[sargent]

Hello All,

I just got my new strange ford 9" rear end with 31 spline axles for my 67 Camaro. I put timken A20 bearings on both axles. I then mounted axles in the rear end to measure for some wilwood brakes. My options for brake kits had an axle offset of 2.32" 2.50". I measure my axle offset and they were about 2.65". I thought that was close enough for the brake kit and maybe I could slightly modify something in the future to get them to fit as I knew didn't have the 2.32" version. It turns out the brake kit requires it to be very close to 2.5" as I cannot fit the caliper over the rotor because the hub/rotor sticks out 0.15" too far (2.65" - 2.5"). My bearing is sticking out about an 1/8" which I read is normal so I thought my axles might be a touch too long (I have read many people having this issue) so I trimmed off 1/8". This made no difference to my axle offset. I then measured the inner part of the bearing with where it is suppose to seat on the axle housing (see pics). It seems there is where my length difference is. The inner part of the bearing is much larger then the seating area. My question is did I get the wrong bearing? Any other thoughts on this issue? I am a little confused on how to proceed.

thanks

 

[tp_smith]

The 2.50" brake offset is written in stone. That measurement has to be 2.50 inches if you buy brakes that require a 2.50 brake offset. On my axle, the brake gap was 2.50 inches.

1. One possibility is that the Timkin bearing is not pressed on all the way. On my Currie Cut to Fit Axles, there was a small ridge that was on the axle. The bearing inner race touched the little ridge.

[/url]currie axle 153 by Patrick Smith, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]currie axle 174 by Patrick Smith, on Flickr[/IMG]


2. Another problem could be the Timken bearing is not seated properly in the housing. The outer race should not stick out past its holder. Install some silicon glue between the outer bearing housing and the bearing holder. If you look carefully at mine, you will see my outer bearing race is recessed inside the holder.

[/url]currie axle 187 by Patrick Smith, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]currie axle 205 by Patrick Smith, on Flickr[/IMG]


3. Do you have your rear brakes yet? This problem could go away when you tighten the four bolts that hold the brake assembly to the axle.

 

[sargent]

Hello tp_smith,

I appreciate the detailed reply. Well to keep this reply short I can say that I believe I made a rookie mistake that I recognized thanks to your detailed pictures. My bearing came as one piece (bearing and carrier asssembled) as shown in your first picture. I believe I put in in backward as I have it being tapered into the axle splines. So the carrier part (big part of the taper bearing) is close to the hub and the small part of the tapered bearing is closer to the splines. That made sense to me at the time because the way the steps on the axle flange are designed it would make sense that the smaller end would go first. However, upon reflection, I can see where the carrier is needs to go in first as shown in your very detailed and labeled picture.

 

[tp_smith]

If you are putting a Ford rear end under a Chevy, you are no rookie.

Well that's not good but not the end of the world. You have to remove the bearing and repress it back on the right direction. You got me worried so I found a photo similar to the one I posted. The bearing direction is the same in both photos.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Currie-98132-9-Inch-Ford-Cut-To-Fit-31-Spline-Axle-32-Inch,25079.html

Anybody tells you they never put anything on backwards is lying. I do it all the time.