9 inch Ford Gear, I bought a Speedway Motors gear but I had to Fix it before I could trust it!

In this episode I am showing a brand new 9 inch ford gear purchased from speedway motors. I did not have another housing and spool to build the gear I needed for Rachel to run so I bought the entire built unit from Speedway Motors. The unit was not set up correctly in my opinion and in this video I am showing you what I found and what I did to correct the unit and get it ready for use in our Factory Stock Leaf Spring Camaro.
Dirt Race Life is all about grass roots Dirt Track Racing both the technical how to and the at track action with us focusing on Street Stock Racing like CRUSA SS, Factory Stock, Pure Street, Stock, Etc.
You can join this channel and become a Dirt Race Life Sponsor@ / @dirtracelife
Find us on FaceBook @ DirtRaceLife
And check out our website@ www.dirtracelife.com

[@patricklangley7516]

Jason thank you for the video. I have often wondered how precise buying something complete really is such as 3rd members or engines. Yall take care

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

Glad you enjoyed it Patrick.

[@regdor8187]

Wow, Like this format, thanks !!

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

yes sir, Thank you!

[@hallpa00]

Great video - this is really useful for the racing community. We bought a speedway section like yours and ran it on pavement circle track. It ran really hot, probably due to excessive preload like you found. Wish I would have done the disassembly and pre-inspection like you did!

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

Thank you for the feedback but yeah I hate that you had some challenges with yours as well.

[@shannoncollins16]

Your weight loss is dramatic, you're jacked now haha. Good job in and out of the shop man.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

Working hard at it. Hell, if I keep blowing Power steering pumps I have to be able to crank on the steering wheel 😆

[@DanielBrickert77]

Ok, so I've been wanting to say something but wasn't sure if it was proper. I've been noticing the weight loss myself. Looking good bud.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

After I had my shoulder put back together, I was able to start heavy lifting again and slowly have worked my way back into it. I typically do 30 minutes hard cardio (typically jog up stairs or do incline treadmill at 15 degrees) and then heavy lift for another hour, 2 to 3 times a week.

[@CherezianRacing]

Noticing all the details!

[@flying71jd]

My new one from speedway is leaking out of the yoke, Sitting in the shop it just leak all the oil out onto the floor. I did not go through it like you did. In a hurry to practice the car and not a rear end guy. I think I have learn from you enough to do my own now. Thanks for the heads up and great vids.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I would absolutely yank that yoke, check for the splash washer, and then throw a new seal in it. Hopefully it's just the same craziness I found of them leaving the seal dry and ruining it...

[@jonbarnett6132]

You missed the one thing i was waiting for- the pinion preload difference between seal and no seal. You did mention it can be an issue, then didn't actually show us while you had the opportunity. Other than that, great video.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

Sorry for that but it was kinda on purpose :( I have seen it vary so much depending on type of seal, grease, new yoke versus used, etc that I did not want to show what this one was. If people just saw me say it added 10 in/lbs for example I was concerned folks would just take that number and run with it and now I am hurting people instead of helping. I've seen them be 2 in/lbs to 15in/lbs so I was trying to convince folks to not guess at it.

[@jonell82]

Jason, how many nights will you run between a diff fluid change? Thanks for all the great tips and info!

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I like to run a few nights on it when its brand new (like 2 good nights), and then change it and at that point I will run the rest of a season. I suppose my max is probably 10 races. Honestly, I see some initial material from breaking it in but then once a gear is run in I never see deterioration of the gear oil. It looks the exact same after many runs. Part of that success is getting it setup right to start with! 👌

[@CherezianRacing]

Nice jason. To tell you the truth ive never ran an oil slinger washer, and never had an issue with a pinion seal leak. Thats just me though!

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I think it one of those things where if the seal is right then it can likely manage without it but the slinger washer is a design feature Ford installed and I am very sure it does have a positive impact. I think of it like this. Most cars are only turning 1500 to 3000 rpm on that pinion everyday but we are cranking 6 to 7k twice everylap and also running more gear oil in the unit. That gear oil is getting shoved at that seal really hard without the washer there deflecting some of it so having it in place as Ford intended is helpful.

[@CherezianRacing]

@@DIRTRACELIFE no it totally makes sense. Ill be installing them from now on. Im just surprised ive never had a pinion seal leak all these years of not running them.

[@coxracingchassis]

You need to make sure your bearings have lube on them when you ck preload. Makes a big difference

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I was very surprised when I saw those bearings were perfectly dry. So how did they set the gear up? Or did they . .. .

