Rearend Narrowing Tips

So you have found the perfect donor rearend for your project and need to change the width or pinion offset. First you will need to spend some time with a tape measure laying under your project to determine the ideal finished width and pinion or driveshaft location. It helps to have a buddy hold the other end of the tape measure and have the tires and wheels you plan to use. With the tires and wheels setting where you want them, measure from the wheel inside mounting surface to the other wheel mounting surface to determine the overall finished width including brake drums or rotors. Write that dimension here. Overall Width ___________________ Now you should determine where you want the pinion or driveshaft to be in relation to the overall width. If your project has a defined transmission or driveshaft tunnel you would normally want it centered in the tunnel. Get a magnet and a piece of string and tie a nut to it. Put the magnet in the centerline of the tunnel and let the string hang down so you can eye ball it from the rear. Run the tape measure from the left hand wheel to right hand wheel and note what the measurement is at the string and write it here. LH Pinion Offset Measurement __________________ Now run the tape measure from the right hand wheel to the left hand wheel and note what the measurement is to the string and write it here. RH Pinion Offset Measurement __________________ If you add the two pinion offset measurement together they should be the same as the Overall width. It may take a couple tries to get it correct. Many applications may call for a Centered Pinion which is simply the overall width divided by two. This puts the pinion dead center between the tires, but the housing will then normally be offset from the centerline. On some Street Rods, you can see the rearend housing easily from the rear, and you may want to run a Centered Housing. This means the center portion of the housing is centered between the tires and gives a cleaner appearance. Normally the pinion will be offset slightly. On a 9 Ford this amounts to less than 1 and should not matter in most applications. Remember, the driveshaft has two or more u-joints that are designed to compensate for the rearend moving up and down. It also compensates when the driveshaft is offset to one side. The other reason some people use a centered housing is to make suspension brackets easier to install such as tri-angulated 4-bars.

Another critical measurement you will need to have is the Brake Offset. This is the measurement from where the brake backing plate or caliper bracket originally bolted on, to where the wheel mounting surface is. Dont measure to the axle bearing. Below are generic drawings of brake offset.

Common offsets are 2.36 & 2.50 for 9 Fords, 2.36 for 8 Mopar/Dana 60 and 2.50 for 8.8 Fords, but it is up to you to measure and determine what offset you have or want to use. If you are using the original brakes and axles then you should not have to worry about it being correct. If you are going to run aftermarket axles or brakes you will need to make sure they both match. Either way you will need to use this dimension later so write it down here. Brake Offset ________________ You will need to take into account the thickness of the brake drum or rotor that fits between the wheel and the axle. Dig out your dial or digital calipers and measure this thickness. Most brake drums are approx. 1/8 thick while rotors tend to be approx. thick. Write down this dimension here. Each brake drum or rotor thickness ___________________ x 2 Two more measurements you should get. The Brake Drum Register Diameter and Axle Flange Diameter

The Brake Drum Register is the round portion in the middle of the axle flange that the brake drum or rotor center hole slides over. Both the factory and aftermarket axles have had many different brake drum register dimensions over the years and you do not want to have your project all but done only to find your brakes dont fit over the axle. So I recommend you verify what the register diameter is and what brakes you plan to run before getting too far along. You may need to have the register cut down to fit your aftermarket brakes. Common diameters used were 2.78 and 3.06. Use a dial or digital caliper and write your brake drum register here. Brake Drum Register Diameter ____________

Also measure the axle flange outer diameter. Most axle flanges measure less than 6.00 although some older cars and Ford pick-ups were over 6.00 and may not fit inside the rotors of your aftermarket disc brake kit. Write your axle flange diameter here. Axle Flange Diameter __________________

Another item that will affect your build would be the axle housing ends. This is not much of an issue with most 10 and 12 bolt GM and Mopar rearends, but Ford used several. The most common Ford housing ends were the Small Ford which used a 2.835 o.d. axle bearing, the Old Style Big Ford which used a 3.15 o.d. bearing with retaining bolts or the New Style Big Ford which also used the 3.15 o.d. bearing but 3/8 retaining bolts. All three of these Ford housing ends used a different bolt pattern. 10 bolt & 12 bolt GM had two common housing ends with the small using a 2.25 o.d. bearing and the large a 2.535 o.d. bearing. Mopar and Dana 60s in cars normally used the same housing ends and a 2.875 o.d. bearing. There are also some special housing ends available from Mark Williams, Moser and Curries, not to mention , and 1 ton full floater ends that have 1.625-16 and 2-16 threaded snouts.

You will also want to make sure the axle retainer plates on your axles match the housing ends you are going to use. Write down what housing ends you are going to use here. Axle Housing Ends Used __________________________

Now you will need to do a little math. Lets say we want to build a 56 wheel to wheel 9 Ford with 2.50 brake offset, a centered pinion and disc brakes. Overall Width - 56 Less drum or rotor thickness - .250 x 2 = .500 So we are now at 55 axle to axle. Less Brake Offset 2.50 x 2 = 5.00 Your finished housing width needs to be 50 Write your finished housing width here ______________________ Now you need to determine where the pinion centerline is so you can measure, mark and cut the axle housing tubes to the proper length. Here are a few options. On a Centered Pinion application you can simply leave the pinion gear installed in the case and measure from the center of the pinion gear using a 24 or 48 square that you can buy at the Big Box hardware stores, such as this. They are in the $20.00 range.

