Rear Axel

[Guest windjamer]

Hey guys help me out. Will the rr axel from a 65 skylark non possi. interchange with a rr possi.?? Thanks.

[NTX5467]

Are you wanting to change axle shafts or the complete axle assembly? Are we concerned with ONLY '65 Skylarks? No different model years?

Relative to the axle shafts . . . they should be the same whether it has Posi or not. I suspect they are like the Chevy's in the respect that the "posi" is ONLY related to the center differential section.

Relative to the complete assembly, should be a bolt-in situation as they both went in the same place when new.

Just some gut suspicions . . .

NTX5467

[Guest]

Just remember the axle for a B-O-P ten bolt is bigger diameter than a Chevy ten OR a Chevy twelve bolt. Also if you use a axle from a 68 or newer "A" body cars the for example 1968 Chevelle uses a 59" rear track while the Pontiac uses a 60" rear track (WIDE Track Pontiac) and your 65 Chevelle is a 58" track.. That means you not only have axle dia. issues , but axle length issues to concern yourself with.

D.

[joe_padavano]

Also if you use a axle from a 68 or newer "A" body cars the for example 1968 Chevelle uses a 59" rear track while the Pontiac uses a 60" rear track (WIDE Track Pontiac) and your 65 Chevelle is a 58" track.. That means you not only have axle dia. issues , but axle length issues to concern yourself with.

D.

Don't confuse track width (the measure of wheel centerline to wheel centerline) to axle flange-to-flange width. Different wheel widths and offsets can change the track width on the same axle.

Here's another example:

As stated, the 64-67 A-body cars are generally accepted as having about a 1.5" narrower rear axle than the 68-72 cars. HOWEVER, the 1967 Cutlass used the exact same Type O rear axle as the 1968 cars. The factory parts book shows the same P/N housing and axle shafts on both.

[Guest]

Don't confuse track width (the measure of wheel centerline to wheel centerline) to axle flange-to-flange width. Different wheel widths and offsets can change the track width on the same axle.

Here's another example:

As stated, the 64-67 A-body cars are generally accepted as having about a 1.5" narrower rear axle than the 68-72 cars. HOWEVER, the 1967 Cutlass used the exact same Type O rear axle as the 1968 cars. The factory parts book shows the same P/N housing and axle shafts on both.

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A 1964-1977 Pontiac "A" body standard wheel (14X6 ) all have the same part #

A 1965-68 Rally 1 ( 14X6 ) have the same part #

A 1967-77 Rally 2 (14X6 ) have the same part #

The offset remains the same1964-1977.

When helping a friend set up a 12 bolt chevy posi. for his GTO I said hey wait a minute, lets compair my 69 Tempest 10 bolt posi. axle to your 12 bolt. The ten bolt was larger in diameter and longer.

D.

[NTX5467]

With all due respect, there have been LOTS of things injected into this discussion OTHER than what was originally inquired about. All of the other information is good to consider, but I read it to be "Buick" to "Buick" rather than otherwise.

Granted, track width can change with wheel changes, independent of backing plate flange to flange dimensions OR spring mounting pad widths . . . but it can also change when going from a 5.5" wide rim to a 6.0" wide rim . . . which is ONE time when "offset" might be better to talk about rather than the more recent (and common!) "backspacing" spec. Using "offset" would indicate if the additional width was evenly divided or more biased toward the inner or outer edges of the wheels in question.

Certainly, backspacing can be used to correctly laterally position the wheels in the wheel houses, especially in cases of too-wide rear axles. Even un-Wide Tracking a Pontiac! But I highly suspect that all rear wheel drive GM wheels of particular rim width also have similar offsets and backspacing . . . except for Corvettes (or more recent models which use front hub bearingassemblies rather than the earlier replaceable wheel bearing rotors and hubs), which I've observed to be more "0 Offset" than regular Chevrolet rally wheels of the same width.

Remember the popularity of "reversed" wheels on '60s VWs? Of "chrome reverses" for a wider centerline width of the vehicle's tires?

Enjoy!

NTX5467

Edited February 1, 2012 by NTX5467 (see edit history)

[Guest]

Remember the popularity of "reversed" wheels on '60s VWs? Of "chrome reverses" for a wider centerline width of the vehicle's tires?

Enjoy!

NTX5467

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Oh yes I remember. We called that action bearing eaters. One of my buddies who had a 59 Impala was always trying to make his car look proper like my 59 Pontiac Catalina. The factory Pontiac's did it the right way and my friend just kept replacing wheel bearings with his chrome reverse rims.

Rear axle bearings on a beetle have no problems going over 100,000 miles, but reversing the wheels and they will go out in a matter of weeks.

Anyroad, so if you have the same Part # (which includes same offset ) on a 14X6 and two different track widths..... how do you explain the difference in track width?? They did the same thing from 57-64 in Pontiac's big cars... Same pumkin, different axle housings and axle length 59.43", 62.5", 64.0"

D.

D.

[Guest windjamer]

THANK YOU ALL!! My 65 Skylark GS with posi tract has a bad rear axel. I have ex.cond rear shafts from a 65 Shylark Special non posi.and wanyed to just swap shafts. As I read replys I take it this will work. Thanks again.