9 Inch Ford Rear End

[rdobbs]

I have a 9 inch ford rear end in my chevy. I was told that this is one of the toughest rear ends either ford or Gm built. Could someone tell me why this is so. thanks

[musclecarfanatic]

first of all gm never technically built it, it was ford's rear but they stopped producing it and a few car part distributors still make them to this day. the 9inch ford rear is by far the toughest rear out there today, im not totally sure why but i know you can beat the hell outta it and it would still be fine

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by rdobbs

I have a 9 inch ford rear end in my chevy. I was told that this is one of the toughest rear ends either ford or Gm built. Could someone tell me why this is so. thanks

The Ford rear end simply has bigger, stronger gears, bearings and castings than any other passenger car rear end. The oddball Dana 60's that you got in big Chryslers were really strong too, but not as versatile.
Some other advantages: The Fords had bolt in gear carriers, so its easy to swap out the carrier and change gears. Also, the backlash is adjusted by these threaded collars instead of the give-it-a guess-and-see shims like GM.
Fords also had welded stamped steel housings that look bulky but are lighter than the GM and Mopar items.
The only pain is inspecting the gears. Its so easy to take 5 minutes to remove the cover on a GM rear end. Inspecting Ford gears is lots more work.

[SamBlob]

I read somewhere that every Winston Cup racer for the last few years of the series used a 9" Ford rear end, regardless of brand. I wouldn't imagine a Chevy die-hard putting ANY Ford parts on his car unless it was so right that using any GM product would put him at a disadvantage. Or unless it was written into the rules...

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by SamBlob

I read somewhere that every Winston Cup racer for the last few years of the series used a 9" Ford rear end, regardless of brand. I wouldn't imagine a Chevy die-hard putting ANY Ford parts on his car unless it was so right that using any GM product would put him at a disadvantage. ...

I would agree.
The Ford design is so good that there are lots of aftermarket companies making good parts (Strange Engineering, Currie, etc) that you can easily install a "Ford 9 inch" that actually has NO Ford parts in it.