In our example rearend above, the Centered Pinion housing needs to be 50 wide, we would simply divide that number by 2 to determine our finished housing length per side. In this case it would be 25 . Write your dimension here. Centered Pinion finished housing length per side ________________________

Now with the help of a buddy, hold the T-square in place from the pinion centerline out along the axle tube. It needs to be parallel to the axle tube. Now mark the axle tube at the dimension needed. ( our example would be 25 ) Now if you measure from the end of the axle housing end to the mark you just made, this will tell you how much you need to cut out of the axle tube plus the length of the housing end. If you are building a Centered Housing it involves a little more math. You will need to measure from a common rear cover bolt hole or stud on the housing as a reference point. On the 9 Ford, the two studs that are just above the axle centerline on the front of the housing will do. These two studs are approx. 10 5/16 apart. So we would take this dimension and divide by 2 which would be 5 5/32. We then take our 50 housing finished width divided by 2 = 25 . Then take our 25 half housing width and subtract our stud to stud half measurement 25 5 5/32 = 20 3/32 Now you can measure from the centerline of the previously mentioned housing stud on each side and measure out the axle housing tube and mark the housing. If you measure from the end of the axle housing end to the mark you just made, this will tell you how much you need to cut out of the axle tube plus the length of the housing end. Write your dimensions here. LH Axle Tube Finished Length _________________ RH Axle Tube Finished Length _________________

Confused yet? There is another way! You can buy the Rearend Ruler for your application and get rid of most of the painful math.

The Rearend Ruler simply bolts to where either the third member or rear cover were and already has the Pinion and Housing centerlines located along with the axle end locations which allow you to determine axle lengths needed. You simply hook the end of your tape measure in the appropriate slot and measure out to the axle housing tubes to find your housing width and axle lengths. Each application requires its own specific Rearend Ruler so check for availability.

At this point you will need to get the housing ends you intend to use and decide how you are going to prep them for installation. If you are going to re-use your existing housing ends you will need to cut them off the old housing and get them cleaned up. Some of them are designed to be butt welded to the tube and some have a step or shoulder that is intended to be slipped into the tube. I am not going to debate which is better since it is the person doing the welding and fabrication that will determine the quality of the job. Photo 1 shows a Small Ford housing end that was cut off and trimmed back to the original axle seal mounting area. Photo 2 is the same housing end with the axle tube removed and trimmed back to the original weld. Photo 3 shows new housing ends ready to install. Photos 4 and 5 show the new end installed. Dont be surprised if your original housing ends wobble like a drunk sailor when you chuck them up in a lathe. The factory had to deal with a warped housing just like you probably will. Write the length of the prepped axle housing end here. (This would be from the outside edge to where you would weld it on or it butts up against the axle tube.) Length of Housing End ____________________ Once the housing ends are prepped, you will need to cut the tubes to length. Using the measurements you already have, take the finished half housing measurement and subtract the length of the prepped housing end. In our Centered Pinion example above we had a half housing measurement of 25 . Subtract the length of your prepped housing end ( in our example let s say it is 1 3/8 ) So we take 25 1 3/8 = 23 7/8 Measure and mark your axle housing tube again. Write your measurements here. LH Axle Tube Cut-To Length _______________ RH Axle Tube Cut-To Length _______________

Now you are at the critical Dont Screw Up point. Take the time to add all your measurements up before you start cutting and welding. Did you end up with the same Finished Housing dimension? If you are satisfied with your measurements, its time to cut the housing to length. It is up to you how you cut the tubes and again, I am not going to debate how you choose to do it. It just needs to be a straight cut. A slick way to keep the cut straight is to use a good old hose clamp around the axle tube and tightened it up on your axle tube cut mark. A cut-off wheel in an angle grinder tends to be the tool of choice for most do-it-yourselfers although many use a chop saw. Since we are dragging out the power tools, a note about cutting off any old brackets on your housing. I dont normally recommend using a cutting torch to do so. Many axle tubes are thinner than you may expect. 8.8 Fords use a 3.25 axle tube in many applications, but are rather thin. I have seen perfectly straight 8.8 housings warp more than you would believe just from using a cutting torch to zip off the brackets. I use a cut-off wheel to take as much of the bracket off as I can. An easy way to get leaf spring pads off of the housing is to use a cut-off wheel and cut a slot through the length of the pad right through the spring bolt hole. Then use a pry bar and hammer to knock each half away from the axle tube. They usually break off right next to the weld. Then use an angle grinder to take the weld down. Dont bear down in any one area for too long to avoid putting too much heat into the housing and cause warpage. If you are this far along you have probably already purchased or borrowed a rearend narrowing kit. The most common style are bushings that fit where the carrier bearings and axle bearings would go. Then a steel alignment shaft is run through the bushings to hold the housing ends in position so you can tack weld them in place. There is also available an aluminum plate version that has brackets on the back of the plate that takes the place of the 9 Ford case. It is lighter and easier to handle than using a Ford cast iron case. Contrary to popular belief, the bushings and alignment bar are not to keep the housing from bending or warping during welding. They are only used to align everything when doing the initial tack welding. Lets say you were to just dive in and weld your rearend up all in one shot without stopping. It would not matter if you used a 2 alignment bar, you would warp the housing so bad you probably would not be able to get the bar out. One of the better known companies that builds rearend housings uses the same basic bushings and alignment bar you will be using. They then tack weld the ends in place and take the bar out. Then they weld the ends up in one pass and weld any brackets on as needed. The housing then goes to the next guy and he tries to put the alignment bar back in. He has a fixture that allows him to bend the housing back into shape as needed till the bar will go back through the bushings again.

