How and where to fit a Ford 9" to a 240sx?

Dalardan

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Formula SAE
Hi everyone,

Right now, I'm looking into building a drag 240sx and I'd like to bolt to it a Ford 9" differential unit. I want to do this because there are a lot of ring & pinion possibilities over the 6 to 1 ratio. Does one of you know where I could get help on that?

Thanks,

Dalardan
 
It's not a hugely difficult task to fit it yourself, but you'd need suitable equipment and some welding and fabrication know-how.

Hauser Racecars at one point sold complete 9" & 4 link kits, which essentially come as one unit, that needs welding and bolting into whatever the chassis happens to be.

Website linky here: www.hauserracing.com

Alternatively, there's chassis fabricators all over the country for whom it would be a straightforward job, where abouts are you situated?
 
Thanks, Top Fuel Digger. The Hauser Racecars unit seems interesting, but I'm from Québec, in Canada, and shipping would be really expensive, I guess. I should give them a call.

To adapt a Ford 9", what are the needs? You need to adapt fixtures for the suspension, shorten the axles?

Dalardan
 
Ah, if you're in Canada, it's probably easier and cheaper for you to use a mail order firm like JEG's, who are based in the US and ship across the border with no problems.

In terms of what you'll need, it'll cost in the region of $1.5-2k all in I imagine, but that's for brand new parts, and all of which could be sourced cheaper if they're used.

Aside from the fabrication involved, you'll need to measure total axle width to judge what half shaft size you need. This is as much dependant on the tyre and wheel combination you have, as well as total vehicle width.

The backspacing of the wheels is often missed, and this is quite critical. As the 240sx was never designed for a 9", the half shafts are likely to be custom, but that doesn't make them overly expensive. Mark Williams or Strange offer custom shafts in all lengths, at the same price.

If it were me, I'd get the car jacked up somewhere where you can take lots of photos, and approach a chassis builder in Canada, or even somewhere in the US (there's hundreds, if not thousands, as oppose to the 10 - 20 here in the UK).

The other thing to bear in mind is what suspension setup you plan to use. Leaf springs are cheap, cheerful, but quite hopeless. A 4 link is the best route if you're planning strip time, but again, this involves some fabrication to make it fit. All vehicles are different though, so it's difficult to say specifically what you'd need.
 
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