Need to narrow a ford 9" - Help??

Need to narrow a ford 9" and have never done it before.

I will listen to anything you guys want to tell me about doing it.

Do I buy shorter axles or shorten them too?

Thanks

 

You will need to make a jig to keep the axle centered.

I made mine from a piece of 1 1/4" bar stock about 5' long. Then you need to make a pair of circles that have the carrier bearing OD. and the 1 1/4" ID. For the ends I made two different sizes for the Ford bearing sizes. Two circles with 1 1/4" hole in center. OD of the outer axle bearing and a flat plate welded to it so you can C-clamp the housing flange in place on the circles.

Cut housing. Insert steel shaft thru the housing/centered carrier discs. Hang the cut to length axle housing ends on clamp to the outer circles. Make sure the steel bar moves without bind and tack weld the tubes in several places around. Checking for rotational bind. When everything is right, weld the tube up in 1" increments varying positions so not to warp housing.

Used this fixture for more than thirty housings. When I started out I did splining too, with a Bridgeport and dividing wheel, but found it cheaper to send to the boys in Indiana.

 

Excelent. I followed you every step of the way.

Any Idea what it costs to have it done?
I dont have plans to do more than one right now and would like to compair the cost of both, doing it myself and sending it out.

What boys in Indiana?

Thanks much.

 

check out this recent thread:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166574&highlight=ford+9


some axles can be shortened and resplined , some can't because they have too small diameter..do you know if you have big or small bearings?


the boys in indiana i think he refers to is moser engineering

http://www.moserengineering.com/

 

Moser charges $110.

 

Thanks all, just what I needed to know.

 

Weld all your brackets on the housing before putting on the ends.

 

Checked out both links, great info. I think I've got a lot to think about now. Thanks

 

Anyone know of a business that narrows 9" fords in the Inland Empire SoCal?

 

SoCal speed shop can do it...or have it done

 

Money is an object. I can barely afford a sticker from SoCal Speed.

 

Currie.

 

If money is an issue, although Currie is top notch, cheap they aren't.

 

To give you an idea of narrowing costs, i charge $350 to cut, weld new bearing houses and brackets (shock/ladder bar etcetc) hot tank. This is done with commercial jig and procedure that bobcrman & wfo man described. It isn't cheap to get it done. but it has to be done right the first time or it will get really expensive.

 

I need to raise my prices. You are getting $350 for housings, no resplining axles?

 

i had 2 housings narrowed and another small welding job done for $100. it was one of those deals where i tried tipping the guy an extra 40 bucks but couldn't get him to take it. he told me to call moser with some measurements he made off the housings and they would make the axles for me.