I am interested - but have a feeling Ed Dorcey will be closer.
The only cars that got the Dana 60 in any volume were the manual 440s and the Hemis. Automatic 440 Six Packs, and some Hemis actually got 8 3/4" rears. Although the autmatic cars don't shock the rear end like the manual transmission cars, I would describe them as quite serious nonetheless. You may not, that is your opinion. I do, and think that most people do.
Never said using a blower and an 8 1/4" is economical. Did say using an 8 3/4" and a blower would work. Probably more expensive than a Ford 9". But I do believe just as strong as a Ford 9". I also believe that just throwing in a lowest common denominator solution is not really always the best choice. How does the aftermarket for the 8 3/4" stay healthy if everybody jumps to the Ford 9" anytime they want a stronger rear end? Or everytime somebody wants a hotter engine, they get a small block Chevy? The only reason that a small block Chevy has the aftermarket that it does is due to the >50 Million Chevy small blocks that there are out there. Using Chevy parts in a Mopar is a big no-no for me. They will work, but when the Mopar equivalent is just as good, at a non-major cost increase, pretty much puts me with the Mopar parts.
Sorry if my outburst was idiotic in your opinion. Point was, as idiotic as you may think it is, is that the Mopar aftermarket will only continue to exist if we support it. There is nothing superior about a Ford 9" over a Mopar 8 3/4". Yes, it has one additional bearing. The 8 3/4" has a thicker case. Depending on the failure mode, it may be better to have one vs. the other, but there is no clear technical superiority for the Ford 9" over the 8 3/4".
My statements are not theory. We are on an FMJ body message board. We are already out in the cold, not only with the average street machine crowd and the aftermarket, but even with the Mopar crowd in most cases. If you want to save money, if that is the over-riding concern, go with a more popular platform. If you want to stick with the cars on this board, you are going to pay more money, and parts are not going to be easy to come by. And by extension, an 8 3/4" may be more expensive than a Ford 9"; but depending on the deal at the time, maybe it won't be. Ford 9" rears are getting expensive, too. Aftermarket parts are cheaper for the Ford 9", but not night and day different (i.e. Ford 9"parts are not 10X cheaper than 8 3/4" parts).
Kettering ohio