[@JamesDedmon]

Well that is why I use my local guy. We run truck housings and have lots less dollars in the gear sets

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

i'm with you,as long as I have a spare big bearing housing as a donor that has good bearings then at that point its $325 (150 for gear and 150 for spool and 25 for spacers and shims). it goes to 400 when you have to replace all the bearings and then if you have to buy a housing or are giving more than 100 for a donor.. well thats when I think its time to look at complete assemblies.

[@JamesDedmon]

@@DIRTRACELIFE I’m not sure where you order your spools, usually Quick Performance has them for $75. That’s where I order my spools, so for less than $200 I have the gear and spool. So I use truck housings, most time I have $50 in the housing. I have a local guy who builds my gear sets, usually I have around $400 in the 3rd members, providing it’s a standard ratio

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

thats some great prices James.

[@cruisercrap]

Having just gone through a return/exchange with Speedway, I must say the customer support was fantastic. I'll have to go thru the replacement when it arrives. I feel the one I returned was built on a Friday. Also, Question - what gear oil do you like? This is for a street mustang with T5Z 5 speed, and 351C engine.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

Glad you got good service. For me I like traditional GL5 rated petroleum based gear oil. My preferred viscosity is the 75w80. There is likely a small gain by going with some super thin lightweight oil but the problem I see is the bearings and the helical cut mesh backlash measurements were all designed around oil that is expected to be between 75 and 90 weight. I want to avoid premature failure just because I messed around with the oil.

[@cruisercrap]

@@DIRTRACELIFE - FYI, Speedway sent me oil along with the Diff, Penn Grade 80W90 GL5. They do say this on the instruction sheet: "WARNING: NEVER use synthetic blends, or generic store brand oil. use only quality brand name 85-140 weight gear oil, such as Torco, Kendal or Valvoline." 😆

[@danwilder4553]

Watched this an hour after ordering mine, checked it and it's just 28 inch pounds. Considering checking for the washer...

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I was surprised but glad I checked.

[@WeAUTOKnowDriggs]

Question for you.... Did it actually ship from speedway motors, or does tracking show it shipped from Ankeny Iowa? SCS fabrication in Ankeny has built 9" housings and gears for speedway for many years.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

i checked and it came out of the Lincoln NB location.

[@philipchesser8889]

That number he was get 40-50 wouldn't that drop a little after a couple of runs or drives.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

It won't drop much and will be cooking everything right off the bat. Yes, it does drop but not near enough to leave that.

[@alb9173]

I bought one from Speedway 6 years ago, exact same issues you had. Too tight and no loctite on the pinion bolts.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I was hoping this was rare, but a couple guys are chiming in saying similar findings....

[@dannylane1441]

Jason, that rear end gear was a Friday assembly. Lol

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

hopefully thats all it was and its not the norm 😀

[@34motorsports22]

Hard to beat Quick Performance. Thats only place i buy from.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

They did a beautiful job on the floater rear-end housing I bought for the crush.

[@fishydubsfishing6516]

Well I would say that was probably assembled in Mexico or China I'm surprise you didn't find any refried beans or some grains of rice in between the Gearing

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I'm guessing everything is made in China but the gear shop at their Lincoln NB facility is doing the assembly. That's a guess, though.

[@ChrisS-oo6fl]

Comes from China. It’s not too incredibly difficult to find the supplier if you try hard enough. The original MFG price is insanely cheap.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

I wanted to know and now I do but yeah I could have spent a but more here and there and built a higher quality gear using better components doing it myself.

[@ChrisS-oo6fl]

You can find just the housings and ring gear sets as well. I’m guessing shipping would be insane at the moment on just a few units. Housings will probably have speedway in the casting though. The actual 9” floater housings are so cheap it’s mind blowing. Before Covid The mfg for the iconic ($1,200) Barnes 5 stage oil pumps offered to sell me a sample pump for $80. It’s just crazy. I ordered 4 kill switches for under $18 from the same mfg as quiccar. Also ordered collapsible steering shaft under $65 and adjustable roller bearing throttle pedal (gold) for $50. All from China. If you ask, Some sellers will throw them on a private auction so you can skip customs fees, etc. I only had one sale go bad and that was 4 complete 5x5 winter style hubs for $175 that went missing in transit.

[@genehansen4244]

You paid for this ready to be installed and nothing is right, having to tear the whole thing down would have enraged me to say the slightest. I would be calling and ripping the A$$! Complete bullshit. Sorry that happened.

[@DIRTRACELIFE]

Well, I felt like it was a good project since I needed a gear and didn't have another donor carrier ready. I tried to just present what I found while being impartial. I'm glad I did it and it's not a big deal for me to fix but yeah I think this would have leaked gear oil out the pinion seal pretty quick if left as is. 😕