So I just picked up a Ford 9" housing (82-92 Camaro) for I think to be a good price $280. Its brand new. Has the torque arm bolton points welded on pumpkin but no bracket. Its a currie. But anyways What is a good third member to look for in the junk yard? Lookin for around 3.23 gears. I can just buy them if the third member didn't come with it. Also so brakes to use? Explorer? any other tips?

Did the housing come with the axles? If not then you need to buy aftermarket axles and it wasn't that great of a deal. I won't even recommend 28 spline axles for a street car. Go right to 31 spline. That also means the center section (posi etc) you find and use must also accept 31 spline axles.

As for brakes, what will be a direct fit, depends on what ends are on the axles. Explorer brakes use the new style big bearing (Torino) ends. Chances are if the housing is a direct bolt in, it will have bearing ends designed to use your factory GM brakes.

You are going to have to get a lot more information before getting brakes for it. If the housing was set up for GM brakes then the axles will stick out 2 3/4 inches and GM brakes are all that will work on it. IF it was set up for Ford braakes then the axles will stick out 2 1/2 inches and Ford brakes are all that will work on it. If you don't have axles then you will have to get the axles made for the same brakes that the housing was built for.

As for the chunk, a lot of 4X4 trucks had 31 spline axles and the Traction Lock differential. If you plan on putting a lot of power through this thing then an after market chunk will be needed. The stock Ford chunks will not handle a lot of power. I have seen many of them broke by stock 302, 351 and 390 engines.

So theres no factory center sections that can handle some power hu? I'm looking at less then 600 to start out.

This is what happens to the average 9 inch Ford Traction Lock (posi). This one came out of a stock Ford truck with a 390 and automatic transmission. I have a plie of these. About 1/2 of them will be cracked when you pull them out. The stock case is weak around the pinion pilot bearing, but can handle more power than the TL. If you find a nodular case then you can start building it, but those are pretty rare. A complete after market chunk is around $1400 to $1700, depending on what you get in it.

A stock C7AWE case has been pushed into the 9 second range by a few people before they fail. I caught mine before it failed. The weakest part is the pilot bearing support. If that breaks, the pinion will get spit out the side of the case.

That's not saying they won't fail at slower speeds also. Too many factors determine how long it will live.

This is what I found before it failed


This is what I now have in the diff.

This must have been the housing that sold on ebay. Depends on exactly what you want. I bought 2 center sections off of racingjunk.com. Both Strange carriers, but had spools, 31 spline, 1had 4.10's, 1 had 3.55's. Got each for about $800 with shipping. They don't last long on there, but if lucky you could find something, and with a posi. Good Luck.

Well thanks guys. Probably need to get a aftermarket third member. Hate to destroy the rear. Now on to the brakes. Wanna run disks. But which ones? I was thinking a C5 calipers/rotors and finding/making a weld on bracket. I also heard you can pick up early caddy calipers, 2000 Jeep rotors weld on a bracket and call it good

See my sticky thread at the top of the brake forum on how to fabricate a brake system.

there are 3 or 4 on ebay now

det locker N Housing. and 4.10 (or any gear) $860 shipped.

just shop

You still need to know which housing ends you have. There are at least 4 different ends that you could have.

There's 4 diff kinds? He!! I thought there was two? I'm a newb when it comes to th 9". Should have done this swap a long time ago.

There are the old big bearing Ford ends, the new big bearing Ford ends, the small bearing Ford ends and the GM ends that take the big Ford bearings. Each one of these requires a different bracket and the GM ends require a different amount of axle hang out. You need to find out which ends are on this housing before making any plans for brakes.

Do you have the axles with this housing? If not then you need to know which ends are on it before ordering the axles.

if Its a currie.

it will have a # plate on it. that you can call Currie give them the # they will have all the info on whats parts it was made for..
yokes are easy to swap out. or have swaped out..
you can get then any way you like..

Its a currie. Has four numbers stamped into the plate. Burrie says there should be more numbers stamped on the housing. It also has the new Big Bearing ends. Whats the perks with a aluminum center section? Why they wear the gears out faster? Tried to call and get axles ordered from jegs but I need to fill out the "Custom Axle order form". Yay! Maybe currie will have the Pt#...check in the morn.

Perks of an aluminum center section? Lighter unsprung weight. They shouldn't wear anything out unless they're not set up properly. Although I've never weighed mine, my center section can be installed with one hand. I don't need to bench press it up into place any more.

See picture above. I use a Moser aluminum bolt through case. You can get a cheaper one from Strange but it's more considered a street case but will still survive longer than a factory cast steel case. I also have an aluminum Daytona pinion support for a larger inner pinion bearing and use an aluminum spool. The Moser case has a dual bolt pattern for the pinion support. You can use the standard 3/8" studs to hold the pinion support or upgrade to 7/16" studs for greater strength without having to drill new holes. I just use the 3/8" studs.

The heaviest part of my diff is the gears, bearings/races and yoke. I have an aluminum yoke but the teeth don't seem to have the same pitch as the pinion splines. The empty case is only 18 pounds.

If this is a Currie housing then you would be better off getting the axles from Currie too. This will reduce the chance of getting something wrong and causing more headaches. If Currie has the specs on the housing then they can get you the right axles the first time.

AlkyIroc.. This is what strange says about the aluminum case..

For applications where weight is crucial and gear set life is not an issue, Strange offers the lightweight high tensile aluminum alloy Ford 9'' case. This case, with forged 2014T-6 aluminum bearing caps, is a full 20 lbs. lighter that the Strange nodular iron unit yet it has a greater tensile strength than a standard 9 '' Ford case.

I would like to go with an alum case to save on weight. But whats 20lbs? I guess it all adds up.

Are you building an all out race car or is this a street car? If this is a street car then use an iron case. If you are going all out then the aluminum case woudl be all right, but they are designed for very serious race cars that need all of the weight savings possible.