Called the wrecker this morning and he said there are two types of rearends in 1st gen. Daks, round cover and hex cover. The hex covers had the higher gear ratios that I'm looking for. I'm assuming the round cover is an 8 1/4" rear, anyone know about the hex cover rear? is it a lighter or heavier rear than the round cover? It needs to handle a stock 74 360 engine with autamatic tranny.

 

The 7 1/4 diff should have the higher gears, because they came with the smaller engines .My 88 came with a 7 1/4 and 3.90 gears for the 2.2.
I also have a 74 360 duster and would never consider using a 7 1/4.The 360 will rip it apart.You can buy any ratio you want for the 8 1/4.

 

believe me get the 8.25, especially with any thing bigger than a 4.0L

 

If your not going to run slicks or stickies,you'd be surprised how much that 7-1/4 will take.its when you start to hook solid that stuff goes south.

 

The haxagon cover rears have a very negative track record.

 

screw the stock 8.25, i ripped the one out on my dakota with the STOCK engine at 65,000 miles (i bought it with 58k) the carrier pin for the spider gears sheared right in 2 and both holes to hold it were egg shaped.

beef it up if you get one, like i did. you wont regret it if your going to be running a 360.