Trick Chassis F-Body 9"
05-17-2014, 08:43 AM
#1
Staging Lane
Thread Starter
Trick Chassis F-Body 9" Last winter my big project was installing a new rear end into my car. The season previous I blew through two 10 bolts. It wasn't that big of a deal money wise, but time wise it was annoying. It was time to make the big jump!
I wasn't too concerned on what type I purchased so that was open. I liked the 12 bolt because it is small but strong. The Strange S60 is a little more budget friendly, extremely strong, but massive. The Ford 9" is of course in between but it offers many options. This being said, I had a few demands:
1) I want a "bolt right in" product. I'm getting lazier the older I get. I don't want to machine parts, cut this, drill that, etc.
2) I want the ability to pick and choose what suspension components attach to housing. This is because I already have UMI suspension components that I like.
3) The rear end must hold over 600hp. I am near that threshold now and plan on being well over that in the future.
4) I want LCA relocation brackets and a drive shaft to match.
5) Whoever I purchase it from, I demand excellent customer service. I am spending a lot of hard earned cash for this thing. I will not tolerate anything less.
So, I began the quoting process. I quoted many large companies and many smaller companies. I was surprised how high the quotes were that I was receiving. The quotes ranged from $3,200 to $4,200. Huge differences in pricing. I started to take an even closer look at what I was actually getting internally. This is how I weeded out the companies I was not going with.
In the end I went with Trick Chassis Ford 9" set up. I went with his mid range option which includes a back brace and these Strange components: Pro Iron Nodular Case, S-Series Yoke upgrade, S-Trac 35 Spline diff upgrade, Strange forged aluminum pinion support upgrade, 3.90 final drive. In addition to this I added many options to what he had to offer including: brake lines routed, assembly, powder coating, special shipping, etc.
When talking with Alex I felt he was an extremely knowledgeable person and he was extremely friendly. His turn around time for me was roughly 4 weeks with the extra work I paid for. Every Monday he would E-mail me a "weekly update". This would tell me where the build is and pictures would be attached. I had no reason to call him as he contacted me first.
The Ford 9" was shipped to my shop. Trick Chassis had to build a crate for the fully assembled housing. It was very large and kept everything safe from dings and scratches.
I am very impressed with the quality of work. The brackets are designed very nicely with "windows" to save weight where possible. All brackets are laser cut so all mounting points are extremely accurate. The LCA relocation brackets are one piece, which is very nice. The powdercoat is also done well, I see no flaking or boring for hole clearance. All brake line mounting provisions for the rubber hoses (in my case braided) were in the correct location.
Install was extremely easy… Especially when you have a Hi-lo to hold everything in place. Everything lined up and bolted in with ease. My car is stock height in the rear and everything cleared the chassis. I did not need to use a BFH for clearance, which is nice. Once everything is installed Trick Chassis requests the end user to measure for the drive shaft length to give to Strange. Even though I've read most people get away with the stock length I find this to be a very smart move as every car is different.
Once everything was installed I took it home. I have 50 miles on it right now and everything feels great! Even with these terrible Michigan roads all mounting components are clearing the chassis when hitting bumps. I can't be happier with this piece. The biggest bonus is that I purchased and received everything I wanted. The work is extremely impressive, yes, but the customer service was excellent. In my opinion, in this performance shop game being good to your customer is the most important thing.
I wasn't too concerned on what type I purchased so that was open. I liked the 12 bolt because it is small but strong. The Strange S60 is a little more budget friendly, extremely strong, but massive. The Ford 9" is of course in between but it offers many options. This being said, I had a few demands:
1) I want a "bolt right in" product. I'm getting lazier the older I get. I don't want to machine parts, cut this, drill that, etc.
2) I want the ability to pick and choose what suspension components attach to housing. This is because I already have UMI suspension components that I like.
3) The rear end must hold over 600hp. I am near that threshold now and plan on being well over that in the future.
4) I want LCA relocation brackets and a drive shaft to match.
5) Whoever I purchase it from, I demand excellent customer service. I am spending a lot of hard earned cash for this thing. I will not tolerate anything less.
So, I began the quoting process. I quoted many large companies and many smaller companies. I was surprised how high the quotes were that I was receiving. The quotes ranged from $3,200 to $4,200. Huge differences in pricing. I started to take an even closer look at what I was actually getting internally. This is how I weeded out the companies I was not going with.
In the end I went with Trick Chassis Ford 9" set up. I went with his mid range option which includes a back brace and these Strange components: Pro Iron Nodular Case, S-Series Yoke upgrade, S-Trac 35 Spline diff upgrade, Strange forged aluminum pinion support upgrade, 3.90 final drive. In addition to this I added many options to what he had to offer including: brake lines routed, assembly, powder coating, special shipping, etc.
When talking with Alex I felt he was an extremely knowledgeable person and he was extremely friendly. His turn around time for me was roughly 4 weeks with the extra work I paid for. Every Monday he would E-mail me a "weekly update". This would tell me where the build is and pictures would be attached. I had no reason to call him as he contacted me first.
The Ford 9" was shipped to my shop. Trick Chassis had to build a crate for the fully assembled housing. It was very large and kept everything safe from dings and scratches.
I am very impressed with the quality of work. The brackets are designed very nicely with "windows" to save weight where possible. All brackets are laser cut so all mounting points are extremely accurate. The LCA relocation brackets are one piece, which is very nice. The powdercoat is also done well, I see no flaking or boring for hole clearance. All brake line mounting provisions for the rubber hoses (in my case braided) were in the correct location.
