Ford 9" experts please come in

[Van B]

I had a local fabricator build a 9" housing for me when he installed my Ride Tech 4 link a couple of years ago. My question centers around the axle bearings. At the axle housing ends he used my existing Baer caliper mounting bracket as a bearing retainer. Between the retainer and the housing ends he put spacers measuring .200 or thereabouts. With it assembled this way, there was .040-.060 of movement when you pushed the axle in and out. This probably explains my brake knockback with floating calipers.

Without those spacers there is very little movement, but I am concerned about how much pressure can be put on the tapered roller bearing. There is a small gap between the bearing retainer and the housing end. Is this normal or acceptable? I have attached a picture with it assembled and with the bearing retainer/caliper bracket out of the way. The assembled photo was taken before the spacers were removed. The gap is slightly smaller without them.



Your input is appreciated.