Another 9 inch question for the experts
 

I just picked up a 9 inch rear end in awesome shape for basically free and have some questions. I've determined that it came out of a later 70's F-100, so it's longer than I need, but has 31 spline axles. This will be for my non-tubbed 67 Firebird. The tag on the 9 inch reads WDM-CK
Here are my questions

1: What should I narrow to? Should I go to stock Firebird width ( I think it's 1" wider than the Camaro)? Should I go stock Camaro width? Or should I go shorter than stock?

2: I will be running disc brakes, does this make a difference?

Any general pointers/suggestions?

Thanks :lateral: :cheers: :woot:

I would cut it to the stock length for that year model Firebird. Whatever that length is.

Would I be o.k with finding wheels with the backspacing I would need? I'm just curious if more options were available if I did the Camaro width.

Thanks :D

The stock camaro width might be wrong for the wheels you choose. The width of the axle can be affected by backspacing if you going with a non custom made wheel. The more issues you leave unplanned for the more chance you have of something going wrong. The decision to make now is what kind of wheel are you going to run and what size will it be. If your running say custom Budnik wheels you can compensate with infinite backspace. If your running American racing wheels that only come in a few backspaces, you better plan now. I try to make the front and rear outside spacing the same front and rear,( just a preference ) so I measure out the front wheels to know how to wide to order the rear axle.

Good luck

Thanks for the help. It's hard to figure out the "right way" sometimes. I've heard people say to narrow first, then measure for wheels, but it seems that you would need to have some sort of size in mind first. This is not a high dollar build; 99.9% will be done in my garage, including paint. I will almost definately have to go with a wheel like American Racing or similar. I want to run as wide as possible with the stock tubs. I've seen 18" wheels with 285 tires (SpiffaV8:thumbsup: ), so I want something like that.

Thanks again, Lateral-g rules :cheers:

And those are words that every car builder should have ingrained in their eyelids. I wish I did. I go forward sometimes without a proper plan. Big time mistake. And I have paid, in money and time. Re-working something that should have been planned out ahead of time.

My problem was money and a lack of vision. I would tackle a sub-system just to get it all done then change my mind because I realized I could do a better job by doing a complete job instead of piece mealing it. But.... Thats the hazards of taking a project that should have taken a year to 15 years and still working.

Ok, for the rear end housing width. The wheel are the starting point. Yeah, it sounds kinda backwards. But now looking back I would build my car from the wheels up. I kinda got lucky, I was shooting in the dark when I ordered the housing. I took it down 1.5" on each side (3" total) from stock. I would have liked to narrow it by another .5" on each side. So I ended up having to use a custom back spacing. I prolly would have gone with these wheels anyway. But a half an inch less on the housing still woulda been nice. JR