48 Studebaker LS3 swap Beefing up differential
 

I've got a 9 inch Ford differential out of a 70 Ford Bronco in the Studebaker. I used the stock leaf spring suspension to install it. What do you folks think i should do to beef it up? I have some Stabilizer bars from another rear end ,but they would have to attach from the diff to the back part of the frame(go backwards) instead of towards the front. I have included some pics
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...5151b866a8.jpg
here is the 9 inch attached to the leaf springs,the rod and arm going up is actually a shock absorber
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...9036edf8c6.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...2494597f65.jpg
these are a pair of stabalizer bars i got off another diff
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...b68a00cef0.jpg
i could make this work if it would help me,this is going towards the back of the car
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...79e126e504.jpg
i could make this work on both sides ,but this is going towards back, not towards front

I think an investment in some decent modern shock absorbers are all you really need. What is that funky covering on the leaf springs? I would lose that as well.

covering is pieces of tin,definitely factory as the car only has 29,000 miles,but i have never seen anything like it.

It was done a lot back in the day; look at pre-55 Chevies with torque tubes and Stovebolt 6's. Usually filled with grease.

The covering is a pre-1960's leaf spring thing. They thought it was better to keep dirt and water off the springs - but as many things of the era it didn't work as well as desired.

How much beefing up will be necessary is completely dependent on your driving style and purpose for the car.
One option is running a three or four link if you are a decent fabricator. That eliminates a lot of leaf spring drama - but creates other issues if you haven't done it before. The good part is a multi link suspension is very flexible from a setup perspective, street, road race or drag race.

48stude - you wanna beef up the "rear suspension" -- not the differential, fwiw. Adding a fixed length, basically, control arm to a leaf sprung rear is gonna cause some bind. The control arm swings an arc as the suspension moves up and down -- the leaf sprung suspension, not so much. You have to reconcile those two different movement paths. Although it pains me to look at all that.....what shall I call it....patina under the car - I'd say freshen up shocks/leaf spring bushes and drive it before you start changing things. Plenty of vehicles out there with leaf springs, a rear sway bar and traction bars that do reasonably well.