i have a big problem that is my 66 came with a dana 44 that is totaled! ok if i have to i can rebuild it buy why? i want to put in a regular ford 9" butt now for the problem the dana is 54 1/2" from backing plate to backing plate in the junk yard i have access to i can find 58" up the wazoo i found a 50" one. no 54 1/2" in a 9" i do have 1 in a 66truck i gave my son that he is preparing to rebuild. now the question what else came with a 54 1/2" rear end?
any help is appriciated.

oh i found 1 in a 90 t-bird butt it has totaly different mounting system the good thing is it has disk breaks looks like a load of work.

 

Ford 9" rears from F-100s '59 - '72 have the same dimensions. They will bolt right up to your '66, with the spring pads and shock mounts aligned correctly.
If you can get a 9" from the same bed length as what you have, then try to get the driveshaft from the donor vehicle; it may bolt up as well, depending on what transmissions are in your truck and the donor.
Try to get the complete rear end, with backing plates, shoes and hardware. Although you will replace much of the smaller parts, it will help you to determine which replacement parts are the correct ones.

 

not true for me i put a 69 rear end in and now the tires rub on the bed cuzz its 58" wide thats when i did all the measuring aprox 30 rear ends no luck.
parked the truck
iv got 2 danna 44s for parts butt really want a 9"

 

That's very interesting.
The frame and axles didn't change until '73.
I just replaced the axle half-shafts in my '66 with ones from a '72, and they are the correct length. Wheels are in the correct position and all.
(I put the later wider backing plates on to get better braking, and I had to use the '68 - '72 half shafts to accomodate the larger drum.)
Do you have aftermarket wheels perhaps?
Perhaps the '69 had a later axle swapped into it?

This is very interesting - and confusing, I'm sure.

 

yess mag wheels.
went up to the yard and measured again. in my truck was a dana 44 from the backing plate to the backing plate it is 54 1/2" spring shackel to spring is 40" the ford 9" rear ends in the 2 trucks i measured befor it got too dark (i left the flasah light at home ) were 57-58" between backing plates and 46" between springs. my whole 66 in the yard is burried so i couldent measure it tonight with out a flash light. im wondering, am i off with the years i think the 2 trucks are?

 

hey yota i had the same problem. The guy i got the truck from said that one of the bearings was bad in the rear end. come to find out he had spun both bearings and destroyed the races on both tubes and the bearing retainer plates. So i went looking for a 9 inch found the same problem. Lots of dana 60's but all ford 9in were to wide. so took the rear end into local shop and for 150 dollars the made new tubes and fixed the retainer plates. The dana 44 i was told was a special order from factory because of the truetrac locker. I kept mine and im running 35's with it and i beat the hell out of it. She will take a lickin and keep on tickin.

 

you could try to find a narrowed 9" from a ranchaero, torino, or galxie. that will allow some serious rubber under a tub job. if you want to do all that work

 

Guys Guys. . . .
BP is spot on - center bullseye!

1961thru 72 are all the same 54 1/2" width, while 73 up into the 90s are 58" width. Altho it equates to +4' in total overall length, 4 inches is still only 2 inches per side. In reality 2in. is easily overcome by using different wheels with 2" greater backset. then everything will all come out back at being zero, plus tires clear like when OEM stock.

I know this because when I upgrade to later chassis, rear is +4 inches wider. Using 61-66 wheels wil end up with tires rubbing in turns or during leans, or heavy loading.
The solution is what I just explained, different, greater, backset in the wheels.

Of course this doesn't solve for spring perch locations also being off by +2" on each side, but I'd re-locate my spring perches long before I'd cut my axle tubes and reweld them without some sort of jig or template to make sure it was accurate & exact. I 've twisted axle housings before so I'm antsy about them anyway. It matters not with my spring perches because traction bars take the load off the perches.

I just slipped a 77, F150, 9" under my 88 F150 and I should'a done it a couple years ago it's such an improvement over the Dana Spicer FoMoCo began using with the 1980 production models.

FBp

 

Ford 9 Inch width.
1957-64 Ford car 57.25
64-71 FULL size car 61.0
67-71 Mustang 59.0
79-81 Lincoln Versailes 58.5 (note disk brakes and VERY EXPENCIVE TO FIX!!)
79-81 Granada 58.5
72-79 Intermed + full size 63.0
77-86 F150-Bronco 65.5
77-86 E150 69.25
Therse are published flange to flange numbers
I think 66-76 broncos are 59 but id have to measure to make sure. I know you can use the axles in a pinch but the bearing to flange is 1/4 longer thus the drum hanges on the shoes.

44

 

i found heaven 5 miles from my house buddy has 15 of thies trucks he is parting them out ( more to follow in a new poast he aint computer orieantaded so ill be selling the stufff for him soon). In 9 of the trucks were the 9" and they measured 58 1/2 from backing plate to backing plate in 6 were the danna 44 measuring 54 1/2 from backing plate to backing plate so with my mags set up for the 44 ill switch them bought a rear end for $100 not bad.

new problem i took one from a short bed (had no oil leaking out) and the nose that holds the u-joint is 1 1/2 longet so now my drive line is too long !!!!
and they dont interchange
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
ok i put 1 1/2 spacers on top between the axel and the spring and now its ok and i like the look!!

 

Did you think about and plan for what happens the first time you have a heavy load and hit a bump?

If the new rear is truely 1 1/2" longer towards the front and you put 1 1/2 " spacers over the springs, I don't see how that got you enough travel. It might have got you enough to get things back together. But what about suspension travel?

Don't mean to doubt that you got it to work, nor suggest that you are messing up. But I'd hate for you to hit a bump and drive the drive shaft into your tranny and end up with a ruined tranny and rear.

later....

 

i have a 1963 1 ton to haul with this so this truck is my street truck lol
found this out my self and today sent the drive line off to be shortened oh well