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Stupid question I'm sure, but why not ford 9"

shady

shady

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I actually have a couple of dumb questions and I feel like a total newb (which I am) asking but,

Besides the blastphemy why dosen't anyone run ford 9" rearends? I know you can also get reverse rotation gears and use them in frontends. plus there seems to be a billion things available for them and they obviously take lots of abuse. ????

and

Why does everyone want hummer wheels? I've noticed alot of people want or have them, is it a looks thing or ...?

Just been wondering these things and figured I'd drive myself mad if I didn't find out:rolleyes:
 
shady said:
I actually have a couple of dumb questions and I feel like a total newb (which I am) asking but,

Besides the blastphemy why dosen't anyone run ford 9" rearends? I know you can also get reverse rotation gears and use them in frontends. plus there seems to be a billion things available for them and they obviously take lots of abuse. ????

and

Why does everyone want hummer wheels? I've noticed alot of people want or have them, is it a looks thing or ...?

Just been wondering these things and figured I'd drive myself mad if I didn't find out:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well plenty of people running 9" axles in all kind of stock and aftermarket axles, some are running front and rear 9" made by Currie.
It's the cost that stops people.
As for Hummer wheels, if they are the H1, it's because of the beadlocks, as for the H2, I guess it's a looks thing plus they come in 17" which is the new thing now wit h lots of off road tires.
 
iirc, ktmoutfront runs a 9 out back...

the other aspect of the H2's is they can be had on the cheap usually cuz people ditch em to run blingin 22"s... yo....
 
In all reality the 9" is not really a junkyard axle anymore. Kind of hard to find in truck width. While it is very strong for street applications go much above a 37 without a very strong center section and you will start breaking things, mostly the center section, I have even seen the nodular iron chunks break.

Along the same lines why not a Chrysler 9.25 for rigs who never plan on more than 4.56s it is an insanely strong half ton rear axle.

For my Jimmy I am looking for either a 14 bolt SF 6 lug but if one of those 9.25s fall in my lap I will use it in a heartbeat
 
Basically because they didn't come under a Chevy, 14 bolts are a direct swap and 9's are far from it.

On top of that, you can throw lots of money at one with 35/40 spline shafts etc but that locker can never get any bigger and still has to fit inside a 9" ring gear. 9's are pretty common in competition rock crawling stuff but so are 9" carrier failures (ARB's etc, again, because the ring and pinion and shafts are strong but the carrier can't get any bigger/better).

And basically because the stock 9" isn't that awesome. It is a good rear end with endless aftermarket support, but it's far from the bolt in $150 bulletproof rear end that the 14 bolt is.
 
IMO more people aren't running the ford 9" simply because of it being 5lug. While it isn't terribly difficult or expensive to make it 6 lug, it is still cheaper/easier for most to just use a 14sf or 14ff. I had weighed out the pro's and con's of each years ago and ended up just going the 14ff route. If you are willing to put in the effort of making it 6 lug (or making the front 5 lug) it is definately a stout axle.

A good friend just welded the stud holes closed and redrilled to 6 on 5.5, and welded brackets straight to the tubes for calipers and ran stock toyota 4x4 calipers/rotors at both ends of his race truck. Total investment into conversion was roughly $100.
 
Cool. I kind of thought read something on here about the h1's having the beadlocks, but I wasn't sure. As far as cost goes on the 9"s. I've seen alot of money put in the 14bolt and 60s also. They are probably stronger off the factory line but if you was to build one... seems to me like putting a little more money in them and having a High pinion 9" center with d60 knuckles would take any thing ya threw at it. Either way I'LL never be able to afford 'em so it'll be d60/14bolt for me too most likely.
Thank you for the reply, my mind can rest a little now:D
 
I saw a post on here where a guy put bronco front rotors directly on the spindles of the d44 front and they work perfectly. that would solve the 5 bolt thing. still 8 bolts do sound stronger. how many still have the 6 bolts on theres? most seem to go 3/4 or 1 ton.
 
shady said:
Cool. I kind of thought read something on here about the h1's having the beadlocks, but I wasn't sure. As far as cost goes on the 9"s. I've seen alot of money put in the 14bolt and 60s also. They are probably stronger off the factory line but if you was to build one... seems to me like putting a little more money in them and having a High pinion 9" center with d60 knuckles would take any thing ya threw at it. Either way I'LL never be able to afford 'em so it'll be d60/14bolt for me too most likely.
Thank you for the reply, my mind can rest a little now:D
Click to expand...

There are lots of custom axles like you mentionned with either D60 outers or even Mog outers.
Again custom costs money, stock parts are always cheaper.
By the way someone mentionned five lug, I know there were 8 lug 9" rear ends too weren't there?
 
