Technical Floating housing?

I was googling for a rear end alignment set up. JEGS listed one for “9 in floating housing” from Mittler Brothers.
I’m not familiar with that term.

 

It's a rearend that has a bearing snout at the ends and the wheel hub mounts to it. Axles can be pulled without removing the wheels....think big truck. Benefit is that if an axle breaks the wheel stay put. Typical use would be circle track and I suppose some upper class drag race.

Probably originally based off of older 3/4Ton and larger trucks.

Lynn

 

Hmmn, I don’t know 9inch Ford came like that.
But I’ve always referred to that rear as full floating.
Thanks.

 

The wheels get mounted to hubs, not to axle flanges like on a common rear axle.


Those hubs ride on bearings that are on the axle housing tube

They are held on by big lock nuts.

With this configuration, the only responsibility the axle shaft has is transmitting power to a the drive flange on the hub.
This is how almost every truck 1-ton and bigger is configured.

You can snap an axle, and not risk losing a wheel.

The axle shaft can be lighter, and even gun-drilled, as it doesn't have to support the weight of the vehicle.

 

Full-float is the common truck term.

 

I believe full floating refers to the setup as shown above. Semi floating is like a regular 9 inch, or whatever. I think...

 

In my encounters a full floating rear axle has inner and outer bearing in the hub. The wheel bolts to the hub. The axle then bolts to the hub that supports the wheel. These as I’ve worked on only have spines to go into the third member.
So the type @gimpyshotrods shows the axle has splines on both ends?

 

We use a 9” floater in our dirt car and I really like them. You can learn about them on Speedway Engineering in Sylmar California website. I’d run one on the street with no hesitation.

 

Yes! You got it.

 

Here are the opposite ends of a pair of axle shafts



Those are for my Model A. The 31-spline ends go into the differential.

The other ends go into the drive flanges.

 

A search shows that they actually are pretty popular and are getting into street use.

Just like on a 3/4 ton or larger truck the weight of the vehicle rides on bearings between the hub and the axle housing and the axle shaft just drives the hub but doesn't carry any weight.
Back in the early 70's a lot of central Texas dirt track racers ran "floater" rear ends that were 3/4 ton pickup rear axles. The reason being that you didn't loose a wheel if you broke an axle shaft.

 

Yes, the "full floating rear axle" is sometimes referred to as Grand National style is some part descriptions and are pictured above. And sometimes confused in conversation with " floating rear axle housing" which is for leaf spring racing suspensions to slide the housing.

 

I think what the OP is referring to is a floating housing, not axles. The floating housing is generally used with parallel leaf springs and traction bars, where the attachment point for the leaf springs is allowed to slide so as not to bind with the traction bars.

 

Yuppers, I thought about that but got sidetracked with the other answers. Instead of welded to the axle spring pads it had a setup not far in concept from a pillow block bearing that mounted the axle to the spring and used ladder bars to keep the axle in proper orientation with the trans and drive shaft. The concept was to prevent axle wrap and wheel hop.
Here, Old Hamb thread to the rescue. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/pics-of-your-leaf-spring-floaters-fitted.1147829/

 

To be honest, I thought housing/axle was one and the same.
Let me dig up the link from Jegs.

Edit:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Mittler-Brot...MI3teyodeBiAMVtgytBh0J3CudEAQYASABEgLIuPD_BwE

 

A buddy of mine had a floater housing where the housing floated on the leaf springs and ladder bars. That thing would hook in a mud puddle! I think this is what the OP is talking about.

 

As I mentioned, I didn’t know what I was talking about.
I just saw the description (see link above) and it mention “floating housing”. I equated it to like a 3/4 ton rear end.
So basically that alignment bar would work in a standard 9 in ch housing?

 

Oh yeah, you want a set up bar to narrow a rear or to straighten one. I gotcha. I just bought a 1” trued stainless bar from metal depot and used the pucks from my pinion depth gauge set. Had to make some pucks for the ends on a lathe. Works great! I’m not sure what they mean by floater in their description

 

The previously linked alignment kit has pucks for the full-floater GN ends instead of standard semi-floating wheel bearings.

Semi-floating alignment kit for multiple axle types
https://www.mittlerbros.com/rear-end-narrowing-kit-w-72-shaft.html
Full-floating alignment kit for GN style Ford 9"
https://www.mittlerbros.com/floater-rear-end-narrowing-kit-9.html