Technical HOT ROD REAR DIFFERENTIAL

I know everyone uses 9 inch fords, especially the 1957 ford vintage. Another rear end to consider is a rear from a 4 wheel drive 1991 s10 truck or an s10 blazer. It is 4 inches wider than the 2 wheel drive model. 58 inches wheel mount surface to wheel mount surface. 4 3/4 bolt pattern.

 

That's what I'm using under mine. Cheap and plentiful. Hopefully they won't say it's not traditional and shut you down.

 

s10 5 speed is a popular transmission too..

 

Most all S-10 are also 7-5/8 ring gear, which is not in same strength range at all vs 9-inch. If you find the 8.5 ring gear S-10 they are stronger, but still less than 9-inch.

Part of why a 9-inch so strong is because of the third bearing pinion support. Plus the low pinion vs centerline which provides more gear tooth contact. Neither of the S-10 have the pinion support bearing.

 

More than one Factor involved.
9 inch, You loose a wheel bearing you can pop the axle out and carry it to a parts house or shop with a press that can swap bearings and go back and reinstall it and go again. S-10 or any Dana, you pull the cover, take the bolt out to slide the pin out, push the axle in to get the C clip out, pull the axle and then get the proper bearing puller to pull the bearing or fight it to beat hell with a pry bar or slide hammer.

I've lost track long ago of how many Dana axles in anythign from Nova's to Cad Devilles and C 10 trucks that I have had to replace and axle on because the bad bearing had eaten ito the bearing surface on the axle. Had one tie up my hoist for 4 days once because we had to have the dealer special order an axle and it took way too much time to get.

9 inch, you have the third member go bad on the road you stop at at most any wrecking yard and start looking under Fords for a proper candidate and if you have 31 spline axles you go under an F-150 and find a good candidate, pop the third member out and take it and stick it in your housing and go. S=10 you blow the third member and you are trying to figure out how to get it home or you have to get it to a shop that has the capabilities to rebuild it.
A few years ago I drug an S-10 blazer home because the only thing on it that I wanted was the rear axle for my 48. Pulled the axle out and the ring and pinion and carrier looked like someone had stuck a stick of C-4 in it and lit it and ran. Ended up giving the housing to one of my former students that had a bent housing but good gears.

 

Street rods are alive indeed.
Sure by '60 there were lots of additions that were "modern" but just because it works today doesn't mean it's traditional. To me using a 90s rear might be great but it falls out of the genre of this forum. Not that this is the OPs point. I digress.
A T-5 is awesome behind a flathead, no doubt, but it's a little frustrating seeing all the "traditional" builds on the HAMB with irrefutably non-traditional parts - tube chassis, disks, van seats, vega boxes, u-joint steering shafts, coil overs. I know this comment will trigger many but where does it end? Not hating on anyone but just call it what it is. The forum used to have date limits - not to be exclusive but to establish what trad dates would be. Now we find a pic of a Lincoln or Packard tilt wheel made in the 30s-40s and decide our 70s Chevelle tilt is traditional.
Sorry for derailing but I guess I'm the one who got triggered. LOL
Happy Holidays!
D

 

When I make my home made Neapolitan Pizza dough I cheat and add sugar!!! Pete

 

The Ford 8.8 is plenty tough, easy to find, inexpensive at your local pick and pulls.

 

Completely agree...happy for folks to do what they want with theirs cars but man alive.... i get way more jacked seeing a traditional rod with an olds/pont rear or a 57 chev rear than a modern 90s rear. Theyre time capsules. And folks will argue driveability but you can take that argument right to power windows and billet aluminum and....street rod? Idk cool but not my cup of tea. I also dont care for "perfectly shitty" cars. If a car is a survivor, cool, if not. Put a paint job on it! THATS traditional. Especially a shitty driveway one haha

 

Thanks for the heads up, I never thought about those as a donor. Probably not stout enough for abuse, but fine for a cruiser. Use whatever works for you to get it on the road.
Anybody crawling under my cars to look at the rear end risks getting run over....

 

I prefer the dropout third members'''' I have an 8 and 3/4 Dodge under mine.... When they need service or a gear change they are easier to work on....Also had steel caps installed by Mark Williams...

 

You know those pressed in outer bearing races that are a bear to pull from rears like the above mentioned S10? 3 or 4 weld beads on the inner surface and they will slide out once cooled. Yes you still end up getting new axles because the old ones are brinnelled at a minimum, but that's only money.

Oh and provide for plenty of ventilation unless you like the smell of way overheated gear grease...

 

1957 Chevrolet rear axle. 8.2" Ring gear, easy to get parts for, and they made millions of them from 1955-57. Front loader too, and looks way better than a 8.8 Explorer or S10.


Sorry, I know this thread was meant to be helpful, but on a forum that focuses on traditional and period cars, the sight of a late model diff hanging out the rear of an otherwise good looking car is tough to stomach.

~Peter

 

Well I prefer a quick change rear... or... Oh well it's a sickness!

 

Well. ,,,,,,I’ll be darn,,,,,,I didn’t know a Dana 60 had C clip axles,,,,,,,you did say “ any Dana “,,,,,,right ?

