In the vein of swapping to a 9 inch Ford rear end. I can envision the swap easy enough then I get to the wheels. Are you relegated to running two different kinds? Do you layout staggered holes and re-drill for your particular lug pattern? (then you have the hubs to deal with). Universal lug (ugh) wheels? How is it done, fellas? I know this is the place to find out. I've been wondering for years but was afraid to ask. No hurry, my block has been in the shop for almost a year now.
What are you putting it in? I have one 9" right now, it's an early wagon housing in a Chevy II, and I had custom axles made, with the Chevy bolt pattern. If you have a Ford or Mopar with 4.5" bolt circle, most of the car 9" will have the right axles. The 70s big cars had 5" bolt circle. Trucks used 5.5" from 57 till the mid 80s when they quit making them.
On the 9" axles that don't have the big clearance hole in the flange for getting access to the axle bearing retainer plate bolts, it is common to have a new bolt pattern drilled on the axle. If you've got the access hole in the flange tho', no bueno on that idea, you'd have to have the old stud holes plugged and the new pattern redrilled back on top of them. Brake drum registers off the center register of the axle, so drum stud holes can just be slotted with a careful hand and a die grinder for most any 5 bolt pattern size. 4.5" Ford to 4.75" GM is only 1/8" of slot per stud hole.
well... depending on what you are building you could just use Ford pattern rotors on the front. or if your car will run steel wheels with hub caps buy the wheels with 10 holes and both patterns if the back tires and wheels are not the same size as the front what difference does it make? spare tire? get the 10 hole wheels. this is not rocket surgery.
Mismatched bolt patterns never bothered me. Like he said, carry a spare with a two pattern wheel or carry a wheel adapter and hardware. Most of my cars lately have had aftermarket axles so you can specify what bolt pattern(s) when you order them. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A whole mess of aftermarket axle shafts for 9" rears have multiple patterns already drilled in them. I have seen them with 5-on-4-1/2", 5-on-4-3/4", and 5-on-5-1/2", all on the same flange, ready to go. You just use a transfer punch to mark where you need to drill your drum, or rotor, then drill away.
Years ago I installed a Ford 8 inch. Wanted to reuse my 4.75 wheels, same as front. Strange Engineering, nearby, said bring axles and lug bolts you want to use. They pushed out old lugs. Redrilled bolt circle. Pressed in lugs and put a spot weld on each lug head. Easy. I redrilled the brake drums myself. Done. Phil
I plugged the access hole and re-drilled my axle shafts. There are a couple of ways to plug the access, but it will require a machinist.
You can get new axles in whatever pattern you want for around $350, then just redrill your brake drums.
It's going in a '64 Chevy C10 which is 6 lug But as a matter of course, I would change the front drums to disk making it a 5 lug (5 on 5?). Sounds like a 70s big car would be ideal and I think there is at least one in the woods up here.
There are also cut-to-fit axles: https://www.jegs.com/i/Allstar-Performance/049/ALL67502/10002/-1 "Allstar cut to fit flanged axles for Ford 9" rear ends are the perfect alternative to custom axles for street, drag racing and circle track use. These axles are drilled for .675" press-in style wheel studs and have multiple wheel bolt patterns for 5 on 4.5", 4.75" and 5" bolt circles. Axles have .470" thick flanges with a 5.94" outer diameter and a 3.06" hub register to center most rotors and drums. Axles with bearings have a 3.150" O.D. bearing installed for housings with large bearing ends, a press-on sleeve to retain bearing to the axle and an axle retainer for large bearing late/Torino style housing end. Wheel studs sold separately."
when redrilling brake drums i took a 1/2 x20 bolt and drilled a 1/4 hoe through the center then i bolt the drum and a multi pattern wheel (many drag wheels) onto an axle i screw the bolt through a mag lug nut and use it to make a pilot hole in the other bolt pattern then take it apart and drill to the size you need
If you're going with 5x5 bolt pattern in that truck then I bet you could find a full size 9 inch out of one of these that's already 5x5 pattern, the width has to be really close too.
This is good stuff. I know there's an old LTD in there that is about that year and a T-bird. If it needs to be cut down, I can manage it. Thanks, Swade. I would've replied sooner but my fingers get stiff when I gaze upon your avatar.
Thanks to everyone who replied to this. It really helps me to demystify and have a general idea of what is involved prior to jumping in.
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