Ford 9"

[csudman]

Me and a buddy got a line on a couple 9" rear ends. One for my xj and one for his yj. Couple of ques. and opinons. How can you tell if its a big bearing axle, 31 spline. Can you do 33 spline without any changes, assuming you have the 31 spline axle allready. Get a detroit? or spool? Whats the cheapest disk brake conversion. Is their such a thing as a cheap ff conversion. I've searched my asshat off and found nothing.
Thanks

[csudman]

Oh yeah thier only costing us 100 ea. drum to drum and hes got a big smelly
pile to chose from.

[Vug]

Originally posted by csudman
...Whats the cheapest disk brake conversion. Is their such a thing as a cheap ff conversion. I've searched my asshat off and found nothing.
Thanks

Must be you are not finding any 9" info that fits your budget because searching the net for 'Ford 9' turns up more results than 'Pamela Lee nude' does. ;)

There are a lot of 9" disc brake kits out there.

Go spool !! :cool:

[XJ HO]

Look at the studs for the backing plate the big bearing 31 spline has the bigger 1/2" studs, it's real common truck axle. Also it looks like there are 2 styles of housings, I'd look for the bigger more oval of the two. The narrower width big bearing 31 spline axle is harder to find, it came behind big block Ford cars in the 60's & 70's I believe it's about 62" wms to wms.

For brakes I've been collecting Eldo rear calipers and I'm planning on AA mfg. weld on brackets (15.00) w/CJ 7, 5 on 51/2" rotors.

Tons of options on the axles spool locker etc.

[csudman]

Go to my local pick and pull and get cadillac eldorado calipers would they have a gm rearend? Ether way, rear I aussme? and CJ7 rotors, front I am assuming. Use the weld on bracket and bolt the whole thing together. Right? Sounds simple enough. Know of any install wirte ups?

[C-ROK]

A few things I'll add on my knowledge of the 9 inch.

The axle flange studs do not determine whether it's big bearing or small bearing. Big bearings came with both the 1/2" AND 3/8" T-bolt flanges. The smaller 3/8" were more common in the 80's years on truck applications. I don't know about earlier model year car applications.

Determing big bearing or small is best done with a caliper at the wheel bearing. Big bearings were very common in the F-150 applications.

As to running a 33 spline...
You can run a 33 spline with the OEM third member BUT your only option on carriers is a full spool.
Something to consider too; if you already have a 31 spline shaft, why spend the additional $350 for new shafts and wheel bearings and another $150 for a new spool??? 31 spline shafts in a Cherokee are still an extremely stout shaft size for nearly all kinds of wheeling.
I ran 31 splines with 38's in a Scrambler for years behind 100:1 gearing and a V8. 31 spline 9 inch axles are likely plenty strong for your application.

As to discs: the Eldo calipers are not cheap. Typically they will run around $150 ea rebuilt. There are cheaper options out there including running a front brake caliper, but this will mean no E-brake. Explorer rear discs are also a good one to consider. They have the e-brake and the rotors are 5 on 4.5". There are several caliper brackets available on the market but making your own is not too difficult.

Bolt pattern is something you need to consider. Ford trucks have the 5 on 5.5". You can have the axle flanges (and drums/rotors) re-drilled and press in new studs to convert it to a 5 on 4.5" pattern.

There is no reason to go full floating in my opinion.
Detroit or spool is a matter of preference. I've run both in 9's. No doubt the spool wears tires faster on the street.

Width also needs to be considered. Very, very few, if any, of the narrower car housings have the stronger "heavy duty" housing. Most all narrower applications had the "banjo" housing; including vintage Broncs. The heavy housing is much stronger but would be wider than your front axle. The banjo housing could also be reinforced and trussed to increase it's strength.

I would just add too that cheap 9 inches are plentiful out there. If you desire to stay cheap you need to find one that best fits your needs with the least amount of modification; gears, bolt pattern, width etc. When you start building up a 9 inch with new shafts, rear discs, etc; it is no longer a cheap axle and you would probably be saving money going with an Explorer 8.8 which already matches the XJ/YJ width and has discs.

[Fore Wheeler]

Originally posted by Vug
Go spool !! :cool:

he means FULL spool.


I'm running a 31 spline 9" and had a mini spool, I broke the mini and twisted both shafts, so it can be done.

Now I have the full spool.

[Vug]

Originally posted by Fore Wheeler
he means FULL spool.


I'm running a 31 spline 9" and had a mini spool, I broke the mini and twisted both shafts, so it can be done.

Now I have the full spool.

Pish posh
A mini spool will hold up to a lot. Your problem stemmed from lack of intelligence, heavy foot, BO, and gravity! :D

[Fore Wheeler]

Originally posted by Vug
Pish posh
A mini spool will hold up to a lot. Your problem stemmed from lack of intelligence, heavy foot, BO, and gravity! :D

Yea, but Vug wheels like a little girl, so yea, a mini will hold up if you wheel like a puss/Vug.

Oh sh!t, I forgot, Vug doesn't wheel anymore - YA LOOSER!!!!!!

I was gettin-it when I broke, and the BO didn't have that much to do with it anyhow, so bite me! :D

[Vug]

Originally posted by Fore Wheeler
Yea, but Vug wheels like a little girl, so yea, a mini will hold up if you wheel like a puss/Vug.

Oh sh!t, I forgot, Vug doesn't wheel anymore - YA LOOSER!!!!!!

