New Enthusiast with ?'s

[SpeedMojo]

I just want to start by saying "Hello" everyone. Just joined. What an awesome place to find guys with knowledge and experience.....(because I have none) =)

I recently bought a 1923 t bucket, unfortunately from a lady who was handling the estate of a man who had just passed away so I have nobody to ask questions to. I drove it about 3 blocks from where it was kept in storage and WHAM.....rear axle stopped spinning. On taking it apart I found that some knucklehead had put in an axle that was too short and did not engage the spider gear. It has a 1967 Equa Loc in a 1967 ford 9 inch rear. From what I can gather, it drove 3 blocks with one axle on the clutch plates alone, burned them up, and then all I could hear was grinding. No broken parts in the center carrier, but the clutch plates were messed up.

Within the next couple of days I'm going to call Randy's Ring and Pinion and have them build me a third member with new traction Loc for the 9 inch and see if they can cut axles for the 58 1/4" rear housing (flange to flange) for the offset. It's much easier for me to keep the original housing because it has all these brackets for suicide suspension and torsion bars, etc. I don't know how to mess with.

Stupid question time: I want to put new disc brakes in the front and rear.
1. With the disc brake kit, do they install on the outstide of the 5 x 4 1/2" bolt pattern axle, increasing the axle length by a couple inches?
2. Do you need longer axles depending on what brakes you use?
3. I think the housing length is already long, can I get new rims with an offset more to the center of the wheel so the wheels don't stick out as far?
4. What kind of disc brakes do you guys recommend?

Thanks for all your patience guys. About two weeks ago I only knew how to change my own oil. Talk about a crash course!!!!! I love this. Gotta start somewhere.
Any feedback would be great.

Mike
Virginia Beach, VA

 

[putz]

Welcome not on brakes but on differential. I personally don't recommend a posi for a first bucket.They are so light and if you get caught in the rain it could spin around.

 

[Screaming Metal]

Hey MOJO! WELCOME! Yep....posi's get really squirrley in light vehicles. On the Altereds that I do alot of work on....they're extremely short wheelbase and have a spool....they try to 'push' going around a corner.

There's alot of knowledgable folks here....we'll try to get you headed in the right direction..... :thinkn:

 

[EX JUNK]

I don't have ANY problems with my car in wet weather with the S 10 rear with an Eaton posi unit. Living in Florida, we can get some really bad "gully washers" during our rainy season which runs from June through September. I have driven mine in a storm that had many drivers pulling off the road but I had ABSOLUTELY no problem with my car's handling. My car has a 108" wheelbase and weighs 1937 pounds with the rear weighing 50 pounds more than the front. I also do not run overly wide tires on the rear. I am running 285/70x15's on 10" rims. I have had many cars with a posi and have never experienced any ill handling problems with them either.

Jim

 

[Hotrod46]

Welcome to the site!

I have a limited slip in my rearend and have to agree with the others about the car having a push in corners.

If Randy's can't help with the axles, there are others that can. Currie and Moser are two. I've delt with Currie's before and had good luck with them.

The disks shouldn't add more than 1/2 to 3/4 inch to the width of the rearend. The most important measurement is the offset from the axle flange to the brake mounting flange on the rearend housing. Currie has some really nice disk setups for 9" rearends.

Mike

 

[Screaming Metal]

To answer your questions.....sometimes you gotta change the length of your axles...sometimes you don't. When going to drums to disc's on the rear....you gotta have a certain amount of'protrusion' past your frange at the end of your axle tube. Its usually about 2 3/8s to 2 3/4s....it just depends on what the setup is....

When you buy a kit....they include that info usually. What I do is take all the innards out, put the rear up on my stand. Put the carrier in with the bearings, slide a axle in.
Now....get your brake kit....put the rotor in the end of the axle, along with the caliper bracket. Next, put on the caliper with the padsd in it...
Next...pull or push your axle in or out os your rotor is centered between you pads in the caliper....this is critical for you brakes to function.....
Now then....take a short strole to the pumpkin....look at where the axle comes thru the side of the carrier....you have to have enough axle to come thru your spider gears and put your c-clips in if its a 10 or 12 bolt....it depends on which rear your running....theres alot of them and within each family...theres a bunch of diff, ring gear configurations....

The Idea is to get it to line back up where it was originnally....cause on a 10 or 12 bolt, you gotta slide your axles out a little....the ciclips fit into a small recess in the inside of the spider gear. Ater both c-clips are installed...you put in your lockpin and tighten it down (that keeps the axle from creeping in and loosing your c-clip and loosing a axle as you go down the road or track).

Now...with the axle in...and the rotor centered....you gotta measure inside there to get the c-clip where it need to be....its just math...adapt and overcome, Young Man!!! Piece-o-cake....

And on Posi units...diff. units will 'ratchet' around a corner differently. A posi unit cna jerk around a corner IF the clutches are too tight. A around a corner with a Detroit Locker...and your definitely hear or feel the other tire scrubbing...especially in a light car. If running a spool....it will definitely get wild...and you'll probably never encounter this cause thats mostly racecar territory.

Hope this gives you a little insight...