'57 Ford 9" Brake Upgrade Questions>>>>

I did some searching and didn't really find a good answer to my questions, so here we go.....


I have a '57 Ford Ranchero 9" rear that I'm using in my Model A Roadster. My goal is to do a couple things at once:
1) Upgrade to newer, self-adjusting brakes, backing plates, hardware, etc.
2) Change the bolt pattern from 5x4.5 to 5x5.5, since I'm using '40 Ford type wheels.


There has to be someone out there that's done this before
Does anyone know of a car or pickup (with 5x5.5 pattern ideally) that I can rob the backing plates and drums off of, and will bolt right up to the '57 housing without problems? I can have my axles redrilled to the 5x5.5 pattern.


Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated!

A couple cell phone quality photos for reference:








Thanks!
Malcolm

 

mr obvious says...57 ford pickup?

I think there were two sizes of bearings used in the late 50s on cars on 9" rears (judging from the two that I have that have different sized bearigns). If you have a big bearing housing, then the pickup stuff used from late 50s to probably the early 70s should fit. Self adjusters came into common use in the mid 60s.

Axles will probably be the wrong length.

 

I've got some, I believe they came off a early-mid 60's Ford truck. Gotta keep them for the rear-end though, sorry.

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the big bearing vs. small bearing deal. I may just need to do some measuring and head out to our local U-Pull-It and look around.

If all else fails, I could just rebuild these brakes, deal with adjusting them once in a while, and have the axles/drums redrilled.
Thanks, Jim!

 

I wanted to re-drill my axles and drums too(I have a 59 wagon diff), and I THINK there's not enough room on the axle for the 5 X 5.5 bolt pattern.

 

I wanted to re-drill my axles and drums too(I have a 59 wagon diff), and I THINK there's not enough room on the axle for the 5 X 5.5 bolt pattern.

 

You've got self-energizing brakes, judging by the pics, you may be able to just change the backing plates for self-adjusting. Easiest way to check if they can be re-drilled is to get a bolt pattern template with multiple bolt patterns on it (I found one at a swap meet, ya know the plastic ones). Yours probably is a small bearing judging by the housing ends and it is a small bolt pattern. The 9 inch under my 39 is a 64 Fairlane, with self-energizers. Be careful if you get 28 spline axles with the intent to cut them down, alot of them taper slightly after the spline. One more thing on the bolt pattern, an "old timer" friend of mine (and an excellent heli-arc welder), machined and welded a ring to make the flange larger and then re-drilled for the 5 on 5 1/2 pattern.

 

good luck malcom , i just went through this ordeal with wanting to run 11 inch police special drums on my bronco housing which happened to be small bearing ! no go never existed so we machined out the big bearing centers and welded in plate then machined in the smaller pattern and bearing hole ! ford used so many varriences i got confused but it's done now ! if you could find an early ford bronco rear it would solve almost all your problems , 5 on 5 and a half , and right width ! good to see ya wrenchin on it finally

 

If you want a 5x5.5 pattern then just get a rear end out of a ford F100 half ton pickup. You get the bolt pattern you want and the bigger bearing to boot also stronger axles and housing. I think that up 1960 will be the same as your 57 rear end. Plus it be a better rear end. The 57 is a weaker housing the housing is not as strong as the newer one. I hope this helps you.

 

I'll trade you my 48 Banjo with 5 1/2" BP for your 9"!

 

i have to go with the easiest thing to do is get a f100 rearend

 

If you just get a Ford F100 pickup rear end you will get the bolt pattern you want the 5 on 5 1/2 pattern. It should be the same width as your 57 rear end. These rear end are stronger the the 57 (THE 57 HAS A WEAKER CASTING AND HAS A TENDENCY TO BREAK UNDER A LOAD)and you get the brakes, bigger bearings, a stronger housing and bigger axles the boot. Ihope this helps you.

 

I'm doing the same thing. I picked up a 58 Edsel 9" that has the big bearing ends but had the 5x5 bolt pattern. This is a 2.91 geared rear, but the 1st gear in my 4 speed is a 4.89 so it should work ok in that regard. A local shop is taking 31 spline axles and cutting them down and resplining to 28 spline. They are the truck axles with 5x5.5 pattern. Also getting backing plates and drums from same guy so it should all go together right.
Im picking up the axles tomorrow and Ill find out what years the backing plates are.

Another suggestion this shop had was to drill the old axles for the 5x5,5 pattern but drill and tap for screw in studs instead of press in studs and
that would give a little bit more metal around the studs.

 

I run a 57-9 narrowed rear under my Roadster. Changed BP to
5 1/2, had no problems, works fine for me, would not recommeend
for a lot of HP or drag racing. Mine is the small bearing. You can
change to self adjusting buy just buying the later spring kit. My
guess is yours is big bearing and should have the wider shoes.
Will be at the Pileup if you want a look see. Bob

 

Ranchos and wagons should have the big bearing. Go to 57fordsforever.com Guys have posted there about upgrading rear drums to self adjust.

 

If it takes a 3/4 wrench to remove axles its big bearing.

 

That's good to know! Thanks

 

Why don't you just sell that rear and go get newer 9" rear at the Pull it or a salvage yard . I get them complete drum to drum with a 3:50 posi at a truck salvage yard for $300 to $350 ! By the time you go through all that work and money , don't you think it would be easier to just get another rear ?
Something to consider !

