I have a 9" rearend I want to put under my 56. I believe it is a 57-59 car housing. I swapped the original punkin for a later model out of a Torino , if I remember correctly. I had to grind a little on the housing to fit the larger diameter ring gear in. When I disassembled the thing I put the backing plates and drums in the trunk of a Studebaker car I had, for safekeeping. Now, several months later I have sold the Studey and forgot to remove the parts from the trunk. I would like to swap some later model backing plates and drums onto the 57-59 housing . I have searched but can only find disc swaps for it. I don't want rear discs. Can anyone supply info on the swap I want to do?Oh, the car I got the new gearset out of has since gone to the crusher, so I'll have to find another donor for the brake parts.Thanks

 

Well...I have never heard of a 9" having a larger ring gear than another that would require grinding for clearance. Are you sure you have a 9"? Ford made an 8" rear end that had a drop out center section just like the 9", in fact it almost looks identical. From what I have learned and experianced, any 9" should fit in a 9" exactly with no issues or clearance problems.

Posi units aside of course...thats a little different animal all together.

I am not 100% sure about this, but all 9's I have dealt with have the same brake backing plate bolt pattern, meaning you can update to modern brakes with anything that has a 9" under it. The only thing that may be trickey is getting a brake setup that has the same bore as your front brakes...to keep everything as it was per say. Otherwise you will have larger brakes with less pressure....or maybe more pressure causing uneaven wear and premature brake failure. This may be a moot point though, it all depends.

*note* As seen from the below website, there are two types of brake setups on a 9". The larger one and the smaller one. It all depends on the taper at the ends of the housing. If your housing tapers, it is the smaller setup. If there is no taper, it is the larger setup.

A great site I have recently found is here.

There is a chance you have a Ford 9-3/4" carrier and by grinding, you fit it in a 9" housing. Either way, something is fishy about having to clearance a 9" housing to fit a standard 9" ring gear in my book. Take a good read at that site and see what you have. Hopefully it helps!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong,,, but I didn't think the 9" came out in trucks until 57. Numberdummy can verify this.
If the truck is a 56 it most likely had an 8" rearend.

 

I wish you had caught me last month. I converted my 9" to disc a couple of years ago and just threw away complete brakes for both wheels. Good backing plates, wheel cylinders, parking brake cables, drums and very slightly worn shoes all gone because I didn't have room to store it anymore. I advertised it and no one wanted it.

Measure the mounting flange. Check the local junk yards. You may get lucky.

 

PM me the bearing size. I'm in the process of converting and may have the parts you need. Send me a beer and some shipping and they are yours.

 

I remember seeing pictures somewhere of a housing being modified to fit a later model , higher gear, like I did on mine.I will post some pics of mine tomorrow. What was under the truck originally wouldn't matter in my case. I'm running a 68 or 69 Chrysler car rear at present , because it was free and had the Ford 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern, as does the Volare ifs that I'm using.The rear I'm running now is geared 3.25 and I have been unable to find the ratio I want for the Chrysler. The 9" that I want to use is geared 2.75. I cruise at 65 mph turning almost 3000 rpm now and with a 2.75 gear should do 65 at 2100-2200 rpm , if my calculations are right. Thanks.

 

Do some serious measuring before you put the 57-59 car housing under your truck. That was the narrowest 9 inch housing ever made by Ford and used to be used a lot by the street rod crowd. They are pretty rare now. I think you will find that housing is too narrow for your truck unless you plan to do some tubbing or use some wheels with a lot of offset to the outside.

 

Actually, the housing is a little narrow. I probably need to trade my housing and axles for one the same width as the Chrysler that I'm running now.I would keep the Chrysler if I could find the gear ratio I want. I looked for a long time and could not find one. I did find a 2.93 , but got it for a friend of mine that was running a 4.88 or 5.13 under a 'glass 41 ****** coupe.I intend to move the rearend to the top of the springs and notch the rails whatever I put in , or leave in.Thanks.