Another company has a welding fixture made of 1 thick surface ground steel plate that they bolt all the components onto and weld the housing up. They then blow air through the axle tubes until it can be handled. These have a 50/50 chance of needing to be straightened before going out the door. Remember in the business world, time is money and it is faster for them to weldem up and straighten them than to do welds at a time and let them cool down like you are going to do. Your choice of welders is also up to you. There is nothing wrong with a stick welder in the hands of an experienced welder. They transfer a lot of heat into the surrounding metal and will require you to do welds and a long cool down time before you hit it again. Wire welders (MIG) is probably the most commonly used welder and should do a fine job. ( as long as it is a 180 amp or better ) They put less heat into the surrounding metal and allow 3/8 of welding at a time. The TIG welder is the best. They transfer the least amount of heat and allow a longer weld at a time. I suggest letting the weld cool to the point you can lay your hand on the weld for 10 seconds before hitting it again. Tack weld one housing end on in four spots and then tack weld the other end on. Let it cool. Weld eight more spots. Let it cool. Do this till you are done. The thinner the material the slower you will need to go. If you are using new 3/16 ( .188) wall or thicker axle tubes, you can speed the process up some. Another subject that I have discussed with companies that build housings and set up ring & pinions is the OEM factory specifications. I have found that if you pull a rearend out of a car, tear it down and put the bushings and alignment bar in them, they are seldom straight. I tore down and documented ten 9 Ford rearends out of 1966-72 F-100 pickups and no two of them were the same. The most common issue was the passenger side axle tube was out of alignment up to 1/8. A friend who builds 15-20 9 Ford third members a week tells me he sees up to .005 difference in carrier bearing bore diameters in the same case. I have yet to see a 8 Mopar third member that both carrier bearing bores were the same size. I am not slamming them, just making the point that the factory tolerances may not be as precise as you may have believed. If you narrow your own housing and the alignment bar slides in and out of the bushings easily, you did a better job than the factory did. If you find the carrier alignment bushings are a slip fit in the rearend you are working on, a piece of printer paper or masking tape wrapped all the way around the bushing will tighten it up and not change the centerline alignment. Also you should always run the alignment bar through the carrier bushings before tightening up the main caps to ensure they are lined up. Lightly oil the bar as well. If you are working on a drop-out third member like the 9 Ford or 8 Mopar make sure you have the housing gasket in place. This will help make sure everything is in proper alignment when you are done welding the ends on.

Some builders weld all the suspension brackets in place before narrowing the housing and installing the ends. This helps minimize the chance of the housing warping if you were to weld the ends on first and the brackets later. Some builders also only weld one half of the housing at a time. They use a 36 alignment bar and run it through the two carrier bushings and one housing end bushing. Weld that end up, then move the bar to the other end when the first side is done. Another tip is to hang your alignment bar from a hook on the wall when not in use. Engine builders learned a long time ago that if you laid a crankshaft on the floor or leaned it against the wall or in a corner, it would not be straight when it was time to use it. A good machine shop will either stand the crankshaft up on its end or hang it by the end in a rack. Your alignment bar is no different. If you lean it up in a corner it will take on a curve. Drill a hole through one end and hang it up when not in use. We have not discussed axles yet. If you are trying to build a housing to re-use the axles you already have, the above measuring tips still apply, only in reverse. On a 9 Ford you can measure each of your axles and add 1 1/8 for the gap between the two axles. On GM and 8.8 Ford rearends that use c-clips, add the diameter of the differential cross shaft to your combined axle lengths. Or you can cut the housing ends off and insert your axles into the differential. Then measure from the end of the housing out to the bearing to determine your finished width. Today you have many options for new axles. Several companies will build you new axles to your specifications and by using the information you have written down above, it will be easy to order them. The use of the Rearend Ruler will make determining correct axle lengths needed a snap. Also on the market today are very affordable cut-to-length axles. These axles have 8-10 of spline and allow you to buy the axles today and then build your housing and cut the axles to fit the housing when you get it done. Most of them that I have seen are a quality piece and under $200.00 each.

I put this paper together for my customers and friends. It is not all inclusive and will be forever edited and added to. You may or may not agree with everything I put in this paper, but are the facts as I have seen them. Thank you for reading it. Jeff Calkins Leadmine Products 198 State Road YY Tunas Missouri 65764 417-733-1012