9" ford swap

[79GMC_OLDS]

Looking for some info on swapping out a 12 bolt for a 9" ford on a 79 1/2 ton. Are there certain ones to look for? I assume a custom driveshaft and leaf/shock mounts? what about changing the wheel bolt pattern to gm 5 bolt? anything else that i should know? My other option is a 9.5" 14 bolt but its an 8 lug so im trying to avoid it. Need something to take the cummins torque lol
thanks

[collin86]

you can get axels made with just about any bolt pattern you want, plus they are aftermarket and stronger. check out moser or strange axels, i would also go 31 spline or bigger. as far as i know 31 spline is as big as you can run on the stock carrier though. although 31 spline is more than enough for most applications. if i were you strip the whole thing to a bare housing and start building, you can weld on spring perches wereever you want to, same with shock mounts. the only thing you have to worry about is brakes if you change bolt patterns, check out blackbirdscustomtrucks.com for some disc brake conversion kits.

[SanitysBane]

I put a Ford 9inch in my '83 C10, the 9inch I used was out of a late 80's F-150 and was about 1/2 inch widder total than the stock 10bolt so I just kept that in mind when I ordered wheels for the truck. You can get either 1)by new axles from Moser or Strange with a 5X5 bolt pattern, or 2) take your axles to a machine shop and have them redrill them for a 5X5 bolt pattern, the same can be done for the rear drums which is what I did. As far as the driveshaft, the Ford 9 I know for certain is shorter than the 10bolt and I think shorter than the 12 bolt as well. What I did was use a 1 piece driveshaft out of a 90's longbed truck with a 700R4, used a conversion u-joint on the rear and it fit like a glove. I would suggest measuring to see how long a driveshaft you need and then go search the local junkyards, most autoparts kids don't know about conversion u-joints and you need to ask for the u-joint book and take along a tape measure to make sure you get the right one, they will probally even have it in stock. The brake lines bolt right up to the ford 9inch backing plates. The old saying holds true, measure twice, cut once. I cut the leafspring mounts and shock mounts off the 10 bolt housing and then welded them on the 9inch housing. If you want to you can buy new leafspring mounts, but make sure about the diameter of the axle tubes, mine were 3.5inches. What I did was measure everything several times, to get the location for where the leafspring mounts should go, then made the face of the pinion parrallel to the ground and used an angle finder to measure the angle they were at on the 10 bolt and transfered that over to the 9inch. When you pull the axles out its a good idea to go ahead and replace the axle bearings. I did it on the cheap and it cost me around 700 bucks, drilling the axles and brakes myself, rebuilding the brakes, and centersection using parts from SummitRacing.com. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[redrat]

Originally Posted by SanitysBane

I put a Ford 9inch in my '83 C10, the 9inch I used was out of a late 80's F-150 and was about 1/2 inch widder total than the stock 10bolt so I just kept that in mind when I ordered wheels for the truck. You can get either 1)by new axles from Moser or Strange with a 5X5 bolt pattern, or 2) take your axles to a machine shop and have them redrill them for a 5X5 bolt pattern, the same can be done for the rear drums which is what I did. As far as the driveshaft, the Ford 9 I know for certain is shorter than the 10bolt and I think shorter than the 12 bolt as well. What I did was use a 1 piece driveshaft out of a 90's longbed truck with a 700R4, used a conversion u-joint on the rear and it fit like a glove. I would suggest measuring to see how long a driveshaft you need and then go search the local junkyards, most autoparts kids don't know about conversion u-joints and you need to ask for the u-joint book and take along a tape measure to make sure you get the right one, they will probally even have it in stock. The brake lines bolt right up to the ford 9inch backing plates. The old saying holds true, measure twice, cut once. I cut the leafspring mounts and shock mounts off the 10 bolt housing and then welded them on the 9inch housing. If you want to you can buy new leafspring mounts, but make sure about the diameter of the axle tubes, mine were 3.5inches. What I did was measure everything several times, to get the location for where the leafspring mounts should go, then made the face of the pinion parrallel to the ground and used an angle finder to measure the angle they were at on the 10 bolt and transfered that over to the 9inch. When you pull the axles out its a good idea to go ahead and replace the axle bearings. I did it on the cheap and it cost me around 700 bucks, drilling the axles and brakes myself, rebuilding the brakes, and centersection using parts from SummitRacing.com. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I have a big gearing 9" out of an early 70's ranger. I want to use this in my 82 c-10 but i dont know where to get axles or if this thing will even work. I cant get the axles redrilled for my bolt patern because it has a hole in it to get to the 4 flang bolts. Can you point me in the right direction,

Thanks, Ryan

[f.monroe]

The big Lincoln cars had a 9 inch that is about the same width as a 12 bolt truck . They also have the 5x5 bolt pattern which is the same as the GM trucks . Some also have factory disc brakes . They sell on ebay and such for $100 to $200 or so but if you look in the local salvage yards you could probably find one cheap. Frank

[love it loud]

most 9" fords also have an offset pinion about 2.5" to the passenger side which could cause some nasty u-joint problems, try to find a centered pinion housing or a housing wider than you need and cut down the driver side housing/axle 2.5" to center the pinion

[SanitysBane]

Axles- http://www.moserengineering.com/

http://www.strangeengineering.net/

Search around there and if need be give them a call, they will be able to point you in the right direction.

Mine was offset to one side as well, didn't worry about and just put it in the truck, never had any problems at all with the u-joints. This was in a truck with a 454 making over 500horsepower that saw the dragstrip several times.

[79GMC_OLDS]

awesome thanks..do you have any pics by chance?

[SanitysBane]

I can look, what do you need pictures of?

[redrat]

what year lincoln car should i be looking for ?