Would there be any interest in replacing the center section of a D44 with a quick change 9 inch? You would still use all the stock stuff (half shafts, suspension mounting points, C-beam, etc...) but you would be able to swap gears pretty easy. It would be stronger too, but I don't really think over powering the ring and/or pinion is an issue for most of us.

The main benefit would be the easier gear changes for different tracks.

If you are interested, what do you think is a reasonable price for a unit like this?

I think people would be interested in a swap out of a 9 in for the d36. Sounds pricey to me, though.

Matthew

Keep me posted. I'm interested as I have thought long and hard about switching my car over to a conventional 4 link and straight axle but for some reason I want to keep the IRS.

So far all I've broke are stub axels and (once) it took out the suspension upright along with it but that was running my ET streets. Putting drag radials on it and changing my lauch tech stopped that, but I want to be able hold this bad boy at 6000RPM and drop the hammer....

As for a reaonable price... we talking entire chunk or just a housing and the stub axels?

From where I sit, the weakness with the D44 isn't the D44, it's the IRS concept.

Improving the center section would have a benefit - gear changes - but for drag racing, a 4 link is still stronger.

Now... for road racing. That would rock.

I dunno Bogus, the D44 in the Viper is pulling some CRAZY good 60' times.

TT Viper, full weight, IRS.

the viper sounds interesting.

They also run a D44... or a variation on the theme.

you don't need to launch all that hard if you have that much power... let the engine pull you. that is one fast SOB.

The bottom line, as I see it - there is a point of deminishing returns for street legal door slammers. And the Corvette is no exception.

As for the Ford 9". I assume this is some kind of aftermarket part, right? I have done some reading lately where the 9" is getting harder to come by. Strange is now doing a D60 rear instead.

As for the GM 10 bolt. JUNK. For that matter, the 12 bolt isn't all that great, but it is better.

That one is pulling a 1.7 60'.

The viper uses a D44, but with a coilover setup and solid half-shafts.

Vipers have an upper a-arm, so the loading is different.

There' a C4 GT1 racecar I've seen running at NHMS that has a quick change center section.



They're pretty sweet. I looked into it, for what gears & setup cost on a D44, it's actually not that bad. Coming up with the new batwing is the trick, but someone on CF has already done it.

This one's setup for an independant, but BE AWARE, this is a smaller unit that can't handle our torque!
http://www.1speedway.com/irs_quickchange.htm

1.70's aint nothing to really write home about. He's got the power to run on the big end, but I was pulling 1.60's on 26X11.5 15 ET streets with a stock LT1 on a 150 shot. Of course the stub axels wouldn't make many 5500RPM launches...
Will

Yeah, the main benefit to it would be gear changes for road race guys. Like I said, I don't think the D44 ring and pinion is the weak link when it comes to drag racing, so I don't think swapping to a 9 inch center section would be a huge improvement.

What I am talking about is a center section only. 9 inch quick change with stub axles. You would still use the stock half shafts, outer stub axles, etc...