Geez, that's about the most complete comparison/ contrast of rear end setups I've ever seen... I learned some stuff... Thanks for all the effort. I agree that c-clips are really scary; any time you can rock a car back and forth and hear the "clunk, clunk" of axles can't be a good thing--
I used to run the small GM 10-bolt rears in our dirt track cars (dumb "stock"rules), and you're right- the ring and pinion swap out is a total pain, and you've got to get it right or you'll wax the gears in a hurry. We always checked ours by making an imprint on the ring gear with some grease, and making sure that the contact patch was in the middle of the teeth.
The only thing that I have to add is spend the money and get GOOD AXLES!!!
We've had good results running Strange axles on pavement. Strange makes good axles that aren't super expensive, and you can get them whatever length you need them. I've seen stock axles break SOOO many times in circle track cars, and you're usually wide open when it happens, and with a locked rear you change directions real quick- it's a great way to total a car. I hit a wall head-on at W.O.T. in heavy traffic and had to build a new race car-- and we were only running 2bbls with a restrictor plate. Granted, stock cars beat on the axles pretty good just bouncing thru traffic, but I guess my point is that it doesn't take much horsepower to waste a stock axle.
And since we're on the subject, a 9" also uses way less HP than a quickchange.
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