I'm looking for a 9" rear end and drive shaft for a 55 Fairlane with a T85 OD setup  with 16 coarse spline output shaft.

Denny;
I'm not quite sure what you are looking for. 9" rear ends didn't come out until 1957. If you have a stock, 1955 rear end, a 9" center section will not bolt up. I have a stock driveshaft that came out of my wife's 56 Ranch wagon with stock Fordomatic and stock rear end I will sell for $20.00 plus shipping if interested.

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

The 1957 & 1958 Ford car rear end housings are direct bolt-ins in the 1955/1956 Fords.  The U-Joints are a different design and with the 9” third-member yoke being more forward requires the driveshaft to be appropriately shorter.  The 1959 rear end housing is the same width as the ’57-’58 housings but the spring perches are slightly more outboard which you would have to correct if not wanting the springs to be bowed slightly outward in which to make it work without modifications to the perches.
 
Having to shorten an existing driveshaft and installing the appropriate U-Joint ends is what I end up doing in many non-factory swaps or where the correct length driveshaft is simply not sitting in the driveshaft collection.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

thanks for the reply sorta dropped the ball on my end , meanwhile found out my r 11 od is bad .so really need to rethink the whole project direction.

is the driveshaft a 16 spline?

Denny.  IF you're still thinking the Borg Warner T-85 3 speed or 3 speed with overdrive transmissions, the output splines I've seen in 50s' Fords were 16 in '55, '56, and '57.  I THINK it was '58 on up that B-W went to 31 (?) or maybe it was 32 spline count.

Anyway, don't let the spline count hold you up. You'll just have to change driveshaft yokes.  The length of the driveshaft can change with the year of the Borg Warner unit or with whether it's a 3 speed or 3 speed with overdrive.  This is work that you have a shop do.  IF you don't have one in your area, there are shops you can work with via the Internet that will have you provide some dimensions and they do the rest. 

That said, the 16 yoke spline for the earlier '50s' T-85s are no longer available, but used ones exist.  IF you get to that point, let me know and I'll get one for you.

Hang in there.  Did you look at VanPelt's web site? 



NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Thanks. I  did happen to find a 16 spline yoke prior to finding out my R11 OD was shot. Everyone I've talked to say the T85 parts are no longer available. Yes I did call and visit with Van Pelt they told me they would rebuild a T86, but don't have all the parts to rebuild the T85 and that they(T85) parts are non-existent. However I really think I prefer to go with the T-85 ,I've fabricated a trans crossmember and had it bolted in the car  in minus the driveshaft . I really think the t-85 looks alot stronger than the t-86 and want to use the best option. Very confused at this time.   Thanks again.

The T-85 and o/d parts are out there, but it may take a lot of looking, and shipment cost can be pretty high. It’s heavy stuff.

I’m partial to the T-85 R11, but don’t forget the T-86 R10 combo went millions of miles behind y blocks and other motors. The T-85 went behind the 312’s, but my 292 55 bird had the T-86 R10 from the factory. You just can’t put sticky tires on and side step the clutch. The T-85 was used behind some much larger engines (someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was standard behind the 406 FE even though most were sold with 4 speeds).

So you’ve got some other options. Just be careful of looking at light duty T-5’s. The WC are fine, but the 4 cyl versions won’t take the torque even without much abuse.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Thanks ,I probably will have to put the project on hold for awhile. Iam a self employed hvac tech and very busy now. Will keep the search up for a t-85 r11 thats rebuilt.  Thanks for the advice and help!!