Rearend ?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 452
Likes: 0
From: Canton Michigan
Rearend ?
This may be a stupid question. The other day my dad was telling me about his 68, and how he was constantly replacing rearend parts mostly the halfshafts as he calls them. Are there parts made now that are a upgrades from the original? And what other ways are there to strenghten up the rear?
Pro
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 548
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Pretty Will
This may be a stupid question. The other day my dad was telling me about his 68, and how he was constantly replacing rearend parts mostly the halfshafts as he calls them. Are there parts made now that are a upgrades from the original? And what other ways are there to strenghten up the rear?
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 16,945
Likes: 9
carbon fiber hlafshafts, heavy duty halfshafts from van steel or vb&p....
dennysdriveshafts
tom's gm 12bolt upgrade
there are quite a few upgrades possible.
The dragvette stuff does not take the strain out of anything, nor is it a suspension control member, it's a SAFETY device that holds the wheel/bearing assembly on the car when the halfshaft breaks (the halfshaft is the upper control member in the stock suspension), the dragvette link is slotted so not to interfere w/ the susp. camber movement (otherwise it would bind and something would break)
dennysdriveshafts
tom's gm 12bolt upgrade
there are quite a few upgrades possible.
The dragvette stuff does not take the strain out of anything, nor is it a suspension control member, it's a SAFETY device that holds the wheel/bearing assembly on the car when the halfshaft breaks (the halfshaft is the upper control member in the stock suspension), the dragvette link is slotted so not to interfere w/ the susp. camber movement (otherwise it would bind and something would break)
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,173
Likes: 3,982
From: Connecticut, USA
Depends on how you're using the car. If you are just going to drive it hard they stock shafts would be ok. If you're going to drag race it hard then you should look into several items in the diff and suspension.
Gary
Gary
Pro
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 548
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Twin_Turbo
carbon fiber hlafshafts, heavy duty halfshafts from van steel or vb&p....
dennysdriveshafts
tom's gm 12bolt upgrade
there are quite a few upgrades possible.
The dragvette stuff does not take the strain out of anything, nor is it a suspension control member, it's a SAFETY device that holds the wheel/bearing assembly on the car when the halfshaft breaks (the halfshaft is the upper control member in the stock suspension), the dragvette link is slotted so not to interfere w/ the susp. camber movement (otherwise it would bind and something would break)
dennysdriveshafts
tom's gm 12bolt upgrade
there are quite a few upgrades possible.
The dragvette stuff does not take the strain out of anything, nor is it a suspension control member, it's a SAFETY device that holds the wheel/bearing assembly on the car when the halfshaft breaks (the halfshaft is the upper control member in the stock suspension), the dragvette link is slotted so not to interfere w/ the susp. camber movement (otherwise it would bind and something would break)
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,362
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio TX
Well it depends on who makes the half shafts but the main weak link is the U joints. You can help this a bit by using a stiffer rear spring to help reduce how far the rear comes down during launch. And also you can change the bump stops for the trailing arms down with shims to stop the rear suspension from going too far as well and putting things in a bind or out of alignment.
Go take a look at the DragVette site. And even call them if you like. Great people to deal with.
Go take a look at the DragVette site. And even call them if you like. Great people to deal with.
