Corvette Solid Axle Info

[Mr.L-88]

Hello,

I am newb here so I have tried to restrain asking this question without a complete search of old treads; but have not found what I am looking for.

I am looking for some photos or information on swaping a solid 12 bolt in place of my current IRS. If anyone can help me with this it would be much appreciated. Also is there a "legal" width for the rear in a C3?

The project that I am working on is a "street" car, so I would be more than happy with info on combos that have been made illegal such as Bogan's old set up. I just want to keep the mods close to the stocker rules enough that it could be converted in the event that I decide to sell at some point. Any info that could be shared would be much appreciated!

[XSTOCKER]

Check your Private Messages

[Chad Rhodes]

just put a Tom's in it

[Mr.L-88]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

just put a Tom's in it

What is the advantage to running a Tom's/Pepe IRS vs a solid axle?

How does the mega IRS compare to the solid swap when it comes to cost, regular maint., safety, and performance?

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Mr.L-88

What is the advantage to running a Tom's/Pepe IRS vs a solid axle?

How does the mega IRS compare to the solid swap when it comes to cost, regular maint., safety, and performance?

well obviously it all bolts in, no serious fabrication required. If you are mechanically competent, but would have to pay someone to do fabrication work for you, the costs would equal out. We have had ours in the car for 9 years, running AA/SA, A/SA, and B/SA. we have broken one ring gear, and replaced one set of u joints. thats across hundreds of passes. I don't think safety is an issue with it, as I haven't heard of anyone breaking a half shaft or inner or outer axle. Performance wise, the car has spun the tires twice in 9 years. Once at Atlanta where everyone was having issues, it spun .03 worth in 60'. The second time we just tried to get too many passes out of an old set of tires

[Ben Kallies]

I actually did break an inner axle with a Tom's -style IRS setup. When it broke on the starting line, the car made a hard right and pointed me directly at the tree. Granted, I also run a 4-speed, which is harder on parts. I've seen automatic-equipped cars run a good deal of horsepower through a Tom's setup without any trouble. I have to say however, that the IRS would hook anywhere, and I had it working pretty well - yanking the front tires a good three feet or higher. The biggest advantage to a solid axle in my opinion is less maintenence and parts availability. With a 12-bolt IRS the special ring gears are a little more difficult to come by, and are more expensive than a standard 12-bolt gear. I wanted to run a 4.30 gear at one time, and I couldn't find anyone who had one in stock. One final note: My solid axle setup is about 115 lb lighter than my IRS. Just my 2 cents. Good luck

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Ben Kallies

I actually did break an inner axle with a Tom's -style IRS setup. When it broke on the starting line, the car made a hard right and pointed me directly at the tree. Granted, I also run a 4-speed, which is harder on parts. I've seen automatic-equipped cars run a good deal of horsepower through a Tom's setup without any trouble. I have to say however, that the IRS would hook anywhere, and I had it working pretty well - yanking the front tires a good three feet or higher. The biggest advantage to a solid axle in my opinion is less maintenence and parts availability. With a 12-bolt IRS the special ring gears are a little more difficult to come by, and are more expensive than a standard 12-bolt gear. I wanted to run a 4.30 gear at one time, and I couldn't find anyone who had one in stock. One final note: My solid axle setup is about 115 lb lighter than my IRS. Just my 2 cents. Good luck

Ben, glad you posted. I had never heard of anyone breaking one until now. what kind of 4 speed and clutch did you have? what were your average 60' times? I agree that the IRS will hook in a car wash, or on a dirt road, etc. As for the rear gears, and good machine shop can turn modify a standard 12 bolt PRO gear

[Ben Kallies]

Chad, I run a Jerico 4-speed with a Mcleod soft-loc. I had around 900-950 lb of pressure at the time. My 60 ft times were around 1.52 tripping the lights with the rear tires. I agree that a competent machine shop can turn the ring gear down, but I figured that you're going to want to have it heat treated again after the machining is done. That seems like a lot of hassle to change gears, not to mention the cost. What combination do you run? -Ben

[Mr.L-88]

The reason that I asked this is that before the safety loops were part of the IRS plan I witnessed something that made me a little bit gun shy of the whole beefed up IRS deal. A guy that I knew decided to try out his jet boat engine in his Corvette. He let his wife run the car and it spit the Pass side half shaft through the floor, back of the pass seat, and was captured by the seat leather which was pushed out about 6-8" from the normal location. Very lucky day for them. This is why I asked the questions that I did.

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Ben Kallies

Chad, I run a Jerico 4-speed with a Mcleod soft-loc. I had around 900-950 lb of pressure at the time. My 60 ft times were around 1.52 tripping the lights with the rear tires. I agree that a competent machine shop can turn the ring gear down, but I figured that you're going to want to have it heat treated again after the machining is done. That seems like a lot of hassle to change gears, not to mention the cost. What combination do you run? -Ben

427/235 stocker. th-350. avg 60' in the mid 1.30's ( one 1.40 on the rear tires)