Pic of 8" carnage; advice on 9" needed.

[calpolymustang]

I live in Santa Rosa and have a friend in Placerville (near Sacramento) who takes 8" axel tubes and fits them on 9" center sections. If you provided him with the remains of your disaster, he could make you an axel like Shelby's: 9" center with 8" outer tubes, and no need to modify your brakes, shock mount plate, or ubolts.

i dunno about posting his contact info without asking him, but email me and ill give you his phone number

 

[brianj5600]

If you can do a 9" for a reasonable price, I would do it. $3000 is not reasonable to me.

 

[ratio411]

So I got it for a good price?

You are comparing apples to oranges.

That rear you got is the narrowest and one of the most versatile made by Ford.
They fit SO MANY popular classic cars, even easily adapted to other maker's cars, that they are in high demand.
If you find any 9" in high demand, you will pay through the nose.

There are many more, BY FAR, undesireable 9" housings out there.
They are piled up day in and day out for scrap because they are out of trucks and wide land yachts. They don't just 'bolt in' to common or popular cars.
Combine a glut of oversize and under geared 9" housings to your 8" axles and tubes, and you got a downright easy 28 spline 9" rear.

I cannot understand why in the world anyone would spend money on an 8" rear when 9" rears are so common if you are willing to look.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

I thought about it and you're right. A 31 spline T-Lok truck 9" isn't that expensive or uncommon and it can be narrowed by any decent rear end shop without needing new parts. That's the PITA about the 28 spline axles; they can't be narrowed because the splined area is larger than the axle shaft itself. The other PITA is that I can't use my stock auto-adjusting drums because I only have '57 parts and no '65-66 8" mustang axles. I had to use the '57 brakes and they are not as common. The only rear I would have rather had is a Versailles.

 

[ratio411]

I thought about it and you're right. A 31 spline T-Lok truck 9" isn't that expensive or uncommon and it can be narrowed by any decent rear end shop without needing new parts. That's the PITA about the 28 spline axles; they can't be narrowed because the splined area is larger than the axle shaft itself. The other PITA is that I can't use my stock auto-adjusting drums because I only have '57 parts and no '65-66 8" mustang axles. I had to use the '57 brakes and they are not as common. The only rear I would have rather had is a Versailles.

I am not sure which set you need, but late model 8.8" discs bolt onto 8" and 9" rears.
The Crown Vic and Explorer are the two versions that can be used.
I think the CV fits 8" and small bearing 9", while the Exploder fits Torino bearings.
If you have the old big bearings, I don't know if there is an option other than making one fit.

These are great because they have the parking brake built in and it accepts standard drum brake cables, AND they are no heavier than drum brakes, AND they are far lighter than the Versillies disc. Not to mention that the old technology of the Versillies and expense of even the simplest service parts are terrible. Even if you have the Versillies brakes, to service them is expen$ive.
The later discs are so widespread that service parts are dirt cheap.

 

[D.Hearne]

D.Hearne: are you serious, $50 plus shipping? If so, you're on (if your email inbox isn't already clogged with other takers).
.

Serious as death. I've got two actually. One I may have to narrow for the Comet, the other is a spare. As Dave (ratio411) posted, the wider 9's are plentiful everywhere (but in Kalifornia apparently). One's the 68 9 I posted before, the other is from an 81 Bronco I bought to narrow for the Comet. It had 3.50's Trac-Loc and 31 splined axles. Paid $300 for it.

 

[StangDreamin']

if you want to make a trip out here to southern az i will give you one that needs the old brackets cut off as well as narrowing. it even has lincoln versailles disc brake brackets on the rear, but they were not stock.

How much does it need to be narrowed? (Like, is it an F100 axle?)
I'm a heck of a lot closer to you than 65ShelbyClone! It's only 261.?? miles from my front door to my Mother-In-Law's front door a couple blocks off 1st Street and Roger Road. Of course my wife would be suspicious, 'cause I've already made my obligatory annual visit to the M-I-L for this year

 

[Rajun_Cajun]

I picked up a 9" out of a 68 cougar for $160. Its got 3.00 gears and its a one legger. Some guy down here in SD wants $600 for the exact same thing I got. I've got a 65 and was doing a burnout and thought I blew my 8". I popped the clutch, eased on the brakes, held it for a litle while, then pulled out of it and started hearing a loud knocking noise coming from behind me. Parked the car for a few days and then got it up on a lift abd everything seemed fine. Still driving it around today and this happened the day before Knotts. I'm about to get a locker and 3.55s and then I got to get it narrowed, thats whats gonna kill me.

 

[Dark Knight]

The housing isnt the expensive part, it's the rest of the parts that add up. Case, posi unit, gears etc will set you back alot more. Places like moser sell bare 9in housings, all you need to do is weld on the spring perches.

My 68 8in axles were the same diameter for the whole length, fwiw.