Hey Im trying to figure out which way to go about doing the rear end. I have a Ford 9 and its getting a buch of custom bracketry as well as being narrowed. Question is should get the brackets on and fully weld first and then have the rear narrowed and straightened or should I have it narrowed, do the brackets then take it back to be straightened? I haveing a bit of a tough time figuring out what the better course of action is and so I thought Id take it to the forum.

Why narrow the rear?

We got 295s with peanty of inboard room to spare.
I put in a wider axle! 69 in a 67.

With a wider rim I could get 315's in.
I bet by just narrowing the frame I could get 335s tucked.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/46/l_9c4fcfa2326f4921a457088dbc092dee.jpg


How much tire you going to run?

well cause my 9" is about 16" too wide.... Hell it wouldnt fit with the most positive offset wheels you could order lol.

Thats not the point though. I know what width my rear end needs to be with MY particular wheel width, offset, brake thickness and vehicle width. I am just trying to figure out the best procedure to make sure I have a straight rear end. Welding on a straightened housing defeats the purpose but Im not quite sure if it would be better to have the housing narrowed and/or straightened after all the brackets are welded on.

More or less what steps should I do?

1) weld on brackets for links and shocks and watts then have it narrowed and straightened?

2) have it narrowed, not straightened , then weld on the brackets and finally take it back to have the whole thing straightened

3) none of the above (fill in your answer)

do all your welding, then straighten. i was misinformed when i did mine as i thought they actually straighten the tubes, but they do not. all they do is bend the tubes to put the ends in the correct location. much different imho.

when they narrow it, all they need is an overall width and whether you want it centered off the pinion, brackets or a combo of both. theyll take the necessary measurements and get it pretty dang close. currie was off by only 1/8th on mine.

i wouldnt narrow first if you are trying to go as narrow as possible. i had a figure in my head that the salesman and i agreed to, but they called and said the welder wanted an extra 1/4". not bad since i had my brackets in place and didnt have wheels, but it wouldnt have been as easy if i had to move my brackets inboard because i made it 1/4 too narrow per side.

Tim

Widow maker is right
The diff gear shop I use just bends it to straight

"Farm Parts!" TC 2004

When I made our diff
I paid attent to trying to keep it straight during the whole project.
using laser levels, plumb, and sighting it like a rifle.
not too high tech but better tan not paying any atten.

The steer ahead and toe of the 4 link is really the most important thing.
The mounting points seems to have the most influence on that IMHO.

Note
our elco has .3 camber in the rear
My Impala .7 camber in the rear. and is very NICE!!!
go figure

Im guess the diff shop will do the same for me... I may look around for a shop that will actually get them STRAIGHT via heat or bending. The procedure as I know it is that they straighten the housing by feel. Look for where the bar is binding in the jig and pull it the opposite direction till the bar is easily slid out. Dunno if that how its done at the diff shops that do this on a huge turn over rate but I was hoping it may come back with two straight axles that dont bind... I do know that the housing ends may be welded somwhere from being concetric with the tube itself and thats fine. What I dont want is to do something to warp the housing and cause mechanical issues because of it.

Tad- FYI on my car Im running a three link, watts, narrowed frame and either a 275 or 315 rear tire with an 11" (or 10" rim depending on where its measure lol) on a '64 Malibu. Definitely not stock and as such not using a single stock Malibu part on the back half of the car. I reread my post and it sounded a bit rude so I appologise even if you didnt take it that way. Regardless I think it could be construed as me being an a$hole and I definitely dont act like that when Im asking for help and/or advise.

Either way, that you two for the input. Sounds like Ill be doing some bracket welding once I am back from the hospital and healed up from surgery in a month or two. Im hoping to have a roller by mid to late winter and be body working it through spring. Time and money will dictate that thoug (as it has for the last two years :( )

Your all good!

Heal up!
Work on it!
Post Pics!

Thanks!! I go in for my 6 th surgery in 2 yrs ( 4 in the summer if '07, 1 in the summer of '08 and now the fall of '09) hopefully Ill walk alright and be able to get back to work the way I should.

I got the frame set up now, so after Im back to work I can get the rear end set up and finally get the body back on the car. Itll be a long time coming as I havent been able to get much done in the last year because of money and/or economy issues or because of my health.

Hopefully Ill be fixed up after this and be back to normal. If anything please put a wish or prayer in for me that I do all right after my go under the knife again. I really hope this gets me back to being a normal car guy

Anyways thanks a ton Ill keep you up to date