I have heard you can grind the welds on a 8 inch or 9 inch ford rear and slide the housing tube in a 1/2" or so and re-weld. then cut the end of the axle a little shorter Has anyone done this. I need to get a rearend down to around 55.5 to 56" (finalizing the exact dimension). I have a rearend that is 56.5" out of a Maverick(also a Granada but it is wider) as well as a 9" laying around (that one would need new shorter tubes and axles resulting in alot more expense,. I was wondering if the Maverick 8" housing tubes can be slid in alittle bit on each side to get me to where I need to be and thus trimming alittle of each end of the splines. If you have done this, what is the max you can slide the tubes in without interference.
You should be able to see on your axles where the diff engaged on the splines. If you have enough unused spline on the inside, you should be able to trim them off a bit and narrow the housing to match. Or, since you are cutting into the rear end housing anyway and if you have 8" and 9" rear ends, you could do this... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=427452
I would first determine if you ahve enough spline on the axles to fully engage the side gears if the axle is shortened a 1/2". If that checks out, then shortening the tubes would be next......but I would seriously consider cutting the housings just inboard of the outer bearing cups and welding the ends back on. For one thing, trying to cut and/or grind all the weld beads at the axle tube/center housing joint will be pretty challenging I would think. The weld penetration likely will require deeper cutting/grinding than it appears at first glance. I think you will find you could prep the housing, chop saw the ends off, cut again to narrow the housing a bit and weld on the ends in less time than you can get an axle tube "free" from the center housing. Just my opinion, offered for your consideration. Ray
I have never slide the axle in ... but I have cut off the housing end and shortened the housing. You can turn the housing end down to a size where it slips into the housing. A 8 inch Ford has the small axle bearing. 9 inch Fords with the small bearing is the same bearing ... so a LOT of the time ... you can use either a short axle shaft or a long axle shaft that is 1 inch or more shorter. I have a 57 Ford 9 inch axle complete and I used a 65 Ford axle shaft which is i inch shorter than the stock 57 axle. I then narrowed the housing to work.
Since I need to reduce my Maverick 8" Rearend from its current 56.5 by 1" to 55.5" As Ray suggest, Should I just cut the ends off and have new ends weld on (or use the old ones) and then just purchase new 28 spline axles (assuming I can not trim the current ones) . I have not measured the axle to see if the Mavericks pinions are offset or centered (meaning I would have to narrow both sides to keep it centered). Does anyone still make small bearing ends or do I have to go with new Large bearing ends (which also means all new brakes) I really do not want to purchase a complete new rearend when I have three laying around.
If you have enough splines to run the axles in then do as you suggest, cut the ends off and shorten the tube as needed. Put the ends in a lathe and turn the old chunk of tube out and slide them on and weld. Make sure they are square of course. I have seen some stock axles with an extra inch of splines. It has been awhle but one axle is abit longer than the other, don't remember which side. If the pinion isn't centered then take all the width off one side, use the shorter axle and have a centered pinion.
Like Harv says, if you have enough spline to trim 1/2" off, I would remove the bearing cups and shorten as he stated. What you have to be careful with is the seal pocket inboard of the bearing. You may have make your cut further inboard as not to damage that seal seating surface. You will wind up with a second weld on each end. Anyone with a lathe and a line up bar for the housing could do the job. BTW Mavericks are centered pinion.
The axle shafts are 29 and 5/8th long and 25 and 5/16ths long. A 1960 to 1964 Ford car with the small axle bearing has a axle that is 27 and 13/16ths long. If you used one of these axles... you would be 1 and 13/16ths shorter that when you started. I do not believe you can cut 1 inch off the axle shaft and have any splines left. Custom axle required ... IMHO
Boones, clip the left side 1' ,this will move the pinion closer to the center of chassis ,but not enough to center it... Order a new axle from Currie or Moiser...
