I've got the 9" rear bolted into my '36 Ford ch***is and the pinion is up against the p***enger side of the driveshaft tunnel. It's a TCI frame with a 4-link and panhard bar so I would think everything should be in the right place when put together. The only adjustment I can see for this would be the panhard bar, and i have it shortened as far as it will go. The pinion centerline is about 1 1/4" toward the p***enger side. Is this right? I'd like to know before I start hacking at the driveshaft tunnel.
It's a possibility that your car is set up for a centered pinion, most early fords had the drivetrain centered. Are the wheels centered in the wheel openings? If the wheels are towards the p***enger side the same amount threr is probably something wrong with the panhard bar. Did you supply the housing or did it come with the ch***is? If you supplied your own housing it's a possibility that you have a van or truck housung. they had quite a bit of pinion offset in them.You might want to call the ch***is manufacturer and see what they reccomend as far as a housing width and pinion offset if you supplied the housing. It should actually be a pretty easy fix.
Your driveshaft hump doesn't seem to have enough clearance for any driveshaft at all. There isn't any room for vertical movement, or even a little side-to-side as would be expected with the panhard rod. The offset pinion wont affect anything, as long as the input angle to the pinion is parallel to the output angle of the transmission, as seen from above.
A little off topic, but where in indiana are you two DUDES from. I am about 20 min north of the mich / indiana stateline.
The whole ***embly came from TCI. The drum to frame measurement shows only about 1/4" off in the same direction. When I called TCI, they couldn't tell me a whole lot, but he did say that there might be about a 2 degree offset. As far as room in the tunnel, the car is airbagged and is shown near the lower limits of travel. So Gotgas, even if the trans output is offset from the pinion input, they just need to be parallel? How much offset is acceptable. Here's an illustration I did to make sure I'm understanding.
vendettaautofab, We aren't far apart. I'm in Highland right off of I-94 a few exits from the In./Il. border. Cadillac Bob, Silent Rick, Mojo 66, Thirtyfivepickup, and Jer are all in the general area.
The amount of offset you're talking about won't cause any mechanical problems, lots of cars have more offset than that from the factory. Like Gotgas said, and you show in your diagram, things just have to be parrallel. I'd get the housing centered in the frame, probably measure from the brake backing plates to the ch***is to do that, and see where that puts you. Most likely going to have to redo the tunnel or get a different rear axle housing thats has the pinion centered where you wnat it. A lot cheaper to redo the tunnel.
It doesn't look too bad. There has to be some offset for the u-joints to stay lubed up. Nice photo... looks kinda cool.
Ford 8/9" and early Pont/Olds have the pinion offset a little over an inch in the pumpkin. If you want the pinion centered, the pumpkin is gonna set an inch to the left. If you want the pumpkin centered (which I ***ume is the way yours is set up) the pinion is gonna be offset to the right. When I narrow a rearend I always set up the rearend with the pumpkin centered. I think it looks kinda funky for the rearend to look like it's not centered when you look at it from the rear. An inch offset in the driveshaft isn't gonna give any problems as long as everything is in phase. I'm like you, I'd just modify the tunnel for clearance.
hey I have the perfect solution.... you don't even have to cut anything. I should have called last night but I forgot. Um... yeah, I just read the whole post... nevermind what I said... it probably wouldn't have worked anyways...
My experience has been that most 9" rears are offset a little, the vans being the worst offenders. Most family haulers have the drive train offset to the p***enger side for some reason.
[ Most family haulers have the drive train offset to the p***enger side for some reason.[/quote] To provide exhaust manifold clearance on the steering shaft or in some cases the steering box it's self.
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