[67-4-fun]

hello,
i have a narrowed ford 9 bare housing big bearing that was given to me that fits my project. The exact width of the housing only is 47.938 or 47 15/16.. can some one help me get an idea on what axles lengths i need made possibly?

[OneMoreTime]

I think that you will need to have the 3rd member installed in order to measure up the axles..What my guy did was set the 3rd member in place then put in an axle and then he could see just what he needed to do to get the correct length of axle made..

Sam

[big gear head]

Put a chunk in it with a standard differential. Then stick a tape measure in until it hits the shaft in the differential and measure to the end of the housing. Do this on both ends and then call Moser with those measurements. They can make your axles by these measurements. You will also need to know what differential and brakes you are going to use before calling.

I would recommend subtracting about 1/16 inch from your measuerments so that the axles are slightly short. That will give you room for backlash adjustments when setting up your gears.

[BOBCRMAN@aol.com]

^^^^^ Thats how I did it for years^^^^ Then I bought a handy gizmo from Leadmine Products has your Pete & Jakes, Super Bell and 9" Ford Ford . Bolts on the front of housing and gets the exact axle length. Good item if you do a lot of axles/housings.

[67-4-fun]

i have a third member for it now, just no carrier yet, im building this rear from scratch.. that brings up another question about brakes, a big bearing ford 9 has 2 3/8 brake offset, so is that what i need to include in the measurement? going to run drum brakes for now, may switch to disk in the future, i just dont know what drum brakes i can run GM or have to go with ford or just much easier to go with a ford drum brake setup.. this rear end is going under a gen 1 camaro

I currently have no axles for this rear, factory or aftermarket

Bob.. your right about the tool, I may just get the tool and be done with it

[OneMoreTime]

I fought the battle on the brakes and the brakes won..
But I found it best to just do the disks in the 1st place and be done with it..I used the Ford explorer disks and found it best to just take the mess to my local guy who does rear ends and have him do it..What he charged me was worth it and saved me a lot of aggravation...

Sam

[BOBCRMAN@aol.com]

Originally Posted by OneMoreTime

I fought the battle on the brakes and the brakes won..
But I found it best to just do the disks in the 1st place and be done with it..I used the Ford explorer disks and found it best to just take the mess to my local guy who does rear ends and have him do it..What he charged me was worth it and saved me a lot of aggravation...

Sam

Been there. There are a few different combinations. Big bearing/small bearing. Rotor/Drum/backing plates, OD and offsets and the various thickness of the parts, shims inner/outer seals on the ends, Flange OD/hub OD, bolt circle.. all add up to a pain in the rear..Literally

[S10xGN]

I made a plywoood jig, as you can see the offset between pinion and the housing center is 2". I'd pick a company to do your axles and see what they recommend...

Russ

[67-4-fun]

after talking with a few freinds today, i got the brake offset figured, so im barrowing a measuring plate to measure for axles, going to give strange engineering a call this week.. thanks for all the advice

[kso]

Originally Posted by 67-4-fun

i have a third member for it now, just no carrier yet, im building this rear from scratch.. that brings up another question about brakes, a big bearing ford 9 has 2 3/8 brake offset, so is that what i need to include in the measurement? going to run drum brakes for now, may switch to disk in the future, i just dont know what drum brakes i can run GM or have to go with ford or just much easier to go with a ford drum brake setup.. this rear end is going under a gen 1 camaro

I currently have no axles for this rear, factory or aftermarket

Bob.. your right about the tool, I may just get the tool and be done with it

Your 2 3/8" brake offset dimension sounds right...yeh the axle supplier will need to figure that in. But...considering Ford axles are not equal-length side-to-side like Chevys are so you can't automatically split the flange/flange-minus-pin dimension, and figuring that you don't know where the housing builder put the pinion exactly (Centered? Offset to the side, and how far?) and considering that you'll want the brakes to fit, here's what I'd do, which is either instead or in addition to using the special tool described:

Get the center section and brake assemblies first*, and mount them in there with the diff center pin in (of course) and the drums on the shoes in the right place in/out. Then, just actually measure it, i.e. stick a tape in the tube 'til it hits the pin and back out a touch, and read where the mounting surface of your drum or disc or whatever is. Double-check that the flange is sorta 2 3/8" out from the flange as you expect, if not then why? Finally, is the total measurement flange-to-flange working out to be what you need, as well as the pinion offset (Camaro should be about 3/4" to the pass. side)? Really, if you are using the stock wheelwells this is all sounding a bit too narrow, and if so this would be the time to re-specify a housing...

Anyhow, the whole point there is, there Ain't no substitute for an actual measurement. If nothing else, you'll want to know what went wrong later!

*GM brakes meant for those little housing ends where roller bearings ride right on the axles don't fit so well on Ford housings with their larger precision inserts. It can be done, but to no advantage...better to get Ford stuff with the drums or discs drilled for your Chevy pattern. Also if you're starting with drums it would be good to be able to give the axle guys a hole dimension from your actual drums so they can give 'em a solid register.