Guys,

I'm looking at aftermarket 9" options, and all of them specify that 82-92 housings need to use the 93+ caliper backing plates.

I think there is enough evidence out there that the 89-92 PBR calipers will bolt to these, so no issue there. But my current 9 bolt plates actually hold in the axle, whereas all of the 93+ cars have c-clips.

So for these aftermarket housings, do the backing plates work, as-is, to act as retainers for the axles as well? That's what Moser seems to think, but wanted to see who has experience with these. I've never seen them in person and hard to know what to expect before ordering this stuff.

 

The Frod 9" inherently does not and cannot use C-clips. Some other arrangement such as a bolt-on retainer is and must be used. Exactly what, depends on what rear it is etc.

Apparently the aftermarket housings all either have their own retainer system that's independent of the backing plate, perhaps specifically engineered to accommodate that specific backing plate, independent of the retainer; or, they are specifically engineered to use that specific backing plate as the retainer.

Seems like, if they say to use 93-up backing plates, use 93-up backing plates, since your 9-bolt ones aren't the same.

 

For sure, nor would I want the c-clips

From the literature, seems like the LT1 backing plates are supposed to be the axle retainers. And all they'd really be doing is keeping the bearing in the housing. But since they weren't intended for it and I've never seen the setup, I'm a little concerned that I'm missing something.

 

I do have a pair of "LS1" backing plates in the garage, if you need any.

 

Ok thanks for the offer, could end up going that direction if the stock PBRs aren't workable.

 

Moser makes numerous housing end options. I'd contact them. When I did my moser I ended up using wilwood brakes. They're are drum in hat for the e brake and have been great. Something to look out for is the axle dimensions. The axle flange is a little larger diameter than a stock GM part. It may not fit in the disk hat. Also the wheel register, the part of the axle that slides through the disk was larger on my axles. It fits through the center hole on the wilwoods but wouldn't make it through the stock disk. This also creates another issue with the wheels. The center bore on the axles that fit through my wilwoods wouldn't fit into the hub centric wheels. It worked out fine for me because I have 10 inch wide wheels and needed a 6mm spacer either way. Also check the pinion yoke size. Moser likes to use 1350 joints. The moser is larger, you may need a new shaft. I had a 3.5 aluminum shaft made w 1350s. The final joy of the swap is that the top bolt to the mount for the torque arm likes to hit the floor/tunnel area. My car is lowered 1.5 inches but it's an issue at stock height also. I used adjustable trailing arms to move the rear back 0.75 inches and that gave me the clearance.

All in all the moser is great. I have 450hp, a dual disk and some sticky 305s. The rear has held up to tons of abuse. I'm in the process of putting a blower on the car and I'm confident the rear can handle it. I mean pretty confident?!?

 

Sounds like the 9" housing for 3rdgen is designed like the mid-80s Dana 44 for 3rdgen, where the axle flanges have the bolt pattern of the 10-bolt, and the backing plates retain the axles like the 9-bolt.

"93+ backing plates" then simply means 10-bolt-style flanges, so both 4thgen rear brake designs will fit: 93-97 "LT1", that fits the same PBR calipers and brackets as your 89; and 98-02 "LS1", if you like that design better. To start from scratch with brand new of either type, LT1 or LS1 backing plates, Hawk's sells both:
1993-1997 Camaro/Firebird Backing Plates for LT1 10 Bolt, Pair, Billet Aluminum, Hawks Motorsports - Hawks Third Generation
1998-02 Camaro/Firebird Hawks Motorsports LS1 Backing Plates, PAIR - Hawks Third Generation

For that matter, 89-92 backing plates for 10-bolts probably fit too. But whoever wrote the specs for the 9" probably didn't want to cause any confusion by saying "some 3rdgen backing plates might fit too," and then have to deal with crossover information. Even your 89 9-bolt backing plates can be made to fit a 10-bolt flange with a minor modification, if you feel so motivated. It might be worth a try before you start buying brake parts. People have done it.

 

Great info, thanks guys.

 

If you're looking for a superior Ford 9" rear end call up Midwest Chassis. Fit and finish is absolutely mint

 

Will check that out. Do you know if they're available as just the housing, or housing + axles?

 

Yes they are. They've got lots of options

 

This is the parts i used on my large bearing ford 9". The bracket is the factory 89 9 bolt bracket, have a ford bearing retainer and a ittle custom shim to put psi on outer bearing race.

 

Interesting, so you used both the 9 bolt backing plate and a Ford retainer?

 

Yup, wasn't hard to do. Bracket slides over bearing, spacer fits in the bracket to provide a place for the bering reatainer to push/retain bearing.
also drilled or elongated a few of the 4 bilt holes to fit new pattern.