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Thread: Ford 9"

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    Junior Member 97txaggie's Avatar
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    Question Ford 9"

    Probably a stupid question, but can I just go grab a 9" out of an old car/truck and fab it up to work on the Fbodies? I know it is probably possible (we did this for my dirt track stock car about 7 or 8 yrs ago - just bought some mounting brackets from somewhere, lined everything up and welded them on - worked like a champ) I have to admit though, I'm a little leary of doing something like this on a daily driver chassis -- any thoughts? Anyone else tried this on their own?

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    Member Supershafts's Avatar
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    If you know what you are doing and can measure precisely and keep angles and are a competent welder, and have a welder and all the tools needed....

    You probably could, if you aren't or don't have all the tools needed...

    Buying a new ready to bolt in 12 bolt or Dana will be cheaper...

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    Senior Member Cutlass's Avatar
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    That pesky torque arm mounted to the rearend make things a little tricky. If you can get past that small detail then yes can do it. Otherwise you'll have to come up with a different suspension setup (ie 4 link, latter bars, etc)

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    The Bandit Wesman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 97txaggie View Post
    Probably a stupid question, but can I just go grab a 9" out of an old car/truck and fab it up to work on the Fbodies? I know it is probably possible (we did this for my dirt track stock car about 7 or 8 yrs ago - just bought some mounting brackets from somewhere, lined everything up and welded them on - worked like a champ) I have to admit though, I'm a little leary of doing something like this on a daily driver chassis -- any thoughts? Anyone else tried this on their own?
    I don't think I would try it. Half a degree off on the brackets and your car will be dog tracking all over the place. It needs to be extremely precise.

    And as the Cutlass mentioned, the torque arm creates a whole new problem in itself. This is the reason aftermarket rears are so expensive for F-bodys, because of the damn torque arm setup.

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    Car Nut ICRAZY6's Avatar
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    I would buy a housing that has brackets for an F body and then just use the axles and third member from another car or truck if you want to save money. Saves you from a headach.

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    The Bandit Wesman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ICRAZY6 View Post
    I would buy a housing that has brackets for an F body and then just use the axles and third member from another car or truck if you want to save money. Saves you from a headach.
    ^^^^

    Very good idea.

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    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cutlass View Post
    That pesky torque arm mounted to the rearend make things a little tricky. If you can get past that small detail then yes can do it. Otherwise you'll have to come up with a different suspension setup (ie 4 link, latter bars, etc)
    Quote Originally Posted by Wesman View Post
    And as the Cutlass mentioned, the torque arm creates a whole new problem in itself. This is the reason aftermarket rears are so expensive for F-bodys, because of the damn torque arm setup.
    Currie makes the torque arm bracket as well as all the necessary 4th gen pan hard and lower control arm brackets brand new and ready to go. Very easy to fab onto any 9 inch housing. It's how I did it years back before the aftermarket stepped up and started casting the housings ready to drop in.

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    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ICRAZY6 View Post
    I would buy a housing that has brackets for an F body and then just use the axles and third member from another car or truck if you want to save money. Saves you from a headach.
    Although that can be made to work you will run into a slight problem. The axle tubes are smaller on the 7.5 inch 10 bolts than they are on say,,,a truck 9 inch from the bone yard.

    Cutting the brackets off without destroying them is difficult enough, but then you have to radius them to fit the larger tubes. It's a pain and very time consuming, and really not worth all the effort when all these brackets are available new and ready to go from Currie.

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    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 97txaggie View Post
    Probably a stupid question, but can I just go grab a 9" out of an old car/truck and fab it up to work on the Fbodies? I know it is probably possible (we did this for my dirt track stock car about 7 or 8 yrs ago - just bought some mounting brackets from somewhere, lined everything up and welded them on - worked like a champ) I have to admit though, I'm a little leary of doing something like this on a daily driver chassis -- any thoughts? Anyone else tried this on their own?
    You have to know how to fab, need a welder, angle finder, and know what you are doing. You'll also need a jig to narrow any particular 9 inch housing and axles that you find because the chances are good you'll have something wider than you need since trucks nowadays are about the only thing plentiful in the bone yards with 9 inchers. The cars have pretty much been picked over. Helps to know someone with the proper equipment that can narrow it as well as re-spline the stock axles if you are on a really tight budget.

    With that said, I've done a few of these years back. Currie was the place to get all the 4th gen brackets necessary including the torque arm mount designed to bolt/weld right to the 9 inch. Made the swap a piece of cake.
    From there you have to either build your 3rd member the way you prefer or buy a drop in unit. We were doing this for 3rd gens that didn't have ABS or TCS to worry about too, so no reluctor rings on the ring gears or brakes and goofy crap like that. So that's something else to keep in mind.

    Nowadays, if I were building a 4th gen race car and didn't care about abs and tcs,,,I'd probably still go this route. Otherwise it's much easier and still a tad cheaper to buy a drop in bare housing and axles from a supplier and then simply build it from there if you have the skill.
    Last edited by Firebirdjones; 11-07-2010 at 05:41 PM.

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