One of the new axle tubes...
One of the new axle tubes and side bells sits in front of the existing rearend. Note the worn area on the axle tube.
Our new Mastersbilt chassis came to us as a bare frame. Not being a rolling chassis, we planned on reusing the Tiger rearend that was originally in Project DLM-Rayburn version. It was a stout quick change rear from the North Carolina manufacturer that specializes in those types of rearends. We ran it through a season and a half of racing without any problems, whatsoever. Now, anyone who has ever switched chassis manufacturers and tried to reuse existing components knows that it is not nearly as cut and dry as it sounds. There is a lot more to do than just drop the rear out of the Rayburn and slap it into the Mastersbilt. We had a whole slew of items to address.
For starters, as I'm sure many of you, know a 2002 Rayburn is a swing arm car, while the 2008 Mastersbilt that we have is a four bar. That fact alone means that we'll need new birdcages. In addition, the rearend measurements for the Mastersbilt are different than the Rayburn with both Mastersbilt axle tubes being 1 inch shorter. So in addition to new birdcages, we'll also need new axles, axle tubes, and side bells. By the way, we're also going to need all of the bars, rod-ends, and so on to mount the rear in the car. However, we will be able to reuse the center section and ring-and-pinion
Now, the center section and ring-and-pinion is a particular area of interest for us. Like I said, we had run this rearend for more than a year and a half at tracks from Georgia to Southern Florida. What I didn't mention was that we never once had the rear serviced. The only time we ever had it remotely apart was when we changed gears when track conditions required us to.
Our Tiger Rear End has a metal treatment applied to it called RF-85. Unlike a traditional coating like Teflon that sits on top of the metal, RF85 actually treats the metal. RF85 stands for reduced friction 85 percent, which was derived from results of frictional behavioral tests performed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tiger has led the RF85 charge into racing to collect data for the domestic automotive market.
 |  The side bell and axle tube...  The side bell and axle tube in the foreground is obviously the older used one, the new one is behind. Note the difference in size. |  Surprise number one came when...  Surprise number one came when we disassembled the rear to put the new side bell and axle tube on. Like our original install, we kept one hub on the original axle tube and mounted it into one of our Weld wheels. This put the center section in the perfect position for us to work on it. |
The technology is derived from cutting tools, medical devices, aerospace, and industrial applications, but the company that produces RF85 firmly believes its true potential lies within domestic car or truck applications where oil needs could be reduced significantly. Imagine running just one quart of oil in the rearend of your F150.
Road vehicle applications aside, we were interested in seeing specifically how the guts of the rear looked after all the racing we did. We figured it should look pretty good since we never had any problems, but we were pretty surprised with what we found.
Before we got to the point of looking inside the rear, we first had to line everything up for the swap. So, follow along as we give our new Mastersbilt a "new" Tiger Rear End.
Measure That Tube
Did you ever wonder exactly how to measure the tube length on your quick change rearend? Well we went to the source to find out exactly how. Gerald Williams of Tiger Rear Ends tells us that they measure all tubes from the B-Dimension which is the area on the snout where the inner hub bearing seats against. You measure from this area out to the end of the tube, including the 5 inches installed inside the bell. You measure from the outer end of the bell to the B-Dimension on the snout (remember, that's where the inner hub seats), then you add 5 inches to accommodate for the length of tube that is inside the bell. This will give you the total and proper B-Dimension Tube Length.
 When we opened the rear up...  When we opened the rear up it looked as clean as the first day we installed it in the Rayburn. If you look closely at the ring-and-pinion, you can almost see how shiny it is. Intrigued, we took it a step further. |  Bearing wear is minimal thanks...  Bearing wear is minimal thanks to the RF85 treatment. We were pleasantly surprised at how little wear the bearings actually experienced. We'd heard of other racers running up to 6,000 laps on an RF85-treated rearend, but being the cynical types, we always want to see for ourselves firsthand. Well, if the lack of significant bearing wear didn't convince us perhaps the ring-and-pinion's condition would. In this shot the ring-and-pinion look almost new. |  And in this one, they look...  And in this one, they look as good as new. OK, we're convinced. If you run a quick change a Tiger Rear End with RF85, it could be your new best friend. |
 |  Here you can see the thrust...  Here you can see the thrust block, which is designed to take the slop/play out of the ring gear when shifting, particularly into reverse. Not a lot of guys run them but we think they're a good idea to prevent things from getting torn up. |  We took the old side bell...  We took the old side bell and tube out of the wheel and replaced it with the new side bell and axle tube. We're now ready to put the center section back together. |