Cadflat Bead Roller Project.

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Postby Oddbod » Fri Jan 11, 2019 3:34 am

Well flying solo, has not worked out for me with respect to programming my VFD unit, so I have sought help from another more specific Forum.

I am being well looked after there right now, but there just seems to be a bug that we have not discovered yet which is causing several malfunctions or sorts.

Here is hoping the guys on that forum will be patient enough get me thru it soon.

For fear of this thread becoming boring while I sort out my VFD controller problems, here are a couple of pic's of my Ford 9" diff straightening and narrowing jig.
So far I have only compiled the alignment bar and control points that indicate whether the housing is straight.
The next step is to make up a stand where the housing can be held and jacked at certain points to get the straight alignment back.

This stand will also be used to hold the housing when cut and narrowed and welded back into its new width.
Again the alignment bar and centers indicate whether the exercise has been successful by showing that all is true and in line...
Tricky business.

I may venture later to building a support jig which allows me to transfer brackets from a different make and model diff and then weld them accurately onto a Ford 9" diff.
The Ford 9" diff is a very common choice as an alternative these days particularly because it handle additional HP well and has many ratio options as well as brake options and axle lengths.

This should keep me off the streets for a while now... :violin:
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Postby Esteban » Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:42 am

Oddbod wrote:...
For fear of this thread becoming boring while I sort out my VFD controller problems, here are a couple of pic's of my Ford 9" diff straightening and narrowing jig...


Very interesting and entertaining. It looks that you don't shy away of any difficult situation.

This reminded me of a bent rear axle housing on a 72 Patrol that my brother in law was servicing from time to time. After one of the rear axles had broken a second time in a matter of weeks, with the owner assuring that he had not done anything odd with the Patrol, they decided to check for a bent housing at a machine shop, and it was effectively out of alignment. They sourced a used housing and it was good to go again.
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Postby Oddbod » Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:16 pm

Thanks Esteban.
I was given an old Ford F100 bent housing which is pretty bad and figured this could be the opportunity to use more stuff out of my junk stash to build/copy a set of items that will allow me first to assess how straight it is.
The center alignment bar remains in the housing during straightening and the end of the bar acts as a indicator as to improvement of straightness during jacking.

I find this stuff interesting and challenging, as I have no machining training and have gradually taken on more difficult tasks that require a greater degree of accuracy.

Hence I am very slow at what I do and sometimes go the long way around and have spent way too many hours standing in front of a lathe achieving small steps.
My lathe is a small locally build pre-WWII unit, which I acquired because it was small and fitted into my workshop space and knowing that I did not have the skills or possibly even the motivation in the early days to make much use of it needed to be low priced.

Once I have this diff straight, I was considering narrowing it as a next step, to a size that is much more sought after, which would then make it more valuable and if sold would help cover my setup costs.

I already have a buddy wanting to use the narrowing capability as well, so owning this unit helps increase ones circle of friends- hahahaha!!!
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Postby Oddbod » Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:21 pm

Jig like this for bracket transfer. :)
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Postby Oddbod » Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:20 am

I finished assembling all the items for doing diff housing straightening, he is a sneak peek. :shhh: :shhh: :shhh:
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Postby Oddbod » Mon Jan 14, 2019 6:22 pm

The diff was chained down and straightened within 30 minutes.
The main bent issue required a little heat to get it to relax enough to reset it back to the correct alignment.
It was bent pretty bad, over 1" out of alignment at the wheel bearing position.
It was then noted that the other end also required a very minor jacking which did not require any heat to correct.

Concerned about the accuracy of my unit, I took another Ford 9" diff which had been repaired and straightened professionally and set it up with my alignment tools to see if I was any where close.
I was satisfied to discover that it was also true with my alignment tool and was perfect, so I take tow things from this exercise;
Firstly, that my straightening works works as anticipated,
Secondly, that my alignment tool is true and accurate.
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Postby mad4hws » Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:40 pm

so, if I happen to be in Australia and bend my axle, I know where to go to get it fixed! Its a great feeling when all of the time an effort that you invest is rewarded with good results. Nicely done!
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Postby Esteban » Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:19 am

Very entertaining to follow this, and to learn something along the way. The photos tell a lot and are a perfect complement to your descriptions.

You talked about narrowing the housing. In that case do you also shorten the axles and then machine the splines, or is there an aftermarket source for them? Just curious.
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Postby Oddbod » Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:46 pm

mad4hws wrote:so, if I happen to be in Australia and bend my axle, I know where to go to get it fixed! Its a great feeling when all of the time an effort that you invest is rewarded with good results. Nicely done!


Sure, come on down any time.
I'm sure we have some rough terrain to test any axle housings.
It looks simple but I did spend a lot of time doing precise measurement, because a 1mm out in the center transfer to a lot more out at the end.
I am no machinist and hence every step of the way has been fraught with challenges and fear of damaging my material and then needing to repurchase.

I am really happy with the results and thanks for your interest and comments.
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Postby Oddbod » Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:55 pm

Esteban wrote:Very entertaining to follow this, and to learn something along the way. The photos tell a lot and are a perfect complement to your descriptions.

You talked about narrowing the housing. In that case do you also shorten the axles and then machine the splines, or is there an aftermarket source for them? Just curious.


Esteban, there are several ways to come up with axles to suit.
Since we are dealing with Ford 9" differential components, they are generally plentiful and available from numerous sources, new or used.
Since these Ford diffs were used in many applications there are many axle lengths to choose from.

It is only my intention to ever use axle lengths that are OEM sizes, but custom lengths and re-splined options also exist.
I work on the principle to decided on a diff width and then seek existing axles to come somewhere close to my determined O/A width.
It is quite common for guys to seek a matching short axle or a pair of long axles to match what they already have so only one additional axle needs to be purchased.

Similarly with Ford 9" components many crown wheel ratios are easily available from approx 2.75:1 thru to 5.80:1 from memory, so a huge range to choose from for doing high speed runs at Bonneville to rock crawling in the Rocky's.

Thanks to you guys for tolerating my slightly off topic stuff...
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