Rear end ideas

What would be a good rear end to narrow for my 51 Dodge business coupe? I thought about 01 back explorer, 8.8. 31 spline axles and most are limited slip. Only trouble with that is, if I have bolt in axle ends installed, I don't know if the factory disc brakes will work. Been watching around for a 9 in, but limited slip units are pricey including a decent center section. I tried to find a 77 back bronco, but they've seemed to have disappeared. I think they were 58in total from the factory. Anybody got any other ideas that won't break the bank?

Have you priced a housing from John's Rear Ends - John's Industries. The 9" Ford Factory. or Just Rear Ends - Just Rear End's Complete Custom Crate Rear End, Ford 8 Inch and 9 Inch Third Member, Chevy 12 Bolt, Posi, Housings, Axles, Wilwood Disk Brakes ? The guys at JRE are a father/son team, small family business and they know their stuff. Unlike sheet metal, any rust on old gears creates micro-fissures in the surface, which sets them up for failure down the road. You get what you pay for, IMO.

He's got some good prices, that's for sure. Thanks Roger.

Not sure what drive train you’re planning on (how much HP you are looking at), but off the top of my head the narrowest factory rear ends are around 58” axle flange to axle flange.

In the 9” Ford your choices are:

First Generation Bronco

1957-59 Ford /Edsel Station wagons

77-81 Granada /Versailles/Monarch

The problem with all three is that relatively speaking there were not all that many made. At least around here you don’t see that many Broncos being parted, the 57-9 wagons are few and far between and hard to find replacement brake drums for, and not all (in fact very few) GVM had the 9” rears. On the plus side (for some anyway) is if you do come across the GVM 9” they came with disc brakes.

If you’re not pushing a lot of horsepower with sticky tires and can live with an 8” rear end, the Mavericks and Ranger pickup trucks also came with a 58” axle flange to axle flange rear end.

Other options:

If you’re not really locked into a Ford rear end and don’t mind a GM rear end with a 5 on 4 ¾ bolt pattern, the early 70’s Nova also had a 58”AF to AF leaf spring rear end (usually 10 bolt but I understand there were also 12 bolt versions). The 78-86 G Body were 58” 10 bolt rear ends (the majority were the weaker 7.5 ring gear versions but some also had the HD 8.5 ring gear 10 bolt). The G body rear ends were installed as a triangulated 4 link suspension, and if you are planning on that type of suspension it may not be a bad option as the brackets are already in place on the axle.

A lot of guys seem to be going with the 5 lug version of the Ford 8.8 rear end and apparently the mustang versions were around 58”. Plus on these is availability and factory disc brakes.

As far as Mopar rear ends, as far as I know the narrowest you are going to find are going to be the late 60’s B Body units. They are usually just a touch over 60” AF to AF. That’s only an inch per side wider than the 58 rear end (which can usually be made up with offset wheels) and they seem to be readily available in the 8 ¾ version.

If you want the ultimate bragging rights MOPAR rear end and can live with the 60” width you can always dig up a B Body Dana 60. Currie started converting truck (full floating ) Dana 60s to passenger car specs (eliminating the full floating axles and using 5 4 ½ axles) a few years ago. This ended up driving the price of original units way down. You can now usually find them complete drum to drum with gears and a Posi in the $900-1200 range.


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The 8.8 is a good choice. Why do you need bolt in axles? Are you going to race the car? I can tell you from personal experience that a disc brake caliper will keep the axle from exiting the housing if an axle breaks. I had an axle break on a 9" Ford. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't lose a wheel on a 9". That axle broke near the bearing and the disc brake caliper was the only thing that kept it from coming out.

The Explorer's are cheap. They have a short and long axle. You can narrow them cheaply with another short side axle. I would get a new axle to avoid the "reverse twist" that some folks say weakens the axle.

The Explorer discs work fine. I have them on the the 9" that is in the car in my avatar. You can upgrade them with Expedition parts. I plan to show that later on in my Healey build thread.

BTW - I'm taking my advice and am using an 8.8 in my Healey project.

Mike

The mopar 8 3/4,and Lincoln Versi rears have pads for leaf springs if that's how your car is set up

I'm going to run a 4 bar with coil overs. I know the 8.8's are stout, will most likely go that route. The explorer has 31 spline axles. I want something that I can bolt a set of drag radials on if the urge hits me.

Does anyone know the total width of a explorer, 8.8 after narrowing the 1 side to except short side axles? Mopar Rob put 12in wheels with 4 in back spacing under his Dodge with a 55 in rear end. Stock, they are 59 1/2, so I'm thinking this would put me pretty close. Thanks Hotrod 46.

Finally found it. 2.875 difference in the axles. That would put me at 56 1/2 if my math is correct. Two 12 in wheels with 5 inch back spacing sounds good, plus 1 new axle.

Yeah, that sounds about right. I just did a rough measurment my old axles and came up with about 56.5 after you narrow it. I had to get custom axles for my project since mine had to be narrower than that.

Summit lists some Ranger replacement axles that are 27.25. The center pin is .875 and the rotors are .25 on each side. That gives 55 7/8" overall, but you would have to narrow both sides. Also, I don't know if the Explorer rotors will fit on those axles. They are listed for a 1997 Ranger.

Mike

I think 56 1/2 would get me there with the right wheel. Also are you using the explorer front yoke? Will anther yoke interchange with the factory round 1? I don't care for that set up myself.

Also Hotrod46, Quick Performance has got aftermarket axles, big ford axle ends, 1/2 by 2 in studs along with bearings for $425 if you are interested. Factory disc brake set up will work. If you had to cut both sides that would be a good deal.

The flange can be replaced with a yoke. I'll be doing that with mine when I get around to the gears. I don't have any info right now on what fits, but I suspect there are several options.

A quick search comes up with 28 and 30 spline pinions. I haven't counted mine since I haven't torn that part down, but I would be surprised if it wasn't 30 splines. Yokes are available in that count from Summit.

Thanks for the info, but I have already bought the axles for mine.

Mike

I figured they could be interchanged. I think the stk one has the small joint, I was wanting to go to a 1350 U joint. I get all my rear end stuff from Quick Performance. Real good guy to deal with and parts are reasonable. I just done a gm 8.6 rear end, bought the 3.73 gear and a complete Timken bearing install kit for $204 shipped.