I gave up on finding a 9 inch of the right width. There were some trucks
out there with the right width, but they had the ford 5 on 5 bolt
pattern. I heard that there was a Chrysler E body had a width in the
right range. The Chrysler 8 3/4 is also uber strong and has a drop out
centersection.
I was at a large swap meet measuring every rear axle in sight. One
turned out to be the right width, and as luck would have it, it was a 8
3/4 inch Chrysler. The owner claimed it used to be in a 1970 Challenger.
That was not an E body, but that doesn't matter. There are some Chrysler
products out there with the right size rear end. For 100 bucks, I got a
complete axle, drum to drum. It needed new cylinders and shoes. It had a
2.91 gear and no posi. For 100 more bucks at another swap meet, I found
3.55 gears in a non posi centersection. The brakes on this thing are
large, I think 11 inch by 2.25 wide. The back of the case is also
smooth, like the famous (and hard to find) 1957 Ford 9 inch. Legend has
it that the 8 3/4 is stronger than the 9 inch as well.
Another interesting option would be the Ford 8.8 inch. Most (all?) had
disk brakes. You can find them on Crown Victorias and Explorers for
sure. Some of the Mustangs may also have them. The CV ones are too wide,
at about 63 inches. The explorer ones might come in about right.
Either the Ford or Chrysler axle will have a 5 on 4.5 inch bolt circle.
If you go with the Mustang II setup, you can probably get the disks to
be drilled to whatever you want. I am running a Camaro clip, so they
don't match. I like steel wheels, so I got the dual bolt pattern ones.
Since the widths worked out well, I have the same type of wheel on each
corner.
There are a lot of Chevy 10 bolts out there that are the right width. If
you don't abuse it, and don't want a drop out centersection, these
should be fine. 12 bolts exist, but are harder to find.
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