Drilling Ford 9 Axles to change pattern

BBQ hotdogs and a large bottle of water, because i'm going from 4.75 to 4.5 i may not have to drill my axles. i just ordered one cragar offset washer to see if they will work, of course i would have to slot the hole a little but no big deal.

 

This axle and brake drum is from a early bronco mid 60s. Was a 5.5 pattern converted to a 4.5 pattern. No welding needed, but machining will need to be done on the back of the axle. And a little off the front to square the surface so the lug studs will sit flat. When I had this done I bought a new set of drums and had them drilled to match hope this helps...ghost

 

Yes I have done it with 1/8" with no problems. How thick is a nut? Less that 1/8" through the side.

 

This is exactly what I wanted and pretty much what I'm doing. I'm using bronco axles too but they're Yukon replacements.. Thanks everyone for your help!!

 

Why do you have to machine the front? Sounds like you're talking about the inside of the flange so that the studs will sit flat? I know some stock axles started to taper out at the bottom on the inner face, but my yukon ones don't. So I won't have to worry about that...

Someone else pointed out to me that the force holding the wheel to the axles is actually the clamping force, not the studs themselves. I had thought about this but it didn't really sink in, I Guess. Makes sense and with all of the above advice, I think I'll be drilling some axles... Maybe I'll do a writeup and let everyone know how it goes... Thanks again.
Phil

 

i just took another pair of axles to a machinest to go from 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 & he welded a plug in the access hole then surfaced the face & back off smooth. he drilled the new pattern with one stud through the plug he welded in. he then bored a new access hole through one of the old 4 1/2 bc holes. sounded fine to me.

im sure ways mentioned above in other posts are fine also.

 

Get yourself one of the plastic wheel pattern measuring plates.

Set it on a piece of paper and trace the 5 1/2" pattern.

Then - align carefully on the center - trace in the 4 1/2" pattern.

Compare, measure and see what you think - keep in mind the actual lug stud hole size in the flange.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What kind of wheels are you using?

Aluminum?

If so, it may be easier to drill the wheel hub/flange with a new pattern if the hub is solid all around.

If the wheel has casting voids on the backside, you'll have to go the oval hole bit and I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go to the 1" smaller pattern.
Ovalling works fine for a 4 1/2" to 4 3/4" change.

And it may be cheaper in the end to search for different wheels.

Keep in mind you could run into a brake drum bolt pattern conflict, but those are usually not a big deal and you can do them at home.

 

I'm thinking I might do thread in studs as well to save a little bit of meat in between the holes. I've got another project I'm working on right now tho so I won't be getting to the axle til later in the summer..

 

1/2 20 allen,80,000 psi and about a buck a piece at the local machine shop supply house.done it several times.stronger than a autozone stud by far.be shure to relieve the flange where the head of the bolt meets with a counter sink.

 

was that 4 X 4 in Elgin? he has the knowledge and the equipment to do it right....he does it for rock crawlers and the dirt track guys. he can also narrow rear ends and shorten driveshafts at reasonable prices. he has a HUGE lathe

 

Jim Hoeft at 4x4 unlimited. he is very good & has done some axles & other things for me before. he has an Elgin address.

the axles i just sent off are at a small machine shop in Byron & this guy also does alot of rear end work & really seems to know his stuff.

 

Does anyone know where I can have this done in central Texas.?? I'm getting a granada rear and I want 4.75 bolt pattern.

 

57-59 station wagon brake drums are about unobtainable so I welded up the pilot od, the axle od, and the bolt pattern on my axles. Next I faced off the axle and turned the drum pilot to match the F-100 axels that donated the backing plates. I redrilledthe bolt pattern 5 on 5 1/2 otherwise I would not have built up the OD. That was many miles ago.

 

Ya put screw in plugs in the holes if they need to be plugged then heliarc then on one or both sides. You can also just stake 'em I've done that also.

Afterwards you chuck them up in the lath and true them up (front face only).

I have redrilled axles that are moved from 5 on 5.5 to 5 on 4.5 in the rear for a car I'm building and no holes had to be plugged. If you are haveing a problem with the access hole then rotate the axle until you don't. I'm not haveing any issues with mine. They have been in a 9 second Dart and a couple of other streetewrs that were prtetty stout and they arte just fine.

We used a rotary table and a bridge port to drill 'em but you can also used a template and a standard drill press. I've done 'em both ways over the years with good success.

 

Make sure the hub fits in the wheel before you put the studs in. I had to turn my hub down a little.

 

This guy did mine,
http://www.peytonperformance.com/st...ffl=&cip=71.170.129.227&act=&aff=&pg=location

 

I would put the new studs exactly between each stud for maximum material between each hole. If you want to shift the pattern to avoid the access hole, then 1/8 sounds a little close to me.

I made a plug and pressed it into the axle. Then I secured it with two set screws located on the part line. Re-drilled the pattern so that the new holes were in the middle of the exsisting holes.

 

I have been narrowing rear ends, resplining axles and redrilling bolt patterns for over 20 years and I don't plug the holes on truck axles. I will plug car axles before redrilling because they have a couple extra holes and you can't avoid them. the approx 1/8" meat between the holes is plenty, I have never had one fail beause of it.

http://hotrodsandbrakes.com/default.aspx

 

My 2 cents worth, I run a pipe tap in the hole and screw a pipe plug in it with locktight if your worried . Cut the excess off the flange with a band saw or sawsall ,touch up with a sanding disc ,and thread it with studs. I have never had any trouble this way, no heat from welding and no weld to try and thread through. Low buck as it gets. Best of luck.

 

You want the hole chasing the stud, you drill left & right axle opposite

 

Think about torque, you want more beef behind stud than in front

 

bttt ! i'm grtting ready to do this myself ! anyone have any more info , pictures ?

 

so if i have a ford nine inch with small ford bolt pattern i can get it drilled for chevy 4 3/4 bolt pattern.

 

Iv done this myself when I was a teenager … its easy.
Plug the access hole - drill the new pattern - drill a new access hole where one of the old lugs were….done.

If you cant do it yourself for free you should just buy some custom axles …. There not as much as you think considering they come w studs - bearings and seals

 

can anyone recommend a machine shop near LAX in los angeles that can redo the stud pattern in my front hub rotors off a 76 mercury down from 5 on 5 to 5 on 4 1/2 for my 66 galaxy