Rear 9" wheel bearing question

[EB70]

So I am starting on my S&S Bronco project. I call it snow and sand. Anyways, I am going 1/2 ton full-width. 1976 F-150 axles, HP 44 with disks and rear is stock. I am ordering parts, I order the "normal" rear wheel bearings and didn't think much of it. They are not correct when I got them, I think they are commonly referred to as set 20 bearings.

I need a bearing that has an ID of 1.625. This is larger than stock apparently. OS diameter seems to be normal 3.15. This is a crusty axle out of a junked truck. Not a specialized crawler.

Here is the issue:

I have other axles, but if I have a bigger one on hand I would like to use it. Even though I can save $100 and use my new bearings I just bought.

Are these axles aftermarket perhaps? What factory axle uses a bearing like that? Every bearing I see with those specs is aftermarket.

For what it is worth, the bearing retainer is a Bower 192. I haven't gotten the bearing number successfully yet.

 

[Apogee]

Hmm...weird. I have a '77 150, '76 F150 axles under my EB and another spare housing from a '79 BB/F150 IIRC, and they're all pretty much the same. The earlier units used the sealed ball bearings and the later housing had the SET20's in it from the factory. The SET20 bearings have a Ø1.563" ID, whereas the Ø80mm [Ø3.150"] sealed ball bearings have a Ø1.531" ID if you're referencing axle bearings for OE axle shafts (or aftermarket replacements) of the "big-bearing" variety. FWIW, all Ford "big-bearing" applications use an Ø80mm bearing...it's just the ID and configuration that vary.

The aftermarket does have some Ø80mm bearing options with the Ø1.625" ID, so it sounds like you already guessed correctly that that's what you may have.

Mark Williams #MWE58504
Toms Differentials #58504-1

 

[EB70]

Would that make the shafts aftermarket as well? I'd rather have the shaft OD in my favor with the bigger ones. I have spares and I could convert but I would rather not go smaller.

The housing is the wider web version where it is thicker in the mid-section so it is at least 76 era. I looked at OEM stuff clear through 85 and it was all the 1.5... stuff.

 

[Apogee]

I've seen references to 1966-1972 Ford Ø9-3/8" variants having larger bearings, but I can't confirm it via the resources I have in front of me. OE axles usually have a certain look to them, as do aftermarket units, so maybe if you post up some pics of what you have, we could help you identify them. The fact that there are some aftermarket bearing options could indicate that there was an OE application at some point from which they "borrowed" the bearing for their own purposes.

 

[EB70]

I looked and did a fair amount of Googlefoo. I ended up at MW's to buy the bearings. Everyone else was a reseller of their stuff. I am sure there is an OEM source but I needed the bearings so I bought them. $112 shipped. Alot more than set 20 bearings.