Install was extremely easy… Especially when you have a Hi-lo to hold everything in place. Everything lined up and bolted in with ease. My car is stock height in the rear and everything cleared the chassis. I did not need to use a BFH for clearance, which is nice. Once everything is installed Trick Chassis requests the end user to measure for the drive shaft length to give to Strange. Even though I've read most people get away with the stock length I find this to be a very smart move as every car is different.
Once everything was installed I took it home. I have 50 miles on it right now and everything feels great! Even with these terrible Michigan roads all mounting components are clearing the chassis when hitting bumps. I can't be happier with this piece. The biggest bonus is that I purchased and received everything I wanted. The work is extremely impressive, yes, but the customer service was excellent. In my opinion, in this performance shop game being good to your customer is the most important thing.
Last edited by xDetroitMetalx; 05-17-2014 at 09:04 AM.
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guessohw (05-18-2021)
05-19-2014, 08:20 PM
#6
Staging Lane
Thread Starter
You're right. It was damn near impossible to find a review for an F-body 9" from Trick Chassis. Most reviews seemed to be with G-Body forums. Honestly a friend of mine bought his first. I saw it in person and I thought it was a very nice piece so I gave them a call. Then this happened...
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05-19-2014, 10:55 PM
#8
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This is probably a stupid question but, do you have to pull the drive shaft and torque arm and then pull the whole gear assembly out to get inside the case? I don't know much about after-market diff's.
06-10-2014, 08:40 PM
#14
Staging Lane
Thread Starter
Flintwrench, getting it in 4 weeks with extra work on there end. If I did not request / pay for the extra I would have gotten everything in 3 weeks.
Blackpanther, setup has been awesome. I did one launch with the stickey mickeys and it felt amazing... Scary even! Everything has really helped the launch and the 3.90s were a good move for what I've been wanting.
This thing is over 1.3k miles now. I finally went on a very long heat cycle at 750 miles... A 3 hour drive all highway one way to the tuner to dial in the new gears and a few other changes. I replaced the fluid every 250 miles and now I believe it's ready to beat on... Have a little grudge match coming up this weekend with a local bolt-on 2013 5.0 Moostang ^_^
Blackpanther, setup has been awesome. I did one launch with the stickey mickeys and it felt amazing... Scary even! Everything has really helped the launch and the 3.90s were a good move for what I've been wanting.
This thing is over 1.3k miles now. I finally went on a very long heat cycle at 750 miles... A 3 hour drive all highway one way to the tuner to dial in the new gears and a few other changes. I replaced the fluid every 250 miles and now I believe it's ready to beat on... Have a little grudge match coming up this weekend with a local bolt-on 2013 5.0 Moostang ^_^
06-10-2014, 08:40 PM
#15
Staging Lane
Thread Starter
Flintwrench, getting it in 4 weeks with extra work on there end. If I did not request / pay for the extra I would have gotten everything in 3 weeks.
Blackpanther, setup has been awesome. I did one launch with the stickey mickeys and it felt amazing... Scary even! Everything has really helped the launch and the 3.90s were a good move for what I've been wanting.
This thing is over 1.3k miles now. I finally went on a very long heat cycle at 750 miles... A 3 hour drive all highway one way to the tuner to dial in the new gears and a few other changes. I replaced the fluid every 250 miles and now I believe it's ready to beat on... Have a little grudge match coming up this weekend with a local bolt-on 2013 5.0 Moostang ^_^
Blackpanther, setup has been awesome. I did one launch with the stickey mickeys and it felt amazing... Scary even! Everything has really helped the launch and the 3.90s were a good move for what I've been wanting.
This thing is over 1.3k miles now. I finally went on a very long heat cycle at 750 miles... A 3 hour drive all highway one way to the tuner to dial in the new gears and a few other changes. I replaced the fluid every 250 miles and now I believe it's ready to beat on... Have a little grudge match coming up this weekend with a local bolt-on 2013 5.0 Moostang ^_^
07-03-2014, 05:42 PM
#16
Staging Lane
Thread Starter
It's been 2k miles on this set up. I finally got a chance to take it to the track. However, the Mickeys you see above literally had 1 pass left in them after I completed a little grudge match on the street. After my run at the track I went to make some rear suspension adjustments as the launch and 60ft was poor and that's when I noticed the passenger tire was completely flat. One run and done. Anyway, the trap speed surpassed my expectation at 119.4mph on a 1.9k DA day. But the times were poor because of my 1.989 60 ft, you can probably put the rest together, lol.
Anyway, I decided it was time to make some changes. Since Trick Chassis did such a great job and I can't be happier I decided to upgrade my UMI poly non-adjustables to his hyme joint, chromo, double adjustable LCA and PHB. They are very nice pieces just like his 9" set up for these cars. I can already till the hit hooks up stronger. Also, surprisingly, my cars ride quality has improved greatly and there is way less clunking and squeaking going on. Not surprisingly vibration noise has amplified but with a car like this it's tolerable.
Anyway, I decided it was time to make some changes. Since Trick Chassis did such a great job and I can't be happier I decided to upgrade my UMI poly non-adjustables to his hyme joint, chromo, double adjustable LCA and PHB. They are very nice pieces just like his 9" set up for these cars. I can already till the hit hooks up stronger. Also, surprisingly, my cars ride quality has improved greatly and there is way less clunking and squeaking going on. Not surprisingly vibration noise has amplified but with a car like this it's tolerable.