Thanks, so it appears the Maverick rear is offcenter.. that is good for what I am going to do. (I plan to drag the rearend out of its storage spot behind the shed this weekend)
I agree with Gasser John, it will be a lot cheaper and less trouble to buy wheels with the correct offset. If you break an axle later the stock ones will fit.
ken. I just went though the rear axle in my 40 wagon.. the rear housing had started leaking, and given the noise coming from the rear I could only assume that the housing was bent.. I dont have a jig, so i took the whole axle assembly to a local shop for a rework.. in the end, my axle was only OUT 1/8th inch BUT the difference in noise from the axle was incredible.. so.. what I am saying is that I dont think I would personally attempt this project with out the axle fixture (jig) first.. and after you price one, you might see that farming this out would make more sense. j
Ken ... You can BUY a new housing end ... to put in your housing and not have to work with the cut off one if you desire. Moser has them ... and most of the other 9 inch shops also. .
This is a common mis-conception about 8 and 9" rear ends with different length left and right side axles. The Maverick 8" already has a centered pinion, that is why the left side axle is 4" shorter than the right side axle. Equal length axles will offset the pinion to the right side app. 2 1/8".
HI; When Ford built the housings the ends were welded on then the axle bearing were bored, if you look at axle bearing bores they are not centered, I have seen some that are 1/8" on one side and 3/8" on the other. if you part the end in a lathe and press it in the housing it usually will be off.most housings are not straight to start with from years of abuse. in my opinion you must use a jig and cut the housing off and weld it back on . I have narrowed quite a few 9" rear ends and this is what I have found. Chris
Chris Lytle is correct about the procedure used in the manufacture of Ford housings. When I remove and replace the original ends I machine the old tube and weld off and tweak the housing in the fixture shown here. As Chris stated, most housings aren't all that straight anyway. I straighten the housing after all welding is done. Been doing it that way for close to 40 years. That is an 8" shown here.
I've found that 9 out of 10 housings will require tweaking of at least one tube before I narrow them, and tweaking on both tubes after they are narrowed. Both of the replies above are correct in the way they describe the housings, a jig must be used in all cases.
gasserjohn, buying new wheels is not an option, it is why I am doing what I am doing. I am shoving the largest tire and rim possible between the frame and fender on my 51. I want a hotrod look and went with a full reverse rim I am having a friend who owns a local hotrod shop narrow the rearend for me.
thats how much you need to clear the seal rebate the tubes sit inside the centre 40mm 1 5/8ths you cut through the weld and grind until ou see a faint line , then sawsal through in 3 places and punch the slithers in.
8' Rear in my 34 is a 67 mustang I narrowed it 1" each side. Was going to buy 66 mustang axles but mine had all new bearing already so I cut them but not enough spline so made them longer spline on the bridgeport.Had to do about 1/4" of extra spline benn in there for 10 years now.Darrell
If you only need 1 inch ... It may be possible to take 1/2 inch off the mounting flange of each wheel. I know that on my Halibrands ... 5/8 ths of a inch was cut off ( per wheel ) so they would fit better.
I guess my 2 cents worth may not be needed, but here it is. We would take the 8" housing and cut the axle tube like it is shown, in the prior pictures, so you can see how deep the turned down area is. Then take the time to use a cut off tool and slice thru the weld between flange and tube end. 8" ford axles are both the small bearing as stated AND they are 28 spline, which is more than likely what your 9" is, then trim the tubing down to be able to fit the 8" ends into the 9" housing. We would end up with a cheapy 9" with narrow track. After you tap the ends in to the housing, and put in a pumpkin and bolt it in, we would insert the axles with bearings in and bolt them together then tack it in place after your first tack you will have to persuade the flange back where it needs to be with a little hammer work while turning the axle to make sure not binding. Once it wa tackedin 3 or 4 places mig it up alternating sides and letting it cool. when all is done, change out the old bearings and assemble. Many miles on these units. nice part was early truck round centers were very easy to come by and look nicer in my opinion than the later 8" dimpled housings (with the large flared inner end where the tubes attach to the housing). The other option is to hit the junk yards for a slightly longer short side axle and then use it in the long side to get the correct width you are looking for.
you can re-tube a 8'' axle in 3'' tube. the original 8'' tube is reamed before the end goes in, so its thin there. you need 5mm wall, spin the ends down to 66.1 its quite hard to get 2 3/4'' tube in the uk unlike a light duty 9'' axle, which has a swaged down centre so the 3'' 1/4'' wall tube sits over, the 8'' don't plus the 3'' tube won't go over whats there at 2 3/4 you need 3'' tube with a 3/8ths wall =10mm and spin it to 5mm, tou act as a spigot from tube to case.
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