I posted a while back about one of my axle bearings spinning in the housing-end bore and enlarging it.

I'm thinking of going the route of replacing both housing ends.

Since the new ends (for tapered bearings) are shorter than the originals, I imagine the axles would need to be trimmed too.

I'd prefer they are Tig welded back on.

Does anyone have any suggestions who may be able to do the work in the NC, SC, or Virginia area? Thanks.

John

And if anyone has gone this route, how much closer does the wheel get to the springs?

If this were my project, I would chop off both housing ends and order a pair of billet housing ends from Morrison, Moser or Strange and then I would have a 4x4 shop or race shop jig weld the new ends on. The housing ends are easily found for $100.00 or less and most shops in my area will put it together for $150 to $200.00 and then you would have a better than new, straight, perfectly aligned housing at stock width. TIG welding is better left to thin metal projects. A "Dual Shield MIG" machine that uses Argon/CO2 gas and Flux core wire produces a beautiful, strong weld with great penetration.

Hey Pete, John Kunkel and Doctor Diff mentioned in the past that the housing ends are shorter.

I don't know by how much shorter though.

1/2"? 3/4"? 1"? or more? from each side.

I guess for starters, it would be good to know how much is lost with a typical '68 B-body housing cutting the old ends off at the bevel.

Find a 68-70 b housing, it'll be much less $

I'd buy the messed up one from you if you were close.

Moser came out with an American made Tig welded 8-3/4 housing.

They quote a price on their website which includes spring perches, your choice of ends, and a variety of axle packages and extras.

Instead of searching for a used housing, I'm going to call them to see if they sell the housing without the axle package.

I rebuilt my factory axles with Timken bearings, and if I'm not mistaken, I'd need to stick with 30 spline axles anyway since the clutch pack in my rebuilt '742 is such.

Center section is TIG welded together. Axle tubes appear to be MIG welded into center, and the bearing ends MIG welded on.

I called Moser today.

They quoted me $760 for the 8-3/4 housing set up to factory specs.

This includes the housing ends installed which will accept the Timken tapered bearings and seals, the spring perches mounted in the stock location, and heavy duty retainer plates and hardware. The tubes are 3" in diameter and have a 3/16" wall thickness.

I told them I was going to reuse my factory drum brake assembly and axles, which they said will bolt right up, but they did mention that they have around 22 different disc brake options if I was to go that route.

They have options for a back brace and a drain plug too. I might do the drain plug.

I'm going to buy it and save my old housing for a future project.

Thanks for the input!

Moser also replied by e-mail concerning the repair of my original 8-3/4 housing.

That the cost for new housing ends would be $95, plus $150 in labor to cut off the old ones and weld on the new.

If the axles need to be cut and resplined, that would cost an additional $125.