Axle End on FORD 9 inch housing...Replacing the AXLE END...
 Sooner or later you are going to break an axle. I don't care how much moneey
 you spemd on your rear end assembly, you are going to hit, or be hit at the
 exact point of shear and tear off a wheel which will inturn place stress on the
 outer bearing race. The stress will tear into the housing and the axle will come
 loose...then, if no other damage is done, and the axle does not become a weapon
 you are left with a "crunch" on the racing budget. In most all cases like this, your
 "axle end" (shown here) will require replacement.
 Next thing to do is call Mike at Quick Performance. Tell him what happenned and
 let him advise you of your options.
 No matter, it is going to cost money and time.
 If you end up in a situation like this the first thing you must worry about is the
 condition of your axle. No doubt the bearing must be replaced. This is where it
 gets ugly. Most "street stock" racers use the FORD 10 BOLT 9 INCH ford housing
 with a C7AE carrier assemble. These are very strong "pumpkins" and they take
 a pounding. They are available almost at every "bone yard" on the planet and
 Ford made several million. Your axles are 28 spline and if they are modern units
 they use the Timkin A-20 bearing set on the axle end. These are tapered bearings
 with an integral seal. They are held on with external locking plates. Keep a spare
 set of these plates in your tool box at all times. The taper on the A-20 bearing yeilds
 much stronger side loads in turns and decreases chances of axle failure.
 A little more on the A-20 bearing set. These units are are a compound. They come
 packaged in one piece with the retainer. They must be installed as one piece!!
 Now, gather up your parts, and if you require a new axle, have it shipped with
 the A-20 bearings. You will need the correct axle end.
 You can download a detailed axle bearing replacement article here (.PDF).
 Ok, lets say you have to replace the "axle end". There are several steps you must
 remember. You are going to cut off the old end, so take measurements first.
 (a) The measurement from brake caliper bracket to rear side of rotor hat.
 The A-20 axle end is going to be deeper, and stronger than the originals so adjust
 for the amount you cut off. Attach a hose clamp around your axle tube.
 (b) Measure from the hose clamp to the axle end 4 bolt flange.
 You must maintain this measurement. The QP axle ends are longer, and there is good
 reason. You must cut your tube perfectly round and square to the tube end. The QP
 replacement is a chamfer cut at 45 degrees so you can make a clean "butt weld".
 After you have determined exactly where to make your cut, you must decide how to
 complete that cut, and how to make it line up properly.
 
 In our case...we had to replace the "axle end" because someone had shortened the axle
 tube on the right side. The job was terrible and the result was severe bearing wear, the
 loss of two axles over a period of 500 laps and miss-alignment of the caliper...it was
 impossible to replace brake pads, the outside pad was always rubbing on the rotor. Like
 built in brake bias!! Worse than that was the severe strain in the axle gears inside the
 carrier assembly. Using a solid spool to align the axles L-R was impossible. The rear
 gear bind was scrubbing off power...hard to believe the car won races like this!!
 What made this job tougher...we did not want to replace the welded caliper bracket.
 So we had to maintain a very tight cut off the tube and still allow for the incorrect
 caliper alignment to resolve the brake issue. The result was so near-perfect the new
 brake pad variance from right to left was almost exact. The axle rotates with no bind
 what so ever.
 We made the cut using a 7 inch cut off wheel. The ideal way would be a band saw
 with the tube sitting in a jig. If you look close at the image to the left you see how
 close we came to the caliper bracket. Yes we could have cut off the bracket and used an
 AFCO bolt on assembly, but that would have introduced another issue. There is not
 enough clearance between the bracket and the new axle end.
 Ok...you made the cut...is it square to the tube?? This is the essential step. The tube
 must be square. The measurement to the hose clamp on the tube, is it the same when
 you add the length of the new end?? Hold the QP end to the tube, measure again. If you
 miss this measurement, the axle may not engage, or over-engage into the axle gears.
 This is where I used the "locking spool" as an alignment tool.