9" Ford ID question

Hey..
Is there a way ( with-out tear'n apart) to tell if a 9" Ford rear is a 28 or 31 spline. Got one ( complete) in a swap deal and hate to rip it apart to find out.
Thanks
Pontiac Slim

 

If the tag is missing, the only thing you can do is pull an axle and start counting...

 

It is not that big a deal to slide the axle shaft out ...
But if you know about what year it is ... Ford did not make the 31 splines until the early 60's ... and did not use them a lot until the later 60's. You had to have a real serious motor up fron for Ford to put a 31 spline axle under it ...

Some folks say if the axle looks like this ... it is a 31 spline ( and this one is )



But that is just not true ...



But every axle I ever saw with the oblong slot .... ( like on the RIGHT ) was a 28 spline ....

 

sure is a lot of work to remove 4 nuts and yank an axle out

 

What about the clip inside the pumpkin?

 

on a 9" ford? huh?

you're thinking about many GM rearends, and 7.5" and 8.8" fords maybe?

 

Yup, no clips on Ford 8" and 9". The axle is retained by the 4 bolts and just slides into the diff.

 

Sometimes you gotta put a drum or rim on the studs after you take those 4 nuts off....put some lug nuts on the wheel studs a few threads and use the rim or drum as a slide hammer to get the bearing out of the housing.

 

Opps! I stand corrected. Thanks.

 

Blow apart drawing of the 9 inch Ford ...
as stated ... no clip ...

 

Deuce Roadster is right. If you go by the axle ends, you'll be right 99% of the time for '60s-era axles. That Galaxie 28-spline axle is a fluke & in ages of combing junkyards for early 9" axles, have never come across one like that - 31-spline blanks re-splined to 28-spline - with a couple factory exceptions noted below. I'm not saying it's not possible, but it's just as likely that someone re-splined 31-spline axles to gain larger axle shafts & bearings...

31-spline axles were used in truck applications up through the '80s (at least) on the 5 x 5-1/2" bolt circle.

If you find a big car (Lincoln, Crown Vic, T-bird) with the 31-spline end, but disk brakes on the rear, it will have 28-spline axles - it will probably also have 5 x 5" bolt pattern.

Also, sometime towards the end of 9" production (last few years), Ford quit making 28-spline axle blanks & all axles started life with same dimensions as 31-spline axles & have the 3-hole end instead of the double-D end. They are turned down & resplined (by Ford) to 28-splines. With the exception of the big-car disk brake rears, these all have 5 x 4-1/2" bolt circles.

 

Hey.. Thanks to all...
Will end up pull'n apart... thing has been set'n for ages.. Last one I took apart came "dry"
Pontiac Slim