I have a chance to buy a 9" that has disc brakes with 35 spline axels but no third member. my question is how does the 9" compare to say a toy rear or a d44 in strength. i'm going to full width axels and i think that this would be a good swap since it alredy has disks and 35 spline axels. any input will be of help. thanks

Stronger than d44 and toy, especially with the 35 spline axles. You could pick up a center section cheap, and ad gears/spool for it and be off and running. If nothing else you could sell it to some race car builder down the road.

thats a 1000 dollar third member no matter how you look at it and probably more then that but it still kicks ass :D

the third isnt a problem, i have a friend that has one for $100 just add gears and a spool and i will probably still be under a thousand

that's a good deal. the problem with the 9" is that the pinion is so low that you'll hit the driveshaft/ujoints on the rocks a fair bit more.

- jack

Originally posted by rockrunner64
the third isnt a problem, i have a friend that has one for $100 just add gears and a spool and i will probably still be under a thousand i bet you havent figured it all out yet. your friends case hase to have a carrier brng bore of 3.250 to make your plan work for less then a G :D

2 main drawbacks to 9s offroad...1 low pinion, 2 sheetmetal housing...Thats if its not the small bearing, then I would avoid it altogether...

I run a 31-spline 9" in the rear of mine. Axle shafts are comparable to D44 or Toyota, pinion & carrier are quite a bit larger than Toyota. If you have 35-spline, it's bigger still. The low pinion does hang up a bit but I've blown up too many 8" Toyotas not to need some improvement and the 9" came to me cheaply. As far as a sheet metal housing, it is no thinner than the stock Toyota; I've never damaged either.

email badassjeepguy, he just put a spool in his 9" and I think he may sell his old, still good, detroit

btw it's 35 spline

i've been running a 9 inch in my toy for over 10 years switched to 35 spline and currie hi-pinion center 2 years ago so no more d-shaft problems. Without the hi-pinion i did take out several d-shafts and u-joints

What Gearman is trying to tell you is that there are two 9" center castings. one is the std ford with small bearings which can only accept up to 31 spline shafts. the other is an aftermarket only (read expensive) casting that has the 3.25" bearings.

YOU CAN ONLY RUN 35 SPLINE SHAFTS IN THE AFTERMARKET CASTING.

the big bearing casting sells for about $1000-1300 bare. that means by the time you have a 3rd that will work with those 35sp shafts you will have invested over $1500

You could probably buy front and rear Dana 60s for that price. a front 60 typically goes for $600-1200 used.

If you don't get a 3rd member that fits the 3.25" bearings, the 9" is hardly worth it.

9"s are a dime-a-dozen, go for the 31 spline one out of a bronco or truck.

A call to Dutchman, Currie, Moser, or Strange Engineering would be well worth your time before you spend your hard earned dollars.

I'm buildign one now. You'll need a nodualr third member to run the 35 spline, which is $$$ as gearman said. I'm having Jess make me a 1 ton driveline, using NASCAR yokes, to add some strength for when it hits rocks. I'm running a spool and 5.43's after burning up 2 gearsets and 2 spools in my toy V6 housing. Just as strong as a 60 w/ better clearance.

Is that 9" 6 lug or 5?

redrilled to 6, using metric studs, so I can keep the same lug nuts on all 4's

The low pinion blows big time. The first trip out with the 9" I twisted my drive shaft in two and got a few nice dents in it. You can see where the yoke was grinding on the rocks.

http://www.gcbconsulting.com/albums/album08/d_shaft.jpg

Now im no expert but why could you not line bore the third member carrier support to accept the bigger bearings?

What's the typical going rate for a junkyard 9"? My roomate picked one up complete for $150, out of a 70's something Ford truck. We just installed it on his YJ a couple weeks ago.

Gearman where did you get your prices for a 9 inch third?? Strange enginnering sells a nodular 3.250 third for 379.95 from summit racing.

Originally posted by TrailRunner
Gearman where did you get your prices for a 9 inch third?? Strange enginnering sells a nodular 3.250 third for 379.95 from summit racing. thats just the dropout not the spool, gears, or bearings, or yoke, or pinion support, or labor to put it together.so where am i off on my price if anything im still to low a a G

Originally posted by XJEric
The low pinion blows big time. The first trip out with the 9" I twisted my drive shaft in two and got a few nice dents in it. You can see where the yoke was grinding on the rocks.

http://www.gcbconsulting.com/albums/album08/d_shaft.jpg

That wasn't a one ton High Angle driveline was it??????????

No, that's a 14 year old stock part :D

i have read a few places that axle shaft sizes are the same. personally i dont see that upgrading is a big deal. there are plenty of companies that make disc conversions. unless you running an engine with a bunch of power i think you should be ok. plus keeping everthing toyota make for a simpler life in the event of a trail fix.