I've been tossing around the idea for a while. I'm running a fullsize bronco with 38s and I'm mostly on the rocks. I never once broke the stock 8.8, but when I put the 60 up front I put a 10.25 in the rear to match, but that thing is huge.
I was thinking of taking a 9" from a fullsize Ford and adding some high strength 35 spline shafts and making it fullfloater. It seems this would be comparable in strength to a 60 rear and have some great clearance. I've never really had experience with them so I figured I could get some help from you guys.
Oh yeah, you can't search for 9" with the new search engine, but thanks for asking:bounce2:

Well, the front pumpkin typically causes more clearance problems than the rear in my experience. So, I'd go with at least a 60 rear if you're doing a 60 front. Problem I've found with 9" rears in 4wd's is the low pinion. Combine that with a tall lift & you end up with a lot of angle. As a result, I've seen an awful lot of 9" equipped mud trucks with a chunk of pinion dangling from the end of their driveshaft :eek: You can beef the 9", but then it becomes as pricey as a 60 w/o the same durability. Because of that, I'd only use a 9" if you're running a 44 front. At least that way, you'd be getting some benefit from the clearance.

TEX

Yeah but the pumpkins rarely go in exactly the same spot across a rock so having more clearance at any point is usually good. I have heard similar things about the pinion problems, but I'm also not running a high hp mud bogger. It probably would be better to just go with a 60 rear also and then not have to worry about it. Or maybe I'll get a Tera 60 and build from there. Christmas is just around the corner right? If only my girlfriend were that cool :bounce:

given the choice, I would run the 9" over the 60. I currently have one and have had not problems what so ever with it (once WARN got the seal design right). The 9" has more ground clearence than the 60.

The best thing to do is gusset the housing, and put the Noduilar center section and nose cone in. If this is too costly I think you would be better off with the 60. with a regular nosecone and case you will break a lot and have the afore mentioned "parts hanging from the driveshaft" syndrome.

My Wagon weighs 6200lbs and I do not baby it. My FF Nodular 9" has outlasted 2 350+ HP motors, two D44 front ends, lots of driveshafts, two pinion yokes, and a couple trannys. I rock crawl, mud bog, trail ride, daily drive, tow a boat, and ocassionally drive too fast on dirts roads regularly becoming airborn:)....

JMO,
PSD

:usa:

Here is a web site with some good info. I got a 9" with disc brakes out of a 76 lncoln Mark IV, put dynatrack 31 spline axles, (because I didnt want to change the third member to handle the 35's) 4.86 gears, and a detroit locker. I now have 4whl disc and beat the shit out of it with 36 TSL's. By the way I am running a HP 44 up front.

9" compare (http://performanceunlimited.com/illustrations/gears.html)

BlueYJ :cool2:

i say your best bet would be shave the 10.25" rear. they are beefy as hell and you would save time and $$$ if you went this route. why gamble on a 9" being enough? most rear 60's only have the 1.3" 30spline shafts where your 10.25 will already have 1.5" 35 spline shafts. either shave it by grinding the lip off of the bottom of the housing or go all out and cut the bottom of the housing out and welda piece if 1/2" plate to the bottom. you can probably can 1-2" by doing this. it is just my op but i'd rather drag my rear diff around and have to be dragged off the trail cause my rearend wasn't up to the task. :usa:

Good info from everyone, thanks guys.
Yellowsub makes it very tempting to give it a try since his truck is even a little heavier than mine. Since I've only had 1 run on the 10.25 I think I'll have to get some more use out of it before I do anything.
I guess I'm just getting bored because I've finished my truck and need another project. Thanks:beer: