im looking at putting a ford 9 inch in my car and i was wondering what i have to do it. is there any mounts that i have to make and is there anything that i have to do to the rear end it self? and then will the stock drive shaft work or do i have to get a differnt one? thanks Ty.

There's lots of things involved. Your best option is to buy an aftermarket bolt in diff. It will make installation a lot simpler and cheaper.

Using a junkyard diff has a lot of problems. First of all, you need to find a diff that's close enough to the width of a third gen's diff. The axle bolt pattern won't be the same so you'll need different rims unless you have dual bolt pattern rims such as Weld Draglite. Chev uses 4-3/4" bolt circle. Small ford is 4-1/2". Trucks are even larger. The different bolt pattern also means you need to use Ford brakes.

It's easy to cut off the mounting brackets from the 10 bolt and weld them onto the 9" but there's no easy way to attach the torque arm. Currie sells a torque arm mounting bracket that can be welded onto the 9" housing but you'll need it welded by someone with good welding experience and a 220v welder.

If you buy an aftermarket bolt in diff, all the proper mounting brackets are installed. The correct bolt pattern will be on the axles for your wheels and the housing ends will accept your GM brakes.

The cheapest route is to buy the housing package with axles. You then install a junkyard center section with gear ratio, posi etc that you want. Go with 31 spline axles. I'd never recommend 28 spline axles for a 9".

Installing a junkyard diff of any sort under a third gen isn't impossible but it's not a simple bolt in task. Lots of fabrication work is involved to do it properly.

ok thanks that helps a lot. do you know if the stock drive shaft will work or not? thanks Ty.

stock drive shaft will work all depends on what size pinion coupler you use on the 9in mine takes a 1350 joint which is the biggest one you can put on there

The driveshaft should be close enough to work but a custom length shaft should be used. The u-joint won't work. You'll need a combination u-joint. The GM u-joint is called a 3R. A factory Ford yoke will use a 1310 or 1330 depending on the yoke. If you get a new driveshaft made, it best to change everything so the front and rear use a 1350 u-joint. That means a different tranny and diff yoke.

im putting in a muncie 4 speed so should i still go with the 1350 u-joint?

you would just need a muncie input shaft with a 1350 joint unsure what came in those input shafts i use denny's driveshafts out of NY they built my driveshaft for me they have all the stuff on their website