I was gettin-it when I broke, and the BO didn't have that much to do with it anyhow, so bite me! :D

I only mall wheel now. I got hung up on a nasty section of speed bump last time out and had to get winched off by a AWD mini-van. That's enough excitment for one year.

:flipoff:

[Fore Wheeler]

Originally posted by Vug
I only mall wheel now. I got hung up on a nasty section of speed bump last time out and had to get winched off by a AWD mini-van. That's enough excitment for one year.

:flipoff:


What'd I tell ya, he's a puss

[Vug]

Originally posted by Fore Wheeler
What'd I tell ya, he's a puss

name calling willl NOT get your invited to the house warming pig roast

[Fore Wheeler]

Originally posted by Vug
name calling willl NOT get your invited to the house warming pig roast


But my wife playing "I'm the king of the world" will. :D

[Vug]

By the way, this is an official hijack

[Fore Wheeler]

yea, but more people will look with more responces and we're keeping it bumped as well.

Sorry for hijacking.

[Vug]

I'm also switching to a Ford 9 and Dan is my R&D dept. I am changing my plan as we go because he keeps breaking stuff.

A buddy of mine just did the AA weld on brackets on his Bronco and told me he used Chevy truck front brake calipers with D44 rotors but there was a little custom machining to do to the axle flange and the rotor hub. I will be stopping by there to check it out this week sometime.

Hey Fore Breaker :moon:

[TRL WGN 1]

Can't you two play nice?

Fore Jacker is doing a lot of hijacking lately :D

[Vug]

Originally posted by TRL WGN 1
Can't you two play nice?

We played nice at the mud run last weekend. I love watching rednecks beat their equipment.

[TRL WGN 1]

Vug, are you two going to play nice at the Jambo in Indy?

[Vug]

I'm not going this year. I may go again next year. You gonna be there?

[csudman]

Back to the subject at hand, I'm kinda torn now. I can get a D60 for about 100.00 more. I'm not sure the added weight is worth the strength. Opinions? I plan on running 37's offroad and 38" AT's onroad. Oh yeah, did I mention this is going to be my DD for about a year before I can afford a new vehicle? Probably be doing some sort of reduction before its all over with and maybe a few years from now a SBC. I know 9's are tough and I've found one w/ factory 31 spline. I imagine that the 60 I've found is 30 spline, thats what most of them came with. Other ques. is which one will have better clearance. Figure I'll end up shaving either one I get.

[Static-XJ]

Hopefully I'll have me a 9" to staart cleaning up by this weekend.

I found an F-150 rear that is only 61" WMS.

For discs, wich will come much later for me ;), I found the cheapest and easiest is to use 1/2 ton Chevy front calipers with CJ-7 rotors. But like has been said, no e-brake. But getting them in for roughly $100 shouldn't be a problem. Caddiliac rear calipers have a built in e-brake, but are pricy. I would pick up a pair from the junkyard, then either rebuild them, or use the junkers to cover the core on some re-mfgd. I think I priced it that way at just over $100 for just the calipers. Then use the same CJ-7 rotors and bracket, etc.

Also, I came across a 9 3/8" rear. It looks just like a 9", but parts from either third won't interchanage. Although you can bolt a 9" third to a 9 3/8" housing, and visa-versa with a notch for the slightly larger ring gear. The 9 3/8 should all have 31 splines with larger bearings, but I haven't found anyone that sells gears, TAD's, and all the other little parts. They will be cast with C8-AW on the pinion support, 9"ers will have C1-AW thru C7-AW, IIRC C4 and up should have greater nodular iron content than the C1-C3 cases. Supposedly the 9 3/8" comes only under Lincoln and Merc big cars, can't find anything more than speculation on that though.

Would it be possible to redril the flanges and drums for 5 on 4.5"? If so, anyone know about howe much that would cost? I'd do it if it's cheaper than running an adaptor for the spare and different bolt patterns front to rear.

[csudman]

This is converison for 5x5.5, I think this is what I'm gonna do cause I'm gettin a new front end to.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=174851

[csudman]

I allways thought that the 28 and 31 spline shafts both came in the 9", just depended on what size motor was infront of it. Am i wrong, where they accualy two different axles?

[Vug]

The nines can be found with both the 28 and 31 spline axles. The 28's were in most cars and early Broncos and were narrower. The 31's came in full width out the the F series/Bronco.

[csudman]

Thanks, Thats what I thought.

[Ghost]

Didn't the 9" also come in Vans that were 31 spline but narower than the truck ones?

[Lucas]

I think ARB just came out with a airlocker for a 33 spline 9"

[Static-XJ]

Originally posted by Vug
The nines can be found with both the 28 and 31 spline axles. The 28's were in most cars and early Broncos and were narrower. The 31's came in full width out the the F series/Bronco.
Yeah, the 9 3?8" I was talking about is just a different third. The axle housing is the same as any other later style (non banjo) 9". I assume the shafts are the same diameter as a standard 31 spline 9", but not actually sure. It looks just like a 31 spline 9", but a different third which has no aftermarket support I can find. Just make sure you get a real 9", or are happy with a 9 3/8 as is.

9" comes in 28 spline, and 31 spline from the factory, and two different size bearings from the factory.

[csudman]

I anyone is interested, I'll sell them for 150.00 each. I'm not sure how many are 28 and 31 spline but I have 65" and 62" WMS versions. The guy went up on price but thier still a pretty good deal.