38377k5 said:
Basically because they didn't come under a Chevy, 14 bolts are a direct swap and 9's are far from it.

On top of that, you can throw lots of money at one with 35/40 spline shafts etc but that locker can never get any bigger and still has to fit inside a 9" ring gear. 9's are pretty common in competition rock crawling stuff but so are 9" carrier failures (ARB's etc, again, because the ring and pinion and shafts are strong but the carrier can't get any bigger/better).

And basically because the stock 9" isn't that awesome. It is a good rear end with endless aftermarket support, but it's far from the bolt in $150 bulletproof rear end that the 14 bolt is.
Click to expand...
$150 for a 14 bolt?? Around here I can't seem to find one for less than $500-800. Big mudbog scene around here. Every body snags every thing they can get. Bad part is there most likely snaggin the shafts out of em and scrappin the rest.
 
I don't think there was ever an 8 lug 9".

They were all 5 lug.

You can also swap outers from a Dodge D44 to get 5x5.5 bolt pattern.

The 9 inch in its stock form with big tires tend to bend fairly easy though.

A custom 9" would be a bitchen front end but the money you have into one of those starts at 3k (I have priced them) can go all the way to above 6k.

Seriously though for a stout rear end as long as you don't want to gear deeper than 4.56 the chrysler 9.25 is a great choice. I would put it up against a rear 60 any day of the week. You would have to run spacers to get the 6 bolt pattern but that would widen the rear of the truck out and make it look cooler anyway
 
imiceman44 said:
There are lots of custom axles like you mentionned with either D60 outers or even Mog outers.
Again custom costs money, stock parts are always cheaper.
By the way someone mentionned five lug, I know there were 8 lug 9" rear ends too weren't there?
Click to expand...

Ford 9" only came in 5 lug configuration.
 
shady said:
$150 for a 14 bolt?? Around here I can't seem to find one for less than $500-800. Big mudbog scene around here. Every body snags every thing they can get. Bad part is there most likely snaggin the shafts out of em and scrappin the rest.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.....why would people need spare shafts for a "bulletproof" rear end? :whistle:

The simple answer on the Ford 9" is that it's a pretty big financial commitment for a k5 application, and the 14BFF is a much cheaper, bolt-in upgrade with a huge strength increase over stock 10 or 12 bolt axles.

That being said, the 9" has some awesome gear ratio options (down to as low as 2.48:1) which is really useful for guys doing portal axle builds :wink1:


:usaflag:
 
blazinzuk said:
You would have to run spacers to get the 6 bolt pattern but that would widen the rear of the truck out and make it look cooler anyway
Click to expand...
Good luck with a 5-lug to 6-lug (or 8-lug) spacer. You can adapt the bolt circle diameter with a spacer/adapter, but not the number of bolts. Draw it out on a piece of paper and you'll see that some of the holes from one pattern will always interfere with some from another.

I think fill and re-drill would be the answer.
 
shady said:
$150 for a 14 bolt?? Around here I can't seem to find one for less than $500-800. Big mudbog scene around here. Every body snags every thing they can get. Bad part is there most likely snaggin the shafts out of em and scrappin the rest.
Click to expand...
You are in prime farm truck land...how can you not find a cheap 14 bolt? Heck, a pair of 3/4 tons can be had up here for $1-200 all day. Maybe time to make a short drive up to WI or MN?
 
I was in west central Mn and there was more old chevy trucks sitting around than you could ever imagine.

I got a 3/4 ton rolling frame for $100 delivered.
 
Blue85 said:
Good luck with a 5-lug to 6-lug (or 8-lug) spacer. You can adapt the bolt circle diameter with a spacer/adapter, but not the number of bolts. Draw it out on a piece of paper and you'll see that some of the holes from one pattern will always interfere with some from another.

I think fill and re-drill would be the answer.
Click to expand...

http://adaptitusa.com/index.aspx They have just about every adapter out there including a 5x5.5 to a 6x5.5

You will never find a 5 lug to 8 lug adapter it has to do with liability though. Weight capacity and the such. But I have seen them made
 
What part of Iowa are you in??? 14bff are all over here in Nebraska.

Martin
 
JeffsJeep04 said:
You are in prime farm truck land...how can you not find a cheap 14 bolt? Heck, a pair of 3/4 tons can be had up here for $1-200 all day. Maybe time to make a short drive up to WI or MN?
Click to expand...
Unfortunetly I'm in prime farm boy land to. Nothing to do here but get drunk and break $h!t. Unfortunetly I dont know any of them. I'm sure I'll stumble across a set some day. Right now all I can find lying around dead rusted is FORDS;)

82355,
I'm on the other side of the state entirely. As far east as you can go in clinton. We're Iowas nipple.
 
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