Thread: New rear axle questions (pics)

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Ok...I got my new axle. Its out of a 2001 Ford Explorer, has Track lock, and is a 4:10 gear. As an added bonus, it even has disc brakes and an emergency brake complete! Now the question....as you can see in the pics below, the center housing is off center (guess I shoulda checked this before buying). I set my driveshaft approx. in the center of the frame and you can see how much its off. Will the universals in the driveshaft compensate for this offset (please say yes ) or do I have to do something else????

I realy don't see why not they did in the Explorer
Is that the width your going to run??

Originally Posted by cffisher

I realy don't see why not they did in the Explorer

Yeah, thats what I was thinking. But not having an explorer to look at, I wasnt sure. I know I have to either buy an adaptor to accept the gm yoke, or put a ford yoke in the driveshaft when I get it shortened. I was hoping the U joints would be ok with this slight angle.

move over the engine to on side or get the long side axle cut down so the the pin is on center. have done this on fords 9 in chevy cars i would not go more than 1 inch i know this works . if the engine is on center. frame looks nice

Most of them are offset to the passenger side somewhat. No problem, either set the engine over somewhat also, or let the u joints take up that mismatch.

Mine are offset too, and I just left them that way.





Don


PS: Yeah, frame does look nice.

yes that will work to . long as the drvie shaft as some shaft to it . you could do all the above ?? move the engine over a bit 1 1/2 and let the drive shaft ujoints take the rest?? off set is 2.3/4 or so on a ford

No problem, mine's the same way, just not as much of a difference, maybe just about 1" off. Keep em parallel though, a difference in the angles can cause a vibration, be sure to check pinion angle too before welding on brackets (like Denny's diagram above)

I don't know the number off hand but they make a U joint to go from GM drive shaft to Ford yoke(pinion)

If you don't want to run the flange unit you can change the pinion yoke to except a U joint.

When I narrow my rears I move the big to the center so not to have offset.

Offset pinions/ yokes are standard for almost all modern rear drive cars - my '57 9" in my '31 is about the same as yours. Set the pinion(~+3deg and engine angles(~-3deg) correctly vertically and forget about the horizontal.

Hey, thanks for all your input guys, I really appreciate it! My chassis is already set up for my motor and trans, so it would be a pain to relocate the mounts. I think I'll go with the general concensis that it'll be ok the way it is. I really dont want to get into narrowing it, that's the main reason I went with this axle. It's only 54 inches from b plate to b plate so the most I will have to do is a little bigger offset on my wheels. But I'll proly get away with only a standard 4.5" backspace on the 15x14 wheels I plan on getting.

My new tires just came VIA fedex as I was typing this.....Man these things are HUGE!!! (33x19.50x15) I'll get some pics tommorrow....Thanks again!!