Hot Rods Are the old tried & true rear axles getting hard to find?

I agree. HRP

 

Have you seen the prices early Broncos are bringing? That's part of the equation.

 

Around here I can still get late 50's Ford 9" rear ends and 8.75 Chryslers are still available.
Getting someone to PAY for the time, effort and my cost for a rear end is another matter.

 

At last count I had 3 Mavericks and 6 57-59 complete rear ends. I haven't found any the last few years though' For some reason they also seem to be a lot heavier lately

 

The 8" under my T came from a '79 mercury monarch , the extra center section under my bench came from a '79 ford Granada . I " think" 1980 was the last year .....

 

Our big yard out here (French lake auto) years ago, had all the 9" rear ends piled up, in a literal mountain. When i asked, they said they are on there way to Currie Enterprises. I know that currie has been making their own housings for awhile now, but, this was about twenty years ago

 

I'm using the stock original rear end in my 1937 ford coupe. I installed 1948 ford hydraulic brakes. I retained the wife five drums and wheels to. Changed it to open drive for the t5 and 430 Lincoln engine..

 

Around here the "traditional" rear ends are getting harder to find. I put an 8" Maverick rear in my 53, but had to drive 200+ miles and $250.00 to get it. Sometimes you luck out- just got a complete 9" out of an Edsel for my Buick for $25.00. Even Ranger/Explorer rears are harder to get.

 

Use any ROUND TUBE 9" regardless of length. "Yeah but the cost of narrowing it will..." is the normal whince that ensues. Can you weld? Know someone or have a lathe? Been a while but new housing ends used to be about $60 delivered. Chuck em up and spin the center out to 3", tap it onto the end of the tube and weld that ***** on. Never, NEVER, N E V E R, (did I say never?) have seen a housing tweek because an end was welded on. Back brace? If it doesn't fit zero perfect and you try a nonstop weld it'll pull it but housing ends? Never (****, there it is again!). If you're lucky enough to get the right variant you can even spin out the OG ends but I haven't been that lucky most of the time. What are you building? Some 1,850 HP drag racer? Who knows the tolerance of an axle housing, as in how far out of alignment it can be? Would you believe up to .100 at the ends? Here's another thought, say you do plan excess power levels and traction that can re-rotate the planet. Do you want that axle zero dead-on-balls straight? Nope. Best to figure a way to toe that ****er in just a wee bit so it "aligns" when under load. The total force at the ring n pinion is divided at the wheels, but in the end (no pun intended) get any round tuber you want, narrow and offset as needed, weld on some new ends. Another tidbit for your pipe to stuff in and smoke, axle centerlines didn't get offset til the early-mid 60s. Check your stuff, look up specs, and your favorit supplier should have those if you can't find it. Mopars were more than GMs, a GM 'A' body (HAMB approved) is about 3/4" to the right. Your results may vary, tax n ***le extra, see your junk dealer for details (in case you thought I lost my train of thought), no purchase necessary, void where prohibited...

 

You cant find 8 incher here in So Cal and if you do they are the same price of a nine inch $750 to 1200. I have a nine inch in my land speed car and finding gear sets it tough and expensive, a pumpkin for less than $500 is a deal.
It is to the point of being less expensive to set up a new quick change.

 

Tony,
I paid 500 bucks for the 8 inch Maverick for my '54 but the guy delivered it from Ventura. Of course as luck would have it I found an 8 inch from a Comet (same WMS to WMS as a Maverick) for 300 bucks in Orange County after I had already put a deposit on the one from Ventura. I guess in hind sight I should have bought the Comet one as well.
Tim

 

Yes.

I am a big fan of Olds/Pontiac rears and over the course of reading, searching, and chatting with folks in-the-know, the evidence of the "well" drying up is pretty plain to see.

However, stuff is still out there.

 

I'm going to have to bring a few to LARS next year, since I won't be using all of the ones I have

 

No, the old rear ends are still plentiful in junkyards.... as long as you have a time machine.

Seriously....it's strange, you won't be able to find one when you need one, but if you're trying to sell one, no one wants to pay any money for it.

 

Might be an idea to look for a spare one.

Great. I guess that's another thing to worry about besides radiators that the thieves will be stealing out of the cars at the farm.

 

Thats crazy Tony! I am still buying them for less that $100

 

These are the sort of thing that are gone from junkyards but a lot of individuals still have stashed away, so they are likely to be readily available at swap meets when they are running again.

