Ford 8 inch housing end wear

Hey guys, i'm working on the rear suspension on my '56 Buick Special which includes a Ford 8 inch from a 69 mustang and a triangulated 4 link. This weekend i slid the axels out in order to put a rebuilt third member in and noticed what appears to be wear on the housing end. You can see in the pic it lookes like it's chamfered (worn?) between the bearing seat and the seal. Typical both sides. I'm not familiar with these housing ends, is this bad news? Am i looking at getting the ends replaced? I would appreciate any help on this! Thanks!

please ignore the crappy welds on the airbag mounts

 

There shouldn't be anything touching the area between the bearing and the seal. Are you sure it's worn? or is it just clean shiny metal? What about the axle, does it look like the bearing retainer ring has been rubbing on something?

 

Not a answer to the original question ... BUT ...I would not use a 8 inch Ford under something as heavy as the Buick.
ALL 8 inch Fords have the small wheel bearing.



I would have used a 9 inch Ford with the large wheel bearing

Now back to the regularly scheduled drama

 

Put new bearings and seals in it and roll. Ive been into 3 8 inch fords and they all look like that. It made me scratch my head the first one I did too.

 

Thanks for the reply guys.
Squirrel nothing jumped out at me with the retainer but I'll inspect it more thoroughly tonight.
Deuce do you say this because of just the bearing itself? I've heard of people using 9" housing ends on the 8", do you think this would suffice for the weight load?
Jim, I'm glad you came across this too I thought I was going to have to start from square one again! Have you used an 8" on anything as heavy as my tank?

Thanks again!!

 

Ford used small bearings on some of their full sized cars, you'll probably be ok if you keep up with the maintenance.

It would be better to use a larger rearend, if you want it to be "right".

 

Thanks again squirrel. I think I'll stick with what I got since I have all my 4-link brackets welded on. I'll have to look into the 9" housing ends on 8" housings in order to use the larger bearings.

 

That's normal. Some of Ford's housing ends look like they were machined by a caveman with stone tools. As long as the seal is in there right, and the axle fits nicely, you are good to go.

 

All the 8 inch Fords use the small bearing. Some of the 9 inch Fords do also. When dealing with a small bearing Bronco 9 inch rear end ... it is rated at 2780 lbs. The large bearing 9 inch Ford Bronco is rated at 3300 lbs.

That large bearing was used in a LOT of vehicles. It has a outside diameter of 3 and 5/32 inches. 63, 64 Buicks and 65/66/67 Buick Wildcats,Electras and Riverias all used that bearing.

The numbers are

GM # 954855
Ford # C9AZ1225A

Most of the rear end stores sell housing ends. Or do like I do and just cut a pair off a scrap 9 inch rear end.

 

I would agree that if you had a simple choice, like "sir, do want that with standard size or bigger bearings?".......I'd choose the bigger bearings.

That said, I doubt you'll be seeing 100,000 miles added to this car and you'll never wear out the smaller bearings. Why complicate the process further at this point?


Ray

 

I really appreciate the info guys, I'm going to have a shop do the bearings for me, figure that's the safe bet. I'll get a price on the 9" housing ends and go from there. I'm relieved to hear that the "wear" in the housing ends isn't of concern!