rear end question

need some help fellas. need to know if the pinion needs to be dead center of a model a sedan 1931. the rear end is coming out of a explorer or a ford truck. ive been told that you have to cut one side to match the other to put the pinion in the dead center. any help would be greatly apprecatied. thanks guys.

 

Doesn't need to be dead center

 

was it centered when it was in the Explorer?

 

No reason to center it.

 

It doesn't need to be centered, unless being off center interferes with the rear crossmember or other suspension part(s). However, if you do choose to center it, for whatever reason, then yes, you get a second short side axle shaft and shorten the long side of the housing to match.

Ray

 

Ok because i was told that the pinion had to be dead center in the rear to be online with the trans. Meaning i would have to cut and add a piece to make it even on both sides. Does that make any sense? But I guess I dont have to. ?

 

Think about it for a second.The tailshaft of your trans doesn't exactly line up with the pinion on your rear so they are essentially offset up and down. The off center diff is just the same thing in the other direction - side to side. Your driveshaft doesn't know the difference. I'm not sure I explained that clearly but does that make sense?

 

What Saxman said........

Ray

 

***uming an open drive, make the pinion shaft parallel to the transmission shaft and everything will be good. Torque tube axels are a different story.

 

Yeah it make sense sort of. Im using t 350 transmission and a rear end out of a ford truck or a explorer. I'm just glad I don't have to cut to make it center! What rear ends are more center than others? So when inmake the tunnel it won't venture off to the left or right? Thanks fellas. I'm gunna post some pics soon as I get home which will be a month.

 

Don't sweat it too much. If everything was in a straight line and on the same plane the U-joints would likely have to replaced every few months if not sooner. Some deflection is necessary for u-joints to function properly.

 

Dave, your transmission tunnel has nothing to do with your rear end choice....explorer is a good choice at 54 1/2" ....

 

Awesome. I just thought there had to be even on both sides. Was going to use a ford 9" but again someone told me I couldn't because the pinion wouldn't be dead center. Thanks for all the replies and taking the time to read and helping me out. Thanks again fellas!

 

Pardon my nitpicking..but everytime I see the dimension given for a rear axle width based on the housing flanges, rather than the far more accurate and useful 'wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface', I can't resist attempting to persuade the poster to reconsider their choice of dimension reference.

Thanks....hope this doesn't offend.....just trying to improve the data


Ray

 

Apparently most (rear wheel drive) cars have the engine offset to the right of the car for (depending on who you hear it from) steering box clearance or to offset the fact that most cars are driven most often without a p***enger (meaning the weight of the driver on the left side of the car is compensated for by moving the engine a little toward the right side of the car) ... with the engine being offset in the frame from the factory, the pinion will also be offset the same amount.

What you need to remember is this ... if your pinion is offset you do NOT want to angle the engine/trans in the frame so that the output shaft of the trans points directly at the pinion ... either install the engine/trans perfectly parallel to the frame and offset the same amount as the pinion OR mount it perfectly parallel to the frame in the center of the rails and let the driveshaft angle towards the pinion ... as long as the engine/trans are square in the frame, and the rear end is also square in the frame you will/should be OK.

 

david; what is the u joint for???? put it in as is...jmop.

 

Ok what rearend are you guys using in your cars and what did it come out of? Any model a guys using a 350 sm block please chime in!!

 

I have always been under the impression that pinion to tailshaft is always alittle skewed on purpose so it would seem centering the pinion would depend on the location of the tailshaft .... have I got it right?

 

I'm lovin' your avatar photo ONAROLL. Sorry, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, rear ends.

 

Quoted for truth. Only measure the actual track width. Any other dimension is meaningless for determining proper fit for a car, period!

Oh, I would consider a Ford 9", Ford 8", Mopar 8 3/4, 60s Pontiac or Olds rears for use under a Model A long before choosing the ugly like a bucket of armpits Ford 8.8.

Yuck

 

Yeah, it ain't too purdy.

 

Yep, ^^^^^^what he said !

 

Forgot to mention the car will be channeled 4". Got to be something out of a truck or van I would ***ume.