Retro Jim

 

If you can afford new axles get 31 spline ones then you can use all the ford pickup parts. along with the center section and get 350 gears. i am also curious what drums a guy can use on these. the center section on these is the war case which looks like the nodular case but is not very tough from what i have been reading. i am going to put 411 gears and a mini spool in mine and just see how long it lasts.

 

The rear end he is using is the narrowest one they have made.

 

be careful when re-drilling to 5-1/2" bolt circle , you are not going to have much of the axle flange left. you will probably also need to fill that large hole

i once changed a `57 rear to 5-1/2 by having Moser make some new axles , seamed easier/safer/cheaper to do

 

INCORRECT ...
The F-100 rear end will be 2 inches wider ( wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface )

Every 57 Ranchero I ever looked at had the big bearing ends on them. That is the same ends as the 64/65 Ford F-100 ... so the 65 F-100 backing plates will bolt on ... stock with no modification. But your axle studs will have to move out 1/2 a inch ( each ) when you redrill your 57 Ranchero axles. . That means they will be very close to the outside diameter of the flange.

The 57 to 72 Ford F-100 axle shaft is 30 inches long. The 57 Ranchero has two different lengths ( 30.5 and a 26.25 ) So swapping axles is not a easy fix. But the 73 up big bearing F-100 axle shaft is 31 and 29/32.

You MIGHT get away with using the 30 inch F-100 axle in the 30.5 side ( but the shaft shaft will be 1/2 inch too short ) then have a longer axle shaft shortened and resplines down to 26.25.

Easiest way is to get a 68 to 72 F-100 rear end and use it. You can cure the 1 inch per side too wide issue with a 1 inch more offset rim. If you are going fenderless ... the 68/72 F-100 rear end width would not a problem ( IMHO ) but if you are trying to get the tires under the fenders ... YOU NEED A 68 to 73/74 Ford Bronco rear end. They are the same width as the 57 Ranchero and already have the 5 on 5.5 wheel pattern and self adjustong brakes. I have one under my full fendered 32 Ford roadster.

 

Thanks for all of the information, everyone! (I think some "mis-information", also )

36-3window: Did you keep the '57 brakes and just redrill the drums?


I'm definitely keeping and using this '57 Ranchero rear end. (only paid $150 for it) It has 4.11 gears, too! They'll work perfect with the 302/5-speed and 7.50/16 rear tires that I'm using.

Also, I won a $500 Gift Certificate from Raybestos, so that will go towards all new brake parts as soon as I figure out what year/model backing plates/hardware and drums I'll be using.

Looks like I'd probably be best off just ordering new axles from Moser (or one of the other good axle companies) with the 5x5.5 pattern. I did some measuring, and yes, it does look like the larger pattern would get too close the outside of the stock '57 axle flange.

 

yes

 

nick whats your axle ofset right now from housing end to axle flange ? asuming your wanting to run 11 inch drums ? i'm guessing they're 2 and a half offset ! let me know i'll do some checking on backing plates and drums w the 5 on 5 and a half pattern so you wouldn't have to re drill

 

The housing in your pictures is a large bearing (3.150) rear axle unit. The brake backing plates and housing have 1/2 holes rather than 7/16. You can just rebuild and re-drill the axles for the 5 1/2 inch bolt circle. I have done several of these. The only problem with the brakes is they no longer make drums for your axle. You can install new ones from Currie that have the correct offset 2.375 or hunt for some junk yard drums. New brakes are around $350 and you can use your coupon. Eric Vaughn does the axle drilling and installs a ring around the outer perimeter. You can also use adapters if you have room. Call Currie or Johns and talk to them they can help you. Keep the rear end.

 

As one of the guys stated above, an early Bronco rear end (66-76) is 58" hub to hub and is the narrowest Ford 9" with the 5 1/2" bolt circle. If you look on the Bronce Parts websites, the axle shafts are fairly reasonably priced, check and see if it is possible to use those axles.

 

My roadster has a '57 Ranchero rear end. The brake drums are real hard to find and expensive. I welded the lug bolt holes, drum pilot and added a few passes to the flange od before facing the axle off and turning the pilot to F-1/ F100 size. Next I re drilled the axles to 5 on 5 1/2 and used the Ranchero brakes with pu drums. On my 3w I used a 58 F-100 rear end, shortened one side for a Bronco axle and used Bronco self adjusting hardware.

 

So, from what I've found on the RockAuto.com site, the '64 F100 rear brake width is 1.75". The brake shoes on my '57 car rear end are also 1.75" wide (although it looks like the drums would accept a 2" wide shoe).

It appears as though I can order all the hardware, brakes, drums, etc. for the rear of a '64 F100 (5x5.5 pattern) and install everything on the stock '57 car backing plates. Then also have my axles redrilled. The axle flange diameter is 6.25", so it does look like there'd be enough material to go 5x5.5 pattern.

It looks like I will go this direction and will post results when I get it all assembled, assuming it works.

If anyone sees anything wrong with this, that may not work, please say so!

Thanks again for the help!

 

The '57 rear was actually an 8 3/4 rear but a 9 inch chunk will bolt right in.

Look for an early bronco rear. I think they were 5 on 5 but I could be mistaken they may be 5 on 5.5. Either way they have big enough flanges to redrill if necessary.

If you have the big bearing rear the truck brakes will bolt righ up of not you will have to redrill the backing plates. Any early '60s brake setup can be upgraded to self adjusters with over the counter Ford parts.

I hope that is some help to ya. And yes the '57 housing was weaker than the later housoing but more desirable because of the smooth back. In a light vehicle if you are not throwing more than 450 to 500 hp to it you shouldn't have a problem unless your tires don't spin.