AAHHH, that's awesome! Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I think I can handle that and think it's a good thing to do in the near future. I will gather up some parts for the job and plan on doing it soon. U-joints and carrier bearing will be good to replace at this time too. I have a slide hammer that I made on a lathe at work, but will have to come up with some sort of bracket for the axle hub. Actually I dig your N case and trac-lok. I wonder where I could score one of those setups and axles. From what I've read of your other posts, it has to be a 31 spline setup. Thanks again for your time and input.

 

I've never needed a slide hammer to get the axle out of a 9 inch, but because I've said that you probably will. YouTube is a valuable tool here too.

 

These Ford 8 and 9-inch rear ends are what I have left but, over the past 20 years, I've had more than this that I sold as a complete rear end assembly or as parts.



'81 Bullnose 9-inch rear with 'Torino' large axle bearing flanges --future '95-'01 Ford Explorer rear disc brake conversion project for my '69 F100.



In 1998 or '99, I had bought a 9-inch rear end from a 1957 Ford station wagon to put under my '68 Mustang (it originally had an 8-inch). I started the process of tearing the rear end down and when I went to pull the axles, they wouldn't budge. I ended up tying one end of the housing off and putting a sling on the axle at the other end and tied it to a Massey-Ferguson 235 tractor. It took two snatches on the axle with the tractor to pull the axle free from the housing. I've had a couple of other '57-'59 station wagon/Ranchero 9-inch large axle bearing rear ends and several '58/'59 Fairlane small axle bearing 9-inch rears that had stubborn axles that didn't want to come loose from the housing.

 

The Ford differential to direct power to both rear wheels from 1957 through 1968 was the Ford Equa-Lok. This differential wasn't installed in the Ford trucks because it doesn't cope well with high torque loads. In 1969, Ford came out with the redesigned and much improved Traction-Lok differential.

They came in 2-pinion and much stronger 4-pinion arrangements and in either 28 and 31-spline versions. All Bumpside Ford 9-inch rears came with 28-spline axles.

9-inch Traction-Lok differentials aren't very common in the Bumpsides but, they are more common in the Dentsides. Dentside 9-inch rear ends were predominately equipped with 31-spline axles but, some did have 28-spline differentials (open and Traction-Lok).

The single vertical rib C7AW-E 9-inch 3rd member case will handle most any engine you would have under the hood. However, some of the Dentsides were equipped with the strongest of the 9-inch 3rd members --the N-case (nodular iron).

If you found a Bumpside/Dentside with a Traction-Lok 3rd member and with 28-splines, it would bolt into your housing using your existing axles. The '68-'72 F100 Ford 9-3/8" rear end is very similar to the Ford 9-inch rear end but, they aren't the same.

If you found a Dentside/Bullnose 9-inch 3rd member, with 31-spline axles, you would need either the 3300# or 3600# 31-spline axles from a '68-'72 Ford F100 9-3/8" rear end to install in your truck's existing 9-inch rear end housing, to be able to use the 31-spline 3rd member.

All '80-'86 Bullnose 9-inch rear ends have 31-spline axles with 31-spline open (or optional Traction-Lok) differentials.

Dentside and Bullnose axles are too long to fit in a Bumpside 9-inch housing. They can't be safely shortened and resplined for a Bumpside housing either.

 

All very good info, much appreciated. I think now that I know that I can use my 28 spline axles, I may try and find a 28 spline trac-lok 3rd member and install that along with new bearings and seals, or else at the very least I will just recondition what I have by just pulling the guts out and doing an inspection and cleaning. I'm starting to think it would be worth taking the whole thing out of the truck and cleaning it up and painting it and just go through the whole thing while I have it out, brakes and all. We'll see what time and money permits in the near future. Thanks again for the lesson.

KOT390

 

There's someone on ebay that regularly sells 28 and 31-spline 9-inch Traction-Lok differentials for around $310-$320 dollars. Of course, this means disassembly of the differential/ring gear which will disturb the backlash setting and tooth contact pattern, upon reassembly.

It takes some knowledge and special tools to correctly setup a 3rd member so, if you do something drastic like this, you may be better off to take it to someone that knows how to setup a Ford 9-inch 3rd member assembly.

 

OK, sounds good. I looked briefly on Ebay and found a whole kit with all new 3rd member parts and traclok for around 500. Although I will take all of what you mentioned into consideration before I decide. I know they are tedious. I had a 92 Mustang one time that I had new 3.73s installed professionally because I didn't want to mess it up. Shims, backlash etc.

KOT390