Does anyone know what salvage yard Ford 9" rear end would work for a '53 chevy sedan without shortening etc? I will be using the Chassis Engineering leaf spring kit as well. The stock torque tube rear measures 60", and I would like to be able to run a 8" wide rear wheel as well. So, what width of rear and wheel backspace combo would work best? I plan on running a 15x8 cragars on the rear. Thanks for any help
The shortest 9 inch is a 57/58/59 Ford rear end ( it is 58 inches wide ... measured from Wheel mounting surface to WMS ) ... that would be 2 inches total more narrow than your original rear end. A lot of rodders have been using the Ford Explorer 8.8 rear end instead of the 9 inch Ford. The 2001 type Ford Explorer rear end is 60 inches ( the same as your Chevy ). They are pretty common with POSI, 31 spline axles and 3.55 or 3.73 gears. The later ones have disc brakes ... A 5 lug Maverick rear end is 56 inches wide ( WMS to WMS ) but it is a 8 inch. Lots of rodders say they are strong enough for decent V8 power.
I have been getting Early Bronco 9" rears for mine (1964-1966ish). They have been coming with a 3:50 gear and are the perfect width. 28 spline and big bearings. A guy has been selling them to me for $150.
A guy at Billetproof said he was running a horse's ass! I, innocently assuming he was making reference to his wife, asked him to elaborate..."How's that?" said I. "Bronco rear end!" he shouted. (Much laughter!)
I noticed the center sections on the Bronco rears is offset being from a 4x4. Do you just easily swap out the center section for one that is centered?
A 57/58/59 Ford 9 inch rear end is actually a little more narrow than the Bronco and the center section is more centered ( not offset ). The 57/58/59 can come with either the large bearing or the small bearing axle bearings ( SAME with the BRONCO ) ... The 57 and some 58 rear ends have a drain plug in the bottom of the housing. Either the large or the small bearing is strong enough for a the weight of a 53 Chevrolet. The large bearing is often used in trucks, station wagons and heavier duty vehicles. Here is a rear end width chart ... measured this way 65-66 Mustang 57.25 inches 67-70 Mustang 59.25 inches 71-73 Mustang 61.25 inches 77-81 Versailles 58.50 inches 74 Maverick 8" 56.50 inches 75 Mustang II 8" 57.00 inches 67-73 Mustang, Torino, Ranchero, Fairlane 9" 59.25 inches to 61.25 inches 57-59 Ranchero and station wagon rears, 57.25 inches 66-77 Bronco 9", 58 inches 77-81 Granada/Versailles, 58 inches 67-71 Comet, Cougar, Mustang, Fairlane, 59.25 inches 71-73 Mustang, 61.25 inches 64 Falcon 58 inches 67 Cougar 60 inches 67 Fairlane 63.50 inches (coil springs) 72 Ford Van 3/4 ton 68 inches 73-86 65.25 inches 57-59 Ranchero and station wagon 57.25 iches (narrowest 9" housing) 66-77 Bronco 58 inches but has 5-on-5 1/2 inch diameter bolt circle 67-73 Torinos, Rancheros, Fairlanes 59.25 inches or 61.25 inches 67-71 Comets, Cougars, Fairlanes 59.25 inches HERE are a few other charts ( online ) http://carnut.com/specs/rear.html http://www.quickperformance.com/Technical Info/sus_measure.htm Your original 53 rear end is 60 inches wide ... so you will need something a little more narrow IMHO to run the 8 inch rims.
I narrowed a '57 Pontiac rear to 58 inches and run 8" wide rims with a 3.5" backspace and 275/60R-15 tires on my '50 Chevy. Work's well for my car.
I put a second gen Camaro 10-bolt in mine, then I picked up another one out of a Trans-Am that's a posi. The first one cost $50, has all new brakes and drums, and was damn near a bolt in on the stock springs. And, the bolt pattern matches on all four wheels.
EEEEERRRRRRR... No! A 9" center section is a 9" center section no matter what. The off set usually doesn't matter as it's fairly minimal unless you have an extremely tight driveshaft tunnel. Many times you'll find the center section of the housing is offset, and the pinion it'self is pretty close to centered. Personally, I would skip the 9" these days as stuff that you aren't going to have to narrow is going to be fairly hard to find. anything in the 58" range is going to put you where you need to be width wise. The more modern 8.8 options that several have mentioned seems to be good bet these days, and unless you are putting out super amounts of horsepower, the old 8" Granada (if you can find one) is just about perfect under these cars. One more thing to thik about, the Bronco at 56" fits well but is just a hinch narrow, but also has the larger 5 on 5 1/2" bolt pattern.
1977 Nova. Look here: http://www.car-part.com/ It will show you models/years that will interchange too. It is 60", just like the stocker, has the proper wheel bolt pattern, and will have a few ratios to choose from.
I put a late 60's Cougar 8" in my 51, it's 60" wide also. I plan on using Granada rotors in the front to maintain all the same bolt pattern.
A 70-81 Camaro/Firebird or 75-79 Nova is almost a bolt in for your car, same width as stock and has the same bolt pattern 5 on 4.75. Any Ford rear will be different bolt pattern, most cars are 5 on 4.5, trucks are 5 on 5.5. The 67-69 C/F or 68-74 Nova rear should also work, and is a little narrower than the later years.
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