I'm thinking of bracing the housing on my 9 in ford. It's a stock lincoln versailles housing, which for those who know them, they aren't very heavy. Here's the question, what kind of issues might I run into if I use a piece of tubing to brace the back of the housing. Will welding this on warp the shit out of my housing? I'm assuming if I'm not careful and just start welding long hot beads on it that will probably happen. If I take my time and do a little at a time, with good tacks holding it in key points will it hold its shape, or do I need to bolt it into a jig to keep it true?
When I fabricate a housing I use a third member with mandrels through it and an alignment bar. I leave the housing ends off and use mandrels in the housing tubes to help keep things aligned. I assume when you say your using tubing you mean round tubing. They used that for bracing in the early days of drag racing. In the case of round tubing you won't be welding the whole length of the housing so this will be a little more forgiving. After your done check your alignment with your housing ends on mandrels, if it's just a little off from tube alignment go ahead and weld your housing end back on. You won't have any bearing problems and should have trouble free performance.
actually I was going to use some rectangular tubing and shape it and cut it to match the contour of the housing. Basically just like the one sold I believe in jegs, only cooler. If I do this, I will have to cut the bearing cups off the end of the housing and then weld them back on afterwards? Is there a relatively simple way for me to this in my garage? can I do it without having to cut the ends off the housing?
i had a versailes rearend under a mustang , i ordered a jegs backbrace for around $70 at the time i think ! welded some plates to the table to go to the pinion bolts and backing plate bolts ! once everything was secure and true , we welded about 2 inches at a time varying side to side top to bottom until complete ! never had any problems with it ! just watch your heat and alternate welds
I'd bet dimes to doughnuts that you'll be real surprised how much it moves after welding - assuming of course you go the extra step of measuring it. As I repeat what a friend once said, "The bar dont' lie" - he was referring to a rear end alignment bar. YMMV
I also think you'd be surprised how far off it already might be. I have built just over 100 axles so far (most Dana, some Ford and one Olds), and I have found just 3 that were straight, right out of the donor vehicle. Most weren't too far off, most also has upwards of 100K miles, with no signs of abnormal wear. There appears to be a bit of wiggle room, but I would strive for perfect anyway. ...and yes, my bar and pucks have been checked.
i made a backbrace for my 9in using 3/16 plate cut to fit,. turned out pretty good and i just spotted every few inches till was complete with lots of cooling down time. i also shortened it and put my ladder bar brackets on first. then a tube on the bottom to ladder bar brackets (also will be used for straps if i have to get it towed home) theres a few more pix of it in my album of the falcon
One thing to consider in your calculations is that the brace only supports from to back alignment. If you have enough power to flex the tubes then add a bottom brace as well to support the up & down. See the bottom brace tying the ladderbar brackets and rear cover together on newfalconowners' rear? That bar supports the up/down flex. I once broke a similar 1 1/8" tube on my rear tying the 4 link brackets to the housing, it looked like you just took and broke a pencil.
thanks for the info guys. I checked the housing before I built it and it is straight. The car doesn't have too much power. Only around 400 hp for the time being. Thing is, I want make a new bracket design for where the traction bars bolt to the housing, Right now they are just clamped and that only works so well. I want to brace it to give that thin versailles housing more beef and to have it double as a mounting location for the traction bars. A fellow HAMBer PM'ed me with a tip to flex the housing a 1/4 while welding on the brace to counteract to warping of the weld. The housing is 52 in wide
Most of the strength in the brace is the depth (like the photo), not the thickness of the plate. Don't need to use any more than the same thickness as the tube, saves some weight and distortion. If the original tube isn't punctured, you can also make some big holes in the flat areas to take off another pound or 2 (but be careful to add 1/8" drain holes at the lowest point for water).
thread bump...several years later... I'm thinking of adding a back brace to the 57 ford Wagon 9" housing in my Chevy II. It started seeping gear oil out of what I guess is a new crack, on the back of the housing, where the rear cover part is welded to the main housing, near the left axle tube. Might be that loading while launching the car is flexing the tubes forward, and caused the crack? Anyways, I want the car to keep looking as period correct as I can, and was considering making a brace of flat strap, sort of like this setup I saw on ebay (this is a Mopar, not a Ford, but the idea is the same) I don't see the need to fill in the area between the housing and the brace, it looks like all that would do is generate a lot of welding heat that will distort the housing. thoughts? this is the rearend in question....car runs low 10s with a blown 427, 3000 stall converter, 3.70 gears, 7" slicks, 1.47ish 60' times.
Bracing is a good idea especially if you are making a lot of torque. We snapped our 9" rear axle tubes on the factory welds just out past the pumkin. Looked like someone had cut them with a saw, snapped clean apart. re-welded it with a full brace. I don't see why the picture you supplied wouldn't work. You can see in your picture the heavier pieces they added to the axle tube factory welds.
Squirrel yes the solid braces warp the housing no matter how careful you are. When we use a solid sheet metal type of a brace we just take care welding it then use the same fixture that we use to shorten one to check for straightness and heat as needed to pull it back around. I like your setup more like an off roader would use. No need to fill it solid and less chance to warp it. I would probably still check it for straightness after but that is just me. I have set my own up the same basic way that you have before w and it worked real well.
thanks, I guess that's what I'll do. I mag'd the housing and there's a crack about an inch long, next to the weld. I'll do some grinding and welding and hopefully seal it up, then add a 3/16" x 1.5" brace across the back, welded at the ends and tacked in the middle, and see how it works.
Ford used different gages of metal in the back cover and tubes to build their housings, depending on the vehicle it was going into and where the fill/check hole was located (pumpkin or housing). So some will warp easier than others, with the 'good' ones being the early car housings, trucks, and the coil spring housings. The later leaf spring housings are the flimsy ones.
LOL you are correct about that. I had a Versailles rear that had rock dents in the tubes. Some of them are just made out of foil I think.
The truss style brace would do just as much benefit and a lot less total welding heat for potential distortion than a full ground to fit brace. Truss style also looks more vintage. The off-roaders use the truss style, but instead of along the back they put on bottom and use it to prevent bending up and down from jumps and bumps. I think some tubing for the brace would look good instead of the flat stock. Tubing as in round, not necessarily square or rectangular.
tubing probably would look better, but it's a bunch more work...I just put on the strap, and I'll see how it works. Not much to it.
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