Ford 9 inch cases whats the differences??

I have a bunch of cookie cutter standard 9 inch cases and one that has 3.062 bearings and has a extra vertical rib down the front by the pinion. It says WAR where all my others say C4AW-B. Is the WAR case a better stronger case? Only other cases I've seen with the extra rib are the nodular cases with the "N" between the vertical ribs on the front. I understand the "N" case is the superior piece. But how much difference is there between the standard cookie cutter case and the WAR case and the "N" case?? I'm trying to decide whether I should just use the WAR case I have or buy a New Ford Racing Nodular case. The application is my 3900 lb. truck which I'm hoping to drop into the sevens in the 1/8 mile this year. Thanks guys.

no, not any stronger. used in the late 50's and early 60's. they did hav the big bearings though. they were cast with the regular cast iron as the standard cases. The N case whether it is stamped N on the front or not were made with a higher nodular iron content.

I have heard that the N's hold up very well but I have never had one. Most aftermarket case's are stronger.

check this out sticky out in chassis tech
http://www.429-460.com/chassis-tech-f3/ford-9-rear-info-great-for-swaps-t2882.htm

I agree, the WAR case may be microscopically better than the stock but not enough to make a difference. Even if I had a stock N case I would sell it to a restoration guy and use a new FMS or aftermarket cased. Any of them are way way better than any of the old stuff.

dkp

The "War" case was used from 1957 to 1964, and has the extra rib like the "N" nodular iron case. Most after market cases use this design for less case distortion. I have heard claims that its both stronger or weaker than the later C7 case with the 1 less rib. I have used both style cases with spools and slicks and not broken either one , so I can't say which is better, but to me the extra rib makes sense.

I use a WAR case for a door stop. I have broken 2 of them. Not as strong as even the single web later cases. Slight differences in the way the cross ribs look, compared to a nodular case. WAR has no "ears" on the larger horizontal web. JMO and experience.

I broke the cap on my N case in my 10 second car, and I just went and bought a Strange street type case for 250 bucks, and it looks twice as strong as the N case was. Pretty cheap insurance. I imagine it would be even cheaper in the US.

I have broken a few 9 inch cases. Never a cap, though. I finally got sick of it and now I'm running one of these:



It's less than 350 bucks, and MAN is it beefy. It looks at least twice as strong as the strange street 9 inch centersection.

That old factory N case stuff just has too many miles and too much abuse after all these years to really be trustworthy IMHO.

Greg

My shit ain't as fast as all your rides but I suppose sooner or later something bad is bound to happen I guess. So right now I just have a C7 case in the truck along with 2 or 3 others and one war case. Guess I'll just dump the war case and see how much the strange or moser or ford racing cases are. Anybody have a preference as to which one of those three are better and why? I doubt I will would ever hurt any of the three but if I'm spending the money I might as well buy the best and only buy it once. I'm assuming any of the three probably need some amount of prep/clearancing too? Thanks for the info.

I'm partial to Strange Products.

dfree383 wrote:I'm partial to Strange Products.

I;m partial to strange women, my bad, I meant rears.

richter69 wrote:Don't even jack with the alum stuff............even Duffy doesn't use them anymore even though they are lighter.

If the car is under say 2800-2700 lbs & someone just had to have an aftermarket aluminum case, the beefy Mark Williams through-bolt aluminum case is the only one to spend money on. But over 3000 lbs it's best to just stick with an aftermarket iron case. Aluminum can sometimes work OK on a heavier car, but you have to keep an eye on gear wear incase anything weird shows up from case/cap flex at the heiver weight.