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Narrowed 9" Ford Question

John D

John D

NAXJA Member # 788
Location
Rockford, Mi
So I am narrowing this 9" rear for the XJ and I cannot find the answer to what others have done. Just doing some rough measurments it looks like the center section is offset 2" to the passenger side and the pinion is offset about another ~1" to the passenger side -3" total offset to the right side from the factory with the same length axles.

So, when you narrowed your's did you cut off the same from each side leaving the offset? Or did you cut one side different from the other and have two different length axles?

It seems like the Jeep would tolerate the offset with the u-joints in the driveshaft and it would be easier to leave the offset.

Thanks,
 
mine was different lenth axles centered pinion. not all that big a deal if you are going to have axles made any way. I would not build it with off set pinion if there was another opion. my 2 cents
 
just a thought, but seeing as the Ford 8.8 that many swap in (myself included) is offset somewhat to one side, and has no ill effect on the drivetrain... it may be ok to allow for a bit of offset when narrowing your 9"

I just got a narrowed D60, and noticed the build sheet has the shafts at 31.5" and 32.5"... if I had done the axle myself I would have done them at the same length for the sole reason of carrying spares.

depending on the amount of offset you'd have to leave, it maybe handy to have 1 spare shaft (if you plan on having any) as opposed to 2 spares.
luckily mine are chromo... so I'll risk no spare, for now.
 
It's an F100 9". The original plan was to narrow it 5" (2.5" per side) to fit under the XJ. When I was measuring yesterday I noticed the offset.

FWIW I am not concerned about two different axle lengths. I am running 35 spline chromos with 5.13's, 35's and a 5.3L. It's unlikely that I will break an axle with this set-up.
 
John D said:
It's an F100 9". The original plan was to narrow it 5" (2.5" per side) to fit under the XJ. When I was measuring yesterday I noticed the offset.

FWIW I am not concerned about two different axle lengths. I am running 35 spline chromos with 5.13's, 35's and a 5.3L. It's unlikely that I will break an axle with this set-up.
Click to expand...

you had me convinced up until the "and a 5.3L" part... then I got worried... and jealous.

either way, if the spares aren't an issue then I would center the pinion with the drive shaft.
 
beakie said:
you had me convinced up until the "and a 5.3L" part... then I got worried... and jealous.

either way, if the spares aren't an issue then I would center the pinion with the drive shaft.
Click to expand...

I decided on centering the pinion, makes more sense from a strength perspective. Thanks for the input guys.

Also, I have been running the 5.3L all year on a D30 w/ OX, stock shafts and $12 Advance Auto u-joints and a 8.25 with No Slip and stock axles on 35" tires.
The 9"/D44 chromo upgrade is purely insurance.
 
I don't thik I have seen anyone address this yet. Where do I put my drain plug after I do this? I have some ideas, just curious what others have done.

DSCN4365.jpg
 
My 9" doesn't have a drain plug, only some had drain plugs. You can delete it or put it in after you finish plating. Personally i'd like a drain plug as removing that center section just to change the fluid kinda blows. -B
 
nice man, take lots of pics and keep this updated. i have the same axles and am just waiting for time and money to knock this out. one question though. why narrow instead of just running rims with more backspacing? you will have to change wheels anyways for the 5 on 5.5 lug pattern.
 
boomhauer said:
My 9" doesn't have a drain plug, only some had drain plugs. You can delete it or put it in after you finish plating. Personally i'd like a drain plug as removing that center section just to change the fluid kinda blows. -B
Click to expand...

Thanks, this one didn't have a drain plug either. I'm thinking I can tap and install a plug just on the side towards the back and it will allow me to drain 90% or more of the fluid.

dgrigorenko said:
nice man, take lots of pics and keep this updated. i have the same axles and am just waiting for time and money to knock this out. one question though. why narrow instead of just running rims with more backspacing? you will have to change wheels anyways for the 5 on 5.5 lug pattern.
Click to expand...

Hey Dale, how have you been?
I wanted to make them XJ width, it's easier than you think to do it especially if you are upgrading axles at the same time. D44 front is XJ width too.

jonzer12 said:
^^ X2 its not hard to make up 2.5 inches per side with some deep backspaced wheels.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen any wheels with enough backspacing to bring it in 2.5", but I imagine they would be ugly as hell. 3.75" backspaced 5 on 5.5 steel wheels are almost free around here.
 
John D said:
Hey Dale, how have you been?
I wanted to make them XJ width, it's easier than you think to do it especially if you are upgrading axles at the same time. D44 front is XJ width too.



I haven't seen any wheels with enough backspacing to bring it in 2.5", but I imagine they would be ugly as hell. 3.75" backspaced 5 on 5.5 steel wheels are almost free around here.
Click to expand...

so are you getting custom shafts for the front and rear made up? if so where from?
oh and after some quick searching, finding a 15x8 5x5.5 wheel with any more than 4.25" of backspacing was quite a challenge. basically i couldnt find any... which surprised me a bit.
 
dgrigorenko said:
so are you getting custom shafts for the front and rear made up? if so where from?
oh and after some quick searching, finding a 15x8 5x5.5 wheel with any more than 4.25" of backspacing was quite a challenge. basically i couldnt find any... which surprised me a bit.
Click to expand...

And 4.25" wouldn't even be close to enough. I am going to do a whole thing as soon as it's done, hopefully within a month. I know there are a few threads out there already, but I had some issues I had a difficult time finding the answers for. It would be nice to have it all pulled together in one place.
 
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