Help me ID this 9" housing and maybe talk me out of it.

[reenmachine]

This 9" housing came with a '68 Mustang I bought. It's not original to the car and I have no info on where it came from.

I was planning on using it in the '68 Bullitt I'm building but a few things about it bother me. Perhaps you all can set my mind at ease.

I'll list what I know -- let me know what you think.

1) The overall width is 54-3/8". I was expecting 54" flat. It's about 53-13/16 between the insides of the flanges.

2) The tubes are 3" where they meet the center, then about halfway out taper to ~2.8"

3) The bearings are small Ford size (2.835" diameter, 2" x 3.375" bolt pattern).

4) It has the hump on the back and two dimples.

5) The spring perches measure 2-1/2" wide and 43" center-to-center.

6) I was getting ready to weld on the brackets for the TCP g-Bar rear suspension and was measuring to see if the pinion is centered or has the 1" offset and it's neither way. The pinion centerline is offset about 1/4" towards the passenger's side.

Here are some pics:

 

[10secgoal]

How much HP with this car ? I would sell it to some looking for a direct fit for that body width. Only I say that because the sealing surface on those tend to leak when you give them a beating with a good amount of HP. 8in are horrible for that. But aftermarket are much better, and you can get with a big bearing.

 

[reenmachine]

How much HP with this car ? I would sell it to some looking for a direct fit for that body width. Only I say that because the sealing surface on those tend to leak when you give them a beating with a good amount of HP. 8in are horrible for that. But aftermarket are much better, and you can get with a big bearing.

About 400 hp and the car won't see hard abuse, and will most likely always be on street tires (as opposed to drag radials or slicks).

What are your thoughts about using a small bearing housing in the first place? I wasn't really worried about it in this application.

My alternative is to just get a TCP FAB9 with all of the g-Bar brackets pre-welded. In that case I'd go big Ford for the bearings, but I'd like to use this housing if it's good.

 

[chromedog]

sorry, i spaced the part about the 68 model year... it sure looks like my 59 housing, though.

 

[73vertstang]

Reen,

Check out this web site:

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~i6735189/rearaxle.htm

I don't know how, but the pictures your showing look like a 9" rear
out of a 76 Bronco.

 

[ultrastang]

Definitely not from a '57-'59 Ford big car. The ring gear bulge on the back of the housing didn't appear on the 9-inch rears until the mid-'60s.

1960 T-Bird 9-inch housing on top, '80 Monarch 9-inch rear on bottom:
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1989/9inchhousings002do6.jpg

By what you describe, and from your photos, it looks very similar to the Ford 9-inch rear I have: --'80 Monarch drum brake small bearing housing:
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2334/monarch9inchncase002jr8.jpg

'79 Versailles disc brake housing on top, '80 Monarch drum brake housing on bottom:
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4913/monarch9inchandversaillag8.jpg

From '75-'80, there were (4) rear ends available in the Granadas/Monarchs:
1. 8" drum brake rear.

2. 8.7" integral-type drum brake rear.

3. 9-inch drum brake rear (small axle bearing).

4. 9-inch disc brake rear (large axle bearing) --same rear end that was standard equipment in the '77-'80 Lincoln Versailles.

 

[iapexl8r]

Definatly looks like the granada. Will it handle 400 hp hell yea!!!! Ive got the same rearend in my 408 ci 65 vert making 405rwhp no issues with the rearend. I say use it!!!

 

[96 DOHC Cobra]

It's not a 57-59 housing. Those didn't get the hump in the back. It's also definitely not a Granada housing. Those had the bigger tubes and more taper on the center area. It looks to me like a stock 68-70 9" Mustnag housing (67 would be the same except it would have the large fill plug on the back side).

 

[Rusty67]

I was under the impression that the center section of the classic Mustangs was not offset at all ?

 

[67coupestang]

Reen,

Check out this web site:

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~i6735189/rearaxle.htm

I don't know how, but the pictures your showing look like a 9" rear
out of a 76 Bronco.

i thought that too for a minute, but it looks like Reen's axle is sprung under.

 

[10secgoal]

About 400 hp and the car won't see hard abuse, and will most likely always be on street tires (as opposed to drag radials or slicks).

What are your thoughts about using a small bearing housing in the first place? I wasn't really worried about it in this application.

My alternative is to just get a TCP FAB9 with all of the g-Bar brackets pre-welded. In that case I'd go big Ford for the bearings, but I'd like to use this housing if it's good.

Then it wouldn't be that big of a deal then. With good axles 28 spline can take a lot of abuse, especially if it has radials.

 

[reenmachine]

Then it wouldn't be that big of a deal then. With good axles 28 spline can take a lot of abuse, especially if it has radials.

I'm still going to put 31-spline axles in it, just with small bearings.

 

[10secgoal]

I'm still going to put 31-spline axles in it, just with small bearings.

There used to be a company that made that bearing...but stopped. Did you find one that makes it ?

 

[Edbert]

I bought a set of "small" bearings for 31 spline axles at the local parts place. Brand was Timken.

I think that 96DOHC is right, that housing looks just like the 9 I pulled from a '68 428 Cougar.

Here's a link with pics of it and the 31 spline small-bearing axles (from Superior)....
http://www.edbert.net/axle.htm

 

[reenmachine]

There used to be a company that made that bearing...but stopped. Did you find one that makes it ?

I'm going to use Strange Engineering axles and they make 'em in 31-spline with the small bearing.

 

[bnickel]

http://www.mustangsandmore.com/ubb/FordRearDimensions.html

according to this it looks like you have a normal 67-73 mustang/cougar rear. one thing about the cougar rear is that the centering pin pilot hole in the leaf spring perch is larger than a mustang version and to my knowledge they are just a tad bit wider housing than a mustang....less than 1/2".

i would find a regular mustang leaf spring centering pin and see if it fits the pilot hole on the spring perch, if it does then you have a mustang rear most likely, if it's a little loose then you probably have a cougar housing.

also, if the rearend came with some big funky looking rubber isolators that mount between the rearend and the leaf spring you probably have a cougar rear, that doesn't necessarily mean that whoever pulled the rearend actualy took the isolators too though.

and one more thing i remember about the cougar housing is that the leaf springs are wider than the mustangs and IIRC the spring perch on the housing is a little wider as well, but don't quote me on that one

 

[valley firearms]

This may be of some help

http://www.ultrastang.com/Rearinfo.asp?Page_ID=1

 

[96 DOHC Cobra]

The housing is exactly what you need for a mild 68 Mustang. If you're considering upgrades to the rear (31 spline axles, disc brakes) I'd go with a HD housing with "Torino style" ends. That way you can get big bearing 31 spline axles and easily mount the Explorer rear discs, if that's something you were considering.