ford 9inch

[1979ratrod]

this is kinda weird but i was on a walk in the woods the other day and went into the back of my neighbors yard, now he is about 90 and i guess would throw all of his old junk in his woods to rot away so i was looing through all the junk and it looks like they tore apart an old ford out there. but anywas i spotted a rear differention that i swore was a ford 9 inch.

anyways 2 questions:

1. how do i even tell if it is a ford 9 inch

2. its not in that horrible of shape, would it be worth rebuilding?

 

[tmoneymr2]

Can't believe nobody jumped on answering this quicker the easiest to determine if its a ford nine inch is to see if it has a removable diff pan to drain fluid ford 9 inches are solid when you look at them from the rear as the entire pumpkin assembly comes out from the driveshaft side. Depending on what your application is it may be worth it. The biggest plus side to a 9 inch is no C-Clips if you break and axle they stay in the housing. Also they are one of the toughest rear ends you can build. Most came out of pickups so they will almost always will need narrowing. I narrowed one about 5 years for a 1984 Camaro they're not to bad to shorten as long as you have the tools to do so and you have to change your suspension mounting either on the car or on the axle. So it really depends how badly you want a 9 inch and if its necessary for your application. My suggestion is get it if you can, clean it up throw a fresh set a paint on it and put it in on craigslist/ebay/forums and sell it. That is if you dont really need it for your own project.

 

[jrm81bu]

Can't believe nobody jumped on answering this quicker the easiest to determine if its a ford nine inch is to see if it has a removable diff pan to drain fluid ford 9 inches are solid when you look at them from the rear as the entire pumpkin assembly comes out from the driveshaft side.

The Ford 8" is like that too.

 

[attngtr]

The bottom 2 nuts on a 9" you can not get to with a socket only a wrench and the 8" rear you can get a socket on the bottom 2 nuts. :lol: The truck rearends are a dime a dozen and are not worth much. The bolt patterns are wrong and they have the pinion offset so if it was installed as is the drive shaft would be offset and not centered. There are some truck rears that are around 60 or 61 inches wide. Make sure u measure the rear from outside axle flange to outside axle flange and not from backing plate to backing plate. Try and get a complete a rearend as possible as aftermarket axles are at least $300 and complete bolt on brake assemblies are $350 plus. Car rears are worth more as long as it is narrow enough as most will have 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern and u can reuse the axles and brakes. Most will be 28 spline which will be good enough for most street cars. :wink: Hope this helps some :!:

 

[1979ratrod]

thanks guys, im going to try to muscle it out of the woods and see if its worth saving or not, if it is ill just sell it

 

[tmoneymr2]

If it does end up being a true 9 inch and you are interested in selling it let me know.