig to keep everything nice and square when they weld it. If you find a shop that hasn't done it before but "think they can" I would turn tail and run. Find an experienced shop to do this job! If they don't get the ends on nice and square you are looking at rapid bearing/axle wear plus driveability issues as the tires won't be pointed properly (toe and camber issues.)

Aftermarket 12-bolt housings are available with Ford style ends already welded on for you; Moser and KTRE come to mind.

My personal favorite is a 9" housing with a 12-bolt carrier; you get press on axles, an easily removeable carrier, and the decreased frictional losses of the 12-bolt gearset. Basically a Ford 9" housing with 12-bolt gears/carrier in it. A little odd sounding, but a very good setup!

Troy

[Keith]

Cool, thanks guys!! As weird at it sounds, my rear is a 8.5" 10blt vs. the "supposed-to-be" 8.2" in the car. For the application, I think doing a beefy 12 or 9 will be unneccesary as a strong 8.5 has proven itself well for the 10 sec budget racers. I'm running an auto with freeway gears and the car will only see the 1320 and autocross track a few time for numbers and dialing-in. Other than that, it's just going to be cruised and enjoyed on road trips and shows.
Troy- I definitely appreciate your input on this and the 9" w/ the 12 blt carrier seems ideal for the next project I'm designing right now! Thanks for the advice. :cool:

[Blown353]

So it's a B-O-P 10 bolt? Agreed, they are stronger than the Chevy 10 bolts, in which case I'd keep the thing. I wish you luck in finding a competent shop to weld the Ford-style ends on the tubes, it may be a difficult search. Hopefully someone can chime in with a recommendation.

Troy

[XcYZ]

I sold my 12 bolt for a huge chunk of money, it almost paid for my Currie 9" with aluminum case. Getting rid of the C-clips was part of the decision to go with the 9". That great advice that Troy gave.

[Blown353]

Scott, I envy you Camaro (aka leafspring) guys as you can run those super-trick Currie aluminum center sections. I can't run one as they don't have provisions for the 2 upper links of my factory 4-link. I suppose I could weld brackets on there myself, but having some brackets welded to cast aluminum as a very important structural piece of my rear suspension scares me more than just a little.

I also hear you on 12 bolt prices. They are going for CRAZY amounts of money. I got my 12 bolt for free about 5 years ago, ran it for a while with the original 2.73 pegleg, then put new gears/carrier/axles/bearings in it. I could probably sell it as it stands now without the brakes for ~$1700, and even with 2 sets of gears and bearings through it I'd still come out money ahead!

I have my eye on a Fab-9 housing with an aluminum 12-bolt carrier, but since I have either a 3-link or IRS in my future so I'm not going to be buying the Fab-9 until I make up my mind; my 12-bolt will do just fine for now.

Troy

[MarkM66]

So it's a B-O-P 10 bolt? Agreed, they are stronger than the Chevy 10 bolts, in which case I'd keep the thing. I wish you luck in finding a competent shop to weld the Ford-style ends on the tubes, it may be a difficult search. Hopefully someone can chime in with a recommendation.

Troy

It's probably a Chevy 8.5" ten bold. The early 10 bolts where 8.2", then they switched to 8.5". I'm not sure when they did it with the Chevelles. But for the Nova's they did it in '71. This rear end will swap into a 1st gen Camaro, and is a nice upgrade. I did it on my '68.

My '70 Nova has the 8.2", :( .

[Keith]

They switched to 8.5" on the Chevelle's in 71 as well :)

[jannes_z-28]

C-clip eliminators was from the beginning intended for dragracers who quickly could change a broken axle at the track much easier.

It has no real purpose on the street. I mean how often do you take the rear end appart?


Jan

[ZMAN1969]

if this is for a chevelle or a-body, the only 8.5" rear that would fit was in a 71-72 olds cutlass or buick skylark. chevelles didnt get 8.5" till 73 and wont fit the 64-72 a-bodys , the really good thing about the cutlass/skylark rear is they have bolt in 28 spline axels =no c- clips are needed :) novas got the 8.5" in 72 camaro/firebirds got 8.5 in 1971 but ONLY the a-body 8.5" had bolt in axles - rest are c-clip type :unibrow:

[trapin]

I ran 12.70's in my Camaro back in the early 90's with 9" slicks and a 4.56 gear in my 8.2. Held up beautifully. I even ran the stock axles. My car was a 331 small block with a 125 pill on it. It came out of the hole hard, lifting one wheel several times if my memory serves me correct. I never had a problem with it. Just recently it was rebuilt and the guy at the ring and pinion shop went through it and said it was in fantastic condition. It's going back into my Camaro again although I chose to swap out the 4.56 for a 3.73 for obvious reasons. I will not be racing this car, but if I was I would probably step up to something a bit stronger. But I'll be damned if I'm going to ever rip an 8.2.

Either I'm the luckiest guy in the world or 8.2's don't get the credit they deserve.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

quote: I wish you luck in finding a competent shop to weld the Ford-style ends on the tubes, it may be a difficult search. Hopefully someone can chime in with a recommendation. Quote.
Im not sure if Keith is willing to do this to his rear,but a great alternative to a c-clip eliminater is having Moser housing ends installed. It uses a Ford large 3.150 bearing and comes in different bolt patterns. The only draw backs are having them installed and buying new axles. I do have a jig BTW. :thumbsup:

[Keith]

For the sake of accuracy and updates........a family friend came over (who works for a rear end shop) and after looking it over for 2 seconds, pulled out a smoke, took a big drag and blew it out of the side of his lip before telling me mine was, in fact, an 8.2. After having everything out of it except the pinion in the next 4 minutes, he told me it was perfectly fine. I guess all the bearing/race surfaces and ring gear wear looked nice. What isn't fine (and probably saved it from being beat on) is that it's a 2.56 open carrier. He also said they don't get the credit they deserve and that, if built right, can take 400-450 to the rear tires all day long. So, I'm keeping the axles and replacing the gear with 3.23s and slipping in an Eaton posi.
If I break it, I break it. Well see.... I just hope I'm going straight when it gives. Then I can go hardcore with a new rear with the Moser ends (which look very nice BTW)

[Rick Dorion]

Rear discs can be a poor man's safety net.

[Keith]

Rear discs can be a poor man's safety net.

I'm using rear discs from an '00 SS Camaro :D

[Rick Dorion]

Gotta work on that short term memory since you did state rear discs at the beginning! That's my plan, too. At this time, I don't want to tear out my 12-bolt and have it modded.

[gchandler]

I can't recommend weld on ends highly enough. With a c-clip rear you break a clip or an axle and you lose your wheel. While I am aware that the ford style ends are not as robust as a floater they are a huge improvement over the c-clip style axle retention system.

There are many shops that are capable of doing the conversion, and if you do rear disk brakes at the same time you can probably get a nice break on the price. If you need a recommendation for a shop send me an email.

Safety first. I have some photos of the two setups I will try to get them on my website so you can have a look at the differance.

[gchandler]

http://hotrodhomepage.com/?p=7