I've read that the 57-59 Ford 9" is a drop in for my 56 Ford sedan. I've located one with what is supposed to be a 3.56? ratio and the big bearings. I don't really care about the big bearings but I am wondering about replacement parts. Are the 57 drums available at reasonable prices? Are both size bearings readily available? I'm interested because it not too expensive. I don't have to have it. The 3.56 gears is a big plus for me. I don't want to buy a rear and then have to spend 1000. to get it usable just to say it's a 9" rear. An 8" would be fine for me but getting 3.50ish gears can get costly too. I'm just leery of buying something where the parts are obsolete and the specialty vendors bend you over a barrel for replacements. I'm a tight wad on a fixed income. I"m not in a big hurry but this deal sounds like I should move on it before it evaporates and I want to make an educated decision.
If you are really concerned about cost over anything, a 8.8 is very strong. Get one out of a newer model vehicle like an explorer which is about the same width. If you are trying to squeeze it under a 52 like me, you will need to shorten it or get one out of a v6 Ranger, about 1999, to get the less than 57" diameter mounting surface to mounting surface. Google is your friend here... These ****ers will handle a bit before you have to upgrade to c-clip eliminators. I can go to the local u-pull-it and walk away with my prize for just about $100. A few hours on your day off with a wheel barrow full of tools and a fellow warm body to help you measure your mounting surface distances and you are good to go. After that, some really careful welding of new spring perches and, voila! New rear end with modern and easy to find parts. Not traditional, but I did mention cost being #1 here, not authenticity.
Bearings are available, I just put a set in my '57 rear. I'm not sure about the drums but you can upgrade to larger brakes, I think they interchange up to '64.
I think the interchange is up to '66; that's what we used on my coupe's '59 rear end when the '67 brakes from the previous rear wouldn't fit (wrong offset between the housing flange and the axle flange). Mine is a small-bearing rear, however.
The drums are now available. If its a big bearing rear end, then it was a wagon or Ranchero rear. The drums (and brakes) are wider than car drums. (except retractable).. A common swap before drums were available was to find a 66 or earlier wagon and change out the backing plates, brakes and drums. I'm not sure today if that will still be cheaper. The new drums are at least $100 ea.
can you visually tell a big bearing rear from a small bearing rear? with out pulling it apart? i just bought a 9 in out of a 66 1/2 ton truck and i am planning on useing the brakes in my 57 according to whats been posted allready i should be able to do it..... right?
The truck drums are 5x5.5" bolt pattern, the 57 car 5x4.5".. I think the truck brakes are a whole inch wider than the car ones too. Car is 10 or 11" truck is 11 or 12" I think..I could be wrong.
All the F-100 9 inch Ford rears are big bearing but the bolt patterns for the wheels are different ... than a p***enger car. The big bearing rears also use a larger bolt to hold the backing plate to the rear housing. So ... the nut is larger Easy to tell, just by looking. The small bearing nuts take a 9/16ths wrench and the large bearing nuts use a 1/2 inch wrench. EDIT ... Ratmotor must type faster than I do ... I always use 64/65/66 Ford station wagon rear brakes on my early 9 inch Fords. Evrything is available for them BRAND NEW and they also have self adjusters ... something the 57 - 59 brakes do not have.
the 1957 pinion seal is all by itself. you cannot find this in a parts store. macs ford parts also carpenters sells a replacement but they are n.g.
From who? Napa and Rock auto parts don't show a listing. I try to stay away from the old Ford sites because they just mark them up. If I have to I will. I see that Macs lists them for 120 each. 240 bucks sure can jack up the price of a reasonable rear end. I told you I was a tight MFer The drums may be turnable but I just want to know before hand. Shoes and w/cyls won't be a problem I'm sure. Can anyone confirm that the 57-59 width will drop onto the 56 springs? I had to get 6" 5 spokes due to the space. I can't get anything wider and I'm not interested in narrowing one. I'll go with an 8" if it comes to that.
i got one for a `57 rear from Carquest , it was about $47.............national # SLS 6930 i see the one you mention from Mac's was about $12
I think that practically every parallel leaf spring Ford p***enger car ever built had the springs on the same centers (43 inches?). I bought new drums for my '66 brakes recently (3-4 months ago) for about forty bucks apiece. Checker Auto Parts, if I recall correctly.
"QUOTE" The big bearing rears also use a larger bolt to hold the backing plate to the rear housing. So ... the nut is larger Easy to tell, just by looking. The small bearing nuts take a 9/16ths wrench and the large bearing nuts use a 1/2 inch wrench. Actually....the large bearings use an 11/16 wrench. [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Broncos from 1966 to 1977, they stayed with the 28 spline units. A small bearing housing can be differentiated from a large bearing housing by the size of the nuts and thread used to retain the brake backing plates to the housing, the small bearing housings use 9/16 socket size nuts with 3/8 fine thread, while the larger bearing use 11/16 socket size and 7/16 fine thread. [/SIZE][/FONT]
I ran into the drum problem too. I'm cheap too and I figured if only a few vender's sell them today, then who knows where to get one in a few years. I ended up adapting late 90's Ford explorer disk brakes to it. It was very easy and parts will be around for decades. It was quite a simple adaptation.
i have one in my 55 fairlane bolted right in like it was made for it got the seals and berings and brakes from napa
i had to do some mesureing but i got the parts for some thing else that stuff is the same for a lot of years i will look to see if i can find the part numbers
Rock auto had some hard to find brakes and drums for my 61 starliner rear. I stumped everybody looking for those parts. One of the ford sites had the drums for $155 each!
The Ford 9" rears are getting hard to find unless you have deep pockets and buy them new from places like Currie. I bought a 2001 8.8 from a Ford Explorer that has 3.73 Posi and was the perfect width for my '40 Chevy project. It cost $250 at the local salvage yard and was so new I didn't even turn the rotors. I cleaned all of the unnecessary Ford brackets off with a grinder and welded on new spring perches and it works great. I did have to use two right side emergency brake cables since they were different lenghts and a simple bracket modification attached them to the stock '40 linkage. Parts are readily available everywhere.
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