The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Installing ford 9" in 1954 3100

I have a few questions for anyone who has already installed a ford 9" under there 54 chevy. preferably guys who are running 9-10" wide tires in the rear. Wondering what all goes into this and if I will have to tub, or what the housing width would be. just trying to save some time by mocking everything up. no reason to reinvent the wheel when this has been done 100s of times. Thank you in advance.

Measure the width of your bed on the underside where if fits down over the frame. Add 2" to that measurement and then bolt your wheels/tires onto the rear end. If is less than this figure between the insides of the tires it's too narrow. Now measure from outside to outside on the tires and then from outside fender bead to outside fender bead. If the tire width measurement is wider than the fender to fender figure it's too wide. Check into spacers and wheel back spacing to see if you can position the tire for inside/outside clearance. On 10 inch tires one usually has to jack up by the bumper or frame to remove tire.

You will find that most of the newer 9 inch rearends are wider than the stock 1/2 ton rear end. They may still fit, but if your truck is
lowered, you may have clearance issues with the fenders. My son has a 9 inch rearend from a late 60s Mustang that worked
great with no narrowing. I am using a 9 inch from a 73 Station Wagon, which is longer and I will have to shorten it ti fit.
There are also two different outer bearing sizes, so if you are looking for heavy duty, you will want the rear with the
larger bearings. Additionally, there are two types of splines, the 28, and the 31. The 31 spline rear end will take more
horsepower.
I should add, that the station wagon rear end actually has a larger crown and pinion, but the 9 inch pumpkin
fits with no problem. (assuming the splines match)

This link below, is an encyclopedia of the Ford 9 inch, and there are more links at the bottom
of his page.
Bob

http://www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm

The 28 and 31 splines mentioned are axle splines where the axle fits into the spider gears.

Ed

If you haven't bought a rear end yet you might consider using an Explorer. It is an 8.8" instead of a 9" but has held up well behind 1500hp engines. The mega horsepower engine guys weld the axle tubes to the center section and use a "C" clip eliminator kit but no rework is necessary for any tire that will fit inside an AD fender. It is 59.5" wide so a 1" spacer is needed to match your old rear or you can use a 1" adapter to match the front wheel bolt pattern. If you choose a disc brake one the E-brake drum is inside the rotor so the cable is just like your old one which is a real plus. Very plentiful selling in the $150-$250 range and is a leaf spring rear end so not a lot of extra brackets to cut off.