Ok, so I've been reading and searching, and now I'm more confused than ever. So what I have is a 9 inch that has been narrowed, nice new axles, and factory drum brakes. The problem is that when it was narrowed, the dude that did it cut off the inner seal part of the housing ends and welded them back on. So I've been fighting axle leaks. Anyway... I pulled the rear end out and I'm going to get new ends WITH the seal in it. But what do I need? What's the difference between the torino ends and the big bearing ends? I have the big bearing, and if I remember right, it came out of a 78 or 79 ford pickup. I just don't wanna order the wrong ends.
There's three ends; early big, late big, and small. Yours are probably the late big, which differs from the early big by the backing plate bolt pattern. Both accept the same size bearing. The small bearing end was used on many lo-po 9" and 9" used in smaller cars and all 8". 9-Inch Housing Ends - Currie Enterprises
Moser bearings have an o ring on the bearing that seal the housing . This bearing and a wipe of RTV ,and your leak is no more .
What size are the 4 holes in your backing plates, 1/2" or 3/8" ? If your housing is a 78-79 pickup, they should be 1/2", and be large Bearing, old style. I would purchase the new ends from Quick Performance, best price and high quality.
The quick performance page details the differences between the three styles. Housing Parts (quickperformance.com) Small bearing = 3/8 bolt (correction ) Per Marty Strode the "Torino" pattern has 3/8 bolts so it may be a tape measure deal there. Big bearing old style bolt holes are 3.50 x 2.375 on centers Big bearing Torino style bolt holes are 3.562 x 2.0 65.00 for new machined ends sounds pretty friendly though. I've got 3 F 150 housings and one full size car with more brackets on it than the law allows and the tubes on all are a bit difference but all are big bearing.
I will 2nd or 3rd that about Quick Performance Parts, I'm doing a Dana 60 with Torino (new style big bearing) Housing ends and they are nice pieces and good price. Building a Dana 60 gets a bit pricey normally but for the Spool Housing ends Master bearing install kit 4:11 gears Yoke 1 pr. 35 spline extreme series made to order axles including installed bearings, retainers,studs and bolts. Complete 11" drum brake kit drilled for my application . Im in $1100 fair price compared to others,I haven't run it yet , car is still under construction but all the parts look nice. So far I have heard good things about there parts Sent from my SM-T387V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Ok. So I think I have the old style large bearing. I have 1/2 inch bolts. Bolt pattern is 3 1/2 by 2 3/8, measured with my steel ruler. So will this have a place for the small seal inside? Because thats why im doing this.
How about you avoid all cutting and install some Moser bearings like Deathrowdave found? That's the route I'd investigate.
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