i just bought a ford 9" out of a 1980 pickup for a whole 75 bucks, complete with the center section, and am planning on swapping out my 7.5" in favor of the ford.
i grenaded the 7.5" witha richmond minispool, and slicks a week after getting the new motor combo in it.

I measured the two rear ends and the ford was aprrox. 1 1/2" wider, which, if i have to, ill just use 4th gen rims and make up for teh difference with the additional backspacing.

im going to grind the axle housings down clean and start from scratch with brackets, using i think 3/16" plate steel.

i was just wondering if anyones done this and how did it go, and are there any other trouble spots to look out for? and also what should i do about the axles?, i wanna get chevy bolt patterns in it if i can, it has 5 on 5.5" now.

thanks in advance,
Keith

 

You're going to have to find some way to attach the torque arm. Currie sells the mount for about $150

Cutting off all the old mounts from the 10 bolt to weld only the 9" isn't hard. Measure 3 times and weld once.

You're already addressing the extra width. Is that width from the end of the axle flange where the wheel bolts onto? Now what about the bolt pattern. Ford uses a different bolt pattern than Chev. You're either going to need some rims with a Ford bolt pattern, buy new axles with Chev bolt pattern or have the factory axles redrilled to Chev bolt pattern. Where is the pinion located on the diff. Most truck diffs have the pinion offset to the passenger side while cars have the pinion directly in the center. Too much offset can create too much of a driveline angle.

Keeping the Ford drum brakes isn't bad but you'll need to find some way to attach the park brake cables if you intend to use them.

I use a diff from a 1970 F100 that's exactly the same width as a third gen. The pinion is offset 2" but works fine for me. At least with an offset pinion like that, the axles are the same length and I can swap them around every year. I use ladder bars so I didn't have to worry about the torque arm. I use aftermarket axles with the Ford 5 x 4.5" bolt pattern since my race rims have Chev and Ford bolt pattern on them. That way I keep the Ford stock drum brakes which are larger than Chev anyway.

 

thanks for the very helpful info.

my pinion is offset, i'll measure it for sure later, but id say its about 2".

i just have a few questions about what you brought up...
1) Could you post some pics and info on your ladder bars, and would they be too much for my application?(its like 380hp/400ft/lbs now, prob going up to 425-450 eventually, with 3500-4000 stall in a 3000lb car???)

2)with cutting the stock mounts off of the 7.5, wouldnt you lose like an eighth of an inch or the thickness of the cutting wheel?? and if so would it matter?, because i was just going to cut them and trace them on to 3/16" plate steel and make new ones..?

3) about drilling the axles for chev. bolt pattern.... would you reccommend that, and if so what sort of place could do it for me?
(because it would have to be a whole lot cheaper then the 290-315 dollar custom moser or strange axles!)

thanks again

 

1) Pics are on my web pages. Look in the gallery. You wouldn't like ladder bars in a street car. The rod ends will wear out quickly (every few years)) and they bang a lot transfering a lot of road noise into the car.

2) I cut mine off with a torch. I wasn't trying to save the 10 bolt at all. Spring mounts, LCA mounts (I was using the LCA to locate the diff for the ladder bars), shock mounts and panhard bar don't have to be in 100% the same location. 1/8" isn't going to make a big difference where the spring or shock sits. My LCA were adjustable so if the mount was slightly out, I could readjust.

3) I'd have a machine shop do it. Drilling the holes in the proper spot and perfectly straight isn't something the average backyard'er will be able to do. Unless you plan on swapping over chev backing plates and brakes, you'll also need to have the Ford drums drilled out to the chev pattern. That means having drums drilled out every time they need to be replaced. Will the center of the chev rim fit over the center of the ford axle flange?

What spline are the axles? Most trucks will have 31 spline but not all. If they're only 28 spline then upgrading to aftermarket 31 spline would be a good choice anyway. You'll need a carrier for the proper spline count also. Although a Ford 28 spline axle is larger and stronger than a Chev 28 spline, it's still small compared to the 31 spline ones.

 

I just got done cutting the stock brackets off mine and welding them to the 9" housing. It's a PITA! Lots of grinding. I used a 3" air cutoff, a dremel and a hacksaw. Saved every bit of the brackets and the stock rear as well. I'm going to be making my own torque arm mount for about $40. That part is starting this weekend.
If you have any questions about cutting the old brackets off while saving the stock rear, let me know. I don't have too many tricks (chisel/hammer and a sledge hammer help a lot when the welds are almost ground down).
But I can tell you that it is possible and you just have to keep at it.

Oh, by the way. Has anyone seen any red rearends, or does everyone paint them black? I want to paint it red, but I'm not sure how it's going to look. I don't mind having to keep it clean.

 

im definately interested in how your making the torque arm mount, because i am trying to overcome that problem right now, i called moser and tehy wont sell it unless its for their housing... and im totally confused on what to do now, i considered a 4-link but theres such a lack of frame work to mount it to that i am leaning away from that.

send any info or even pics please!!
thanks, Keith

 

Here it is... the ever famous torque arm mount, wieghing in at a hefty 13.5 pounds, constructed of 1 inch steel and welded with a guestimated 500 amps.....Mooosserrr Toorrque AArrrmmmm!

 

Contact Currie

 

That big beefy mount also needs those huge mounting bolts. That's why I never recommend fabricating a mount that attaches to the pinion bolts and/or the housing bolts. They're just not strong enough to take the amount of torque put to them.

 

Yea... huge by Huge....3/4 thread by 16 with about 1 inch hex heads! three of those monsters too...

 

1" thick??
I got 1/2" steel to make the bracket out of. Guess I'm going to need to reevaluate this or something. Are you seriouse that it is that thick?
Well.. I'm going to make it out of 1/2".
I'll let you know how it works. I guess if the arm snaps off I'll be finding a different one or something. I mean damn.. the stock mounting doesn't look nearly as strong as the Moser.
Thanks for the pics by the way. Those are the best ones I have seen so far to help me with my design.

 

Yes...1 inch thick...the part that runs top to bottom with the two mounting holes is 1 inch thick and for the pic`s..good luck with your homemade one