if your thinking on a spool, then you might as well weld it. its the cheapest way to go. If your a good welder. Ive welded all kinds of axles with no problems

 

well thats what I was thinking at first if I weld it up good and not sloppy it should be pretty dam soild.but for $22 bucks for a mini spool thats a steal of a deal don't you think.

also I was wondering in order to install the mini spool do I have to drop the rear end out or can I put it up on stands and pull it all apart like that I'm asking because I have a broken rear spring and if I have to take out the diff to do the minispool I will wait and do the sping at the same time. any help would be great thanks again.

 

On the 9", you'll have to put the rear on stands, remove the axle shafts, and then remove the center section to install the mini-spool.

If your spring needs replacing, I'd do it all at once. In fact, I DID do it all at once. I had a broken leaf too, and decided to put the frame on stands and remove the entire axle and leaf springs. I also replaced the axle bearings while I was in there.

It's a good time to take a wire wheel to all the parts and shoot 'em with a coat of paint, too.

Good luck.

Kevin K.

 

If I decide to weld the gears, will it ruin them for future use? In other words, if I weld it and hate the way it handles on the street can I later put in a detroit locker using the same gears?
How about this same senerio but using a mini spool instead of welding??

MudHog
79 F150 4x4 460swap DOVE heads 4:56gears

 

if you put a nimi spool in it replaces the spider gears inside the carrier. so if you do not like it, you can take it out and reinstall the spidergears. and as stated befor , if you install a mini spool you shouldnt have to mess with all the gear lash. same with welding. a weld would work but a mini spoll gives you the same thing. and the minispool is stronger and shouldnt break. i dont know how good you are at welding but if you dont do it right you will mess it all up.

 

If you weld the gears, you'll never be able to remove them from the carrier, unless it's the type that splits open.

 

Ive had a mini spool in my truck for about 2 1/2 years now..

It my daily driver as well... I love it.

 

Red Rocket, have you had any problems driving on the highway so much? I was worried about driving mine with the mini-spool too much on the pavement. I absolutely love it off-road. Any who have had a mini spool on the pavement for awhile, please let me know.

 

so what does it take to install a mini spool. do you have to pull the axles and the gears. and there are to different types of mini spool for the 9'' 28 spline and the 31 spline so my question is how do you count the splines. what do you do? can you help with this . thanks all.

 

Installation isn't that hard. I installed my own and it was the first time I'd seen the inside of a dif..

You have to remove the axles to count the splines and get the 3rd member off. To remove them, first remove the wheels and drums, and disconnect the drive shaft. Remove the 4 nuts holding the retainer plate to the axle tube (access is thru the hole in the axle hub) and slide the axles out. Remove the 10 nuts and copper washers holding the 3rd member on (save or replace the washers). CAREFULLY pry the 3rd member away from the axle housing and let it drain. Once empty, remove it the rest of the way.

Before you disassemble the inerts of the dif, MARK THE ADJUSTING RINGS so you can reassemble it without having to reset the backlash. Remove the 4 bolts holding the bearing caps on. Remove the caps, adjusting rings, and bearing races. Remove the carrier. Remove the ring gear from the carrier but MARK IT FIRST so it goes back on the same way. There should be two philips head screws behind the ring gear that hold the carrier together, remove them and split the carrier (marking it first).

The spider gears are held in with one long shaft and two short ones. Those shafts are held in the carrier by retaining pins. Knock out the retaining pins and remove the shafts. The spider gears should fall out. Put the mini-spool in where the gears were and replace the one long shaft through the carrier and mini-spool. Put the retaining pin back in to secure the shaft.

Reassemble the carrier and ring gear. Put the bearing races and adjusting rings back on and assemble it into the 3rd member, aligning with the marks you made. Tighten the bearing caps to spec and check the backlash. Bolt 'er back on to the axle housing. Reinstall the axles, drums, and wheels and you're done.

There's a tech article on this site called "Building a Ford 9" Rear End" under the 2001 articles. This has much more detail and directions for backlash setting. It's what I used to do mine and I suggest reading it. It's a great article.

Hope this helps.

Kevin K.

 

Make sure when you are putting the carrier halves back together to make sure both surfaces are clean and that you file down any nicks or bumps. I had made a few nicks on the outer edge when trying to get it apart, just grabbed a file and smoothed it out. This is an easy installation, just takes a little time. I did mine last weekend without ever seeing the inside of an axle previous to that.

Kevin, how long have you had the mini in and how often does it see pavement? I am sure happy with the performance!

 

It's only been in a year and it's mostly seen mud. I've driven it to work a few times and to a meeting in town last night. I also take it on the road to get to the trails or in and out of the campground.

I just put some 36x12.5s on the truck and wasn't sure what to expect. So far, no problems, just a little chirping around corners. I don't think it handles noticibly different than the open gears except in snowy or icey corners. THAT takes some getting used to.

Kevin K.

 

The part I am getting used to is the rear end sliding around in 2wd on the dirt. It used to keep a tire planted. Man I love this thing.

 

ba 302, your bronco has a 31 spline,

Also, I should note that I drive this truck in minnesota winters.. While it is a a bit different on the the ice, Id never, EVER go back to anything other than a spool in the winter.

A locker is worse than a spool on snow. Lockers are unpredictable, spools are the oppisite.. Once you go to a spool you will never regret it, and will never want an open diff again.

 

thanks alot everyone you all have helped out so much I'm goin to take this project on this weekend it should be fun I will let you all no how I made out thanks again.