 

But shipping this way is a killer

 

Took me almost 8 months to find an early bronco rear that wasnt and empty housing for 500 bucks. In the end i got a 68 rear less the third member for 150. they are still out there but not like they used to be.

 

Excellent info. And funny. LOL
@theHIGHLANDER ,
my pipe runneth over.

I do prefer an old rear end.


I mean, aesthetically.
Nevermind...

 

My buddy is a 8.8 ford nut, all he puts in projects, I particularly dont like em.

8.75 mopar is my go to since 9" ford is hard to find and expensive, I have 1 8.75 489 case in my shed, waiting to go in something. Its not a sure grip but still a 3.23 489 case that I got in trade. I can still find some 8.75 mopars around but they are hard to come by normally.

So yeah, the 10 bolt gm ad 8.8 ford are the new craze just cause they can be found cheap and easy.

 

its what you find in the junkyards. cheaper than buying an aftermarket 9". I have a granada housing laying out behind the shed but when I build a new project I plan on buying a new aftermarket rear in my plan just in case.

 

Here in Florida the salvage yards are empty of older rear ends Danny, so we have no choice other to use Explorer or New Ford 9" complete units built to order from folks like Moser. The last 8" I found was $100 and it was total junk as water had got into it and everything was rusted solid, even the housing was so bad that a 1/2" of paint would have not made it look good.

 

I still see 9" Fords on local ads for sale occasionally, so they're not that rare. My '39 Chev had one under it when I bought it, but it was a 3.08 open diff., and the cost of a limited slip, plus 31 spline axles to make it a good axle was nuts. I sold it this summer for $150 to a guy on here who wanted it for his '40 Chev sedan build. I had a 3.73 posi 8.8" Ford sitting here already, so cut off the perches, and set it up to fit my '39.

 

I haven’t had any issue coming across the old rearends yet, so haven’t had any reason to put something later model in anything so far. Just picked up a ‘57 Ford 9” for a buddy pretty cheap a couple months ago and had another buddy give my kid a 10 bolt from a 69 Camaro. I have somewhat an endless supply of 55-57 Chevy rearends too from a buddy that builds those cars and seems to continually have to “upgrade” customer cars to something else...

 

I have a couple rearends stashed for the future but I also have a 8" Ford housing on which I accidentally ruined a housing end when I was cutting it off to narrow one side. I ended up buying another housing to get the job done. If someone has a otherwise trashed 8" housing I'd be in the market for a short cut-off end that includes all of a small-bearing housing end to remove from the tube stub so I can make my 8" housing useable. The axle tube on the 8" rearend I have is something under 3".....maybe 2 7/8"? I'd have to check to be sure of the diameter. PM me if you have something. Correct and direct me if I'm mistaken, but I've never found an aftermarket housing end available for the "small tube" 8" housing.

Moderator...feel free to delete this if my request is out of order for the thread.

Lynn

 

Here we are talking about how rare 9" rear ends are, yet look at how many threads here are on cars with 1948 and older banjo rear ends. Twilight zone.

 

I have a collection of both

 

People that are looking for the narrow .....don't have to do anything (' rears should realize that most if not all of them are 28 spline and small axles. So even if you find one, they really aren't as strong as the ones with 31 spline axles.....but need narrowing. Many/most/all 28 spline axles can't be narrowed because of a taper on them. So you "may need " replacement axles . With 31 spline axles you can have them narrowed. If you can weld, you should be able to narrow your own housing and keep the ends parallel and perpendicular. So you are only out the cost of resplining. That being said, you probably ought to replace the bearings no matter what you do. It ain't that hard to narrow a housing.....and once you do one, you will never worry about it again.
With a 9" probably the best ratio you will find is 3:25. (Yes the law of averages says some lucky few will find higher ratios). 3:25 or lower (probably lower) will be the norm. Then you need to change the gears and bearings and buy a posi of some kind. Expect $1k for all new stuff. No since worrying about getting a 9" if you ain't gonna put a posi in it.

 

I agree that the older 8 and 9-inch rearends are getting harder to come by in the junkyards. It's just a case of what is on the road. Since these rearends are 30-40 years or more old, just not that many of them still on the road to end up in the junkyard for picking. Even older 8.8 from the leaf spring Explorer or Ranger are getting up there in age. Same for the Mopar 8.75 crowd. The basic problem is that the traditional sold axle rearend is just not being built into as many vehicles now. Biggest issue being predominance of fwd, but even rwd are going to IRS type. Only trucks and big SUV are left as the old style solid axle users.