Whats an easy/cheap way to put a 9inch in one of these? It'll be in my dirt track car.

 

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...E.aspx?id=1769

 

A junkyard 9" means you need to find one the correct width. It will still need the axles replaced unless you can find one from a car that allows you to use the ford 5 on 4-1/2" bolt pattern rims instead of the larger truck bolt pattern. The majority of the truck diffs are too wide except the late 60's or early 70's F100. Then you'll need to completely redesign the rear suspension to eliminate the torque arm system.

Some people have had luck with SSM bars but they're not a good design. The other choice is to hack it up for some ladder bars.

In the end, it's still a lot easier and cheaper to buy a direct bolt in diff from any of the vendors who carry it. It will use all the OEM suspension components. You can get the housing and axle package for around $1000, Install your own center section and brakes and away you go.

 

I built a crude jig out of scrap metal laying around and cut the old brackets off the factory rear and welded them to the 9". The axles were already drilled for 5 on 4-3/4 so it only required the bracket transfer. I then made a bracket that bolts onto the housing similar to the design used by the other companies. It was a lot cheaper but I ended up needing adjustable control arms and torque arm because nothing is perfect. While I "saved" money, I more than made up for it with wasted time. However a broke student has to make due with what he has.

Can it be done... yes. Is it worth it... no IMO. After everything was done I probably got it done for half price but at a cost that I'll know as soon as the engine is tuned and it's ready to launch.

 

Any pics of your guys setups? I know I wanna get rid of the torque arm for sure. Thanks guys for the help.

 

Bad idea. Our Torque Arm suspension is very well designed, and aftermarket torque arms are plentiful.

 

I agree, the torque arm suspension is great. The bolt in housing is the way to go for sure. The mounting of the torque arm to the housing is the most problematic part, and of course you'll need to consider the side to side location of the pinion. Typically the driver side axle needs to be shorter than the other side. I'm pretty good with a welder too, and fabbing a junkyard 9" just is one of those projects in which the headache/cost/benefit ratio just isn't there. Good luck with your build.

 

For the time and money spent fabbing something up I would suggest you just go to Moser or Currie

 

The rear suspension isnt really worth redesigning, as mentioned, it's very good and its extremely versatile.

You're talking about ditching a very effective suspension design for some unproven ladder bar type setup (forget a 4-link, just doesnt work with these cars without MAJOR redesigning of the entire back half of the car) all because you want to cheap out on a rear end.

You said it's for a dirt track car? Can you even break a 7.5 rear on dirt?

 

Weld the spider gears for a cheap way out or go to www.autoweldchassis.com I got one from those guys and it is pro all the way and that is there regular (stock) rear set-up they sell.

 

Yea I broke a couple last year, Guys kept hitting me in axels on purpose because i was the new guy and they said to get a 9 inch..

 

Since you're only dirt track racing, buy a set of these.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Lakewood/620/21700/10002/-1

Find a 9" that will fit under the car and weld these on. You won't need the torque arm since they work like poor, short ladder bars but they will get the job done.

They'll probably be the easiest and cheapest way to put a junkyard 9" under a dirt track car.

There is no simple or inexpensive way to upgrade the third gen diff without doing a lot of fabrication work. The torque arm suspension prevents you from simply swapping in any sort of junkyard diff. You either need to buy a direct bolt in diff or find some way to eliminate the torque arm for some other diff.

If you can't afford to do the upgrades, buy lots of 10 bolts for spare parts or find an older full size car like a G-body.