Tommy

 

My guess is that's a 2WD S-10 rearend? I still have one I want to use for a "future" project, but don't know yet what that might be. Perhaps another T roadster...'23 or '27...not sure yet.

I thought of using the 2WD S-10 unit for my '31 Model A, but it was just 1" or 2" more narrow than I wanted. Could have been used just fine though with just a touch less backspace on the wheels. Ended up narrowing one side of a 8" Ford to pretty much match the width of a stock "A" rearend.....about 56" (WMS to WMS) as I recall.

Lynn

EDIT: Apparently the post I quoted was deleted or removed.

 

Didn't the go-faster Mopar muscle cars have a semi float Dana 60? Some F100 Fords in mid 60s to early 70s had a semi float Dana 60, though I read somewhere they were a Dana 60.2/60.3

 

A hot rod rear can be built for the budget-minded. Cost is what has lots of folks looking at more modern options. Unfortunately, many of those same folks are bummed when the "look" is off.

A 9" or a tri-5 is likely the ticket if you're wanting to fit a budget and the vibe. Speaking from experience, running a 57-64 Olds/Pontiac rear has an impressive look and all the strength but it isn't low budget if you don't already own it or need to build it.

 

If you want tough on budget the old 10 bolts from F-body cars thru the 80s can take a beating. A guy we knew ran one in a BBC bracket car, had slapper bars and 10.5 slicks, ran low-mid 10s for years. Spooled it, Moser axles, it would leave 30 degrees up well past the 60'. Hed get about 2 full seasons from em in a car that weighed 3300lbs. Tough enuff? They all have their issues but the point is ask yourself what's the desired work. Rear axles are essentially the least needy service items in any build UNLESS you want to race it. How long before you rack up 100K+ miles on it? 180K on my rig, I did 1 axle seal and a rear cover (GM rust), and I tow some heavy cars. Your results may vary but will stand by what I said.

 

You should see some of the ones around here. Some are absolutely laughable, not just as a "hotrod", but as a car.

 

That's the only rear axle I use anymore. I know it's not traditional, but neither are a bunch of others mentioned so far. But my local Pick N Pulls have bunches of them in limited slip types with a good ratio selection. And being able to look at door codes and figure out what ration, and whether they're open diff. or limited slip makes it easy.
And at $220 each the price tag is great. And if I'm not in a hurry I wait for 50% off holiday sales to get one for $110. Widths are 58.5" for drums, and 59.5" for disc brakes.

 

I just crated and sent a Bronco 9" to Europe. The car (30s Ford) is running a Russian car rear end. It looks very out-of-place.

 

Sorry to dilute the build of totally period correct cars but the reality is the old correct parts are built of unobtainium and I’d rather see cars built and enjoyed versus stalled out projects and rotting out of frustration. We can build in the spirit of traditional but understanding that our cars are clones. The junkyards today aren’t the same as the ones in the traditional era where the innovators sourced their stock. I still appreciate seeing original hot rods but building them today is problematic at least in the rust belt.

 

I was on the hunt for a 90-2? Ranger 8.8 for the 56.5 width. Not much available at PnP’s around me, plenty of ‘83-90? Rangers though. Thing is the 318 that will be in front of it might make 225-250 HP on a perfect day. I picked up a ‘88 Ranger rear to go through. I’m will to bet I won’t hurt it.

 

I’m sorry 1952Henry,,,I was being naughty .
I have never seen a Dana 60 with c clip axles .
All the old ones were bolt in axles,,,,,and even the truck floaters were bolt in axles as well .
The Mopar Dana’s ,,,,as well as 8 3/4 ‘s,,,,,had an axle end play adjuster on one side ,,, that you could set the clearance and then lock it down .

Tommy

 

We have HAMBers who live out there who do the hard work of finding all these parts already. There is still quite a bit out there.

I have sold off 95% of my parts inventory, which was enough to build a more than a few cars with period-correct parts. Even though it's all mostly gone, if I lost my mind and started a new project tomorrow, I guarantee I could find whatever parts I wanted. BUT, I love the hunt.

The parts hunt lead to a hundred different stories about the parts on my car, which started out as just a body. The hunt took me all over the place and introduced me to lots of folks. Some people don't want all that hassle, I get it, but it's not because the parts are unobtainable. Even with all the stuff that's gone, crushed, used, rotted away, there's still an abundance of stuff.

 

Absolutely, Do it once and done. Beyond Tough. I run a 59 Pontiac 9.3 rear built by Fab Craft Metal Works, Trophy Trac. Yea not cheap but bullet proof for the most part.

 

@caprockfabshop If I'm not mistaken Chevy used that rear until 1964 making it even more plentiful than just 55-57.

 

I spose it all boils down to horsepower, torque and use of those things. Can still get a banjo cheap and a well built banjo will hold up just fine tp daily driving, ohv torque and spinning tires will break em, period. I still feel rear ends of the era are out there. I see them constantly and i have several. Largely the issue arises if youre gonna beat on em and honestly, most all of em will evwntually break when beaten on lomg and hard enough

 

Exactly, i have 6 banjos out in my carport. Most are for sale, i get em all the time and cheap as hell. I scored 5 flatheads for 100 bucks the other day. Ya gotta hunt! Thats the fun...you can also in my area spend 500 on 1 flathead in unknown condition