Thread: Ford 9"

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Originally Posted by 31rat

Ok, my first post...In looking over my "new" ride I have discovered that the rear has no fill hole...I can see a place on the center section facing from the front side, where a plug could be be.. but no plug..I have looked all over the center section and the housing...no fill plug to be found. I know nothing about Ford 9", but I guess that some center sections have fill plugs and some housings have a fill plug and I have a miss matched setup. Funny thing is I discovered this after replacing the driver side axle seal (because of lube all over the inside of the tire), my guess is that someone over filled the rear through the only hole I've found...the vent hole in the top of the axle tube...The old seal I replaced looked ok and when I pulled the axle no additional lube ran out??? I guess it leaked till it reached the correct level???lol..... Anyone have any idea's other than replacing the center section?? Sorry for the long post...........Chris

Some (most) of the 9 inchers have a pipe plug in the actual pumpkin itself rather than the back of the housing - left hand side. A 3/8" ratchet extension or in some cases, a 3/8 Allen wrench is used to take it out. This in mine is a tall SS aftermarket pipe plug - yours would be much shorter and may be painted or crudded over.

But to make life interesting, I believe Ford made some diffs w/o a plug in which case you need to pull the pumpkin out and weld a bung in the back of the housing and make up a filler. Or, fill it with a measured amount from the vent until you can "fix" it, one way or another.