Ford Rear end

[Dano51]

How do you identify a ford rear end .

[sweet70beast]

Which particular rear are you wanting to know? Some have drop out center sections others are like GM and have a rear cover plate.

[mr48chev]

I could be a real wise guy and say that usually you find them under Fords but you are probably asking about a 9 inch, 8 inch or the Explorer 8 and something inch that a lot of guys are starting to like.

First you find a chart like this http://coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml It's worth having since it shows almost all of the interesting ones.

Normally a 5 lug Ford car rear axle will have 1/2 inch studs on a 4-1/2 inch bolt circle. The truck rears are going to have 5 on 5-1/2 again with half inch studs.

Lots more info on the net you just have to hunt for it a bit.

[MrDude_1]

the only tricky ones is the ford 8" vs ford 9". they look ALMOST identical, and alot of people dont even know the 8" exists.. even though its very common.
this is the #1 way to tell:

taken from: http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~biesiade/Fordrears.html


The easiest way to tell is to try to put a socket on the lower bolts. On the 8" shown here, the socket goes on straight without hitting the case.


On the 9" shown here, the socket won't fit this position or the bolt on the other side of center. Note the pocket at the bolt location necessary because of the larger pinion support.