The rearend is likely the subject of the majority of abuse your classic truck will see. High horsepower engines and bulletproof transmissions make upgrading that old peg-leg axle necessary these days and there’s no finer a rearend to slide under that hauler than a brand-new Ford 9-inch. Currie Enterprises has built, well, an enterprise in the rearend game, with the core of said enterprise being the Ford 9-inch. Manufacturing everything from new housings to axles to gear cases, there hasn’t been a better time to build a bulletproof rearend than now.
Yet while the components to put such a rearend together are important, knowing how to assemble it and some of the idiosyncrasies involved is where a company like Currie and its technicians really shine.
When it came time to install the Fatman four-bar kit that appears elsewhere in this issue under a ’75 Chevy, it was obvious that the old 12-bolt rear had to be replaced. With all its bracketry and inherent weaknesses, we opted to simply swap out the axle for a new Currie unit that would look as clean as the rest of the underside of the boxy truck.
Once we had the correct measurements on hand, we slid on over to Currie’s Anaheim, California, shop where we had the crew slam together the housing, axle tubes, and flanges, with the Fatman four-bar brackets slid loosely in place. We then headed back to our tech center where the suspension install was carried on and the brackets tacked into place. From there it was back to Currie’s shop where the crew welded up the rest of the housing components and completed the final assembly. They were gracious enough to put up with me for the day and let me follow along as the rearend was passed from technician to technician to receive the one-of-a-kind Currie treatment. CCT
