I am slowly gathering parts in an attempt to build a budget friendly 1941 Ford pickup "g***er" style. The truck will have an SBC with approximately 350-375 hp and a TH400 transmission. It will be drag raced from time to time and driven like one would expect a hot rod with deep gears to be driven. The traditional "go to" rear ends have gotten so ridiculously expensive, I'm considering my other options. I have heard good things about the Ford 8.8 and I found one locally with 4.10 and posi. Is it up to the task without upgrading all the innards? Thanks in advance.
It should live. Driveline shock is what breaks things. Like dumping the clutch at 5 grand - the auto doesn't put that stress on the gears. You should be OK with a 28 spline one. If you want to go much over 400 horse you should look for a 31 spline.
4.10 and posi and disk brakes it's probably already a 31 spline and would live just fine. We have one in an off topic jeep that has 450hp and we use for street and rock crawling and it has been through hell with only 1 broken axle shaft C-clip knob. The disk brake caliper held it in place until I could change it...hundreds of miles later.
I'm putting about 600 hp through the one in my off topic car, running high tens, I'm not worried about it. At your power level you don't even need to weld the tubes to the center. Mine has stock Ford gears and limited slip and stock 31 spline (explorer) axles.
IMO, it will hold up fine, light weight truck, poor weight distribution, it will boil the tires off till you decide to hook it up. Tires usually are the first step, if you get it to really hook then the problems will start. You'll find the weak link continually until it's all legit HD race stuff, That rear end is plenty good, had that in my 32, 355, Dyno @ 375 and I ran 255 radials with a rebuilt TH350 higher stall with the better parts in as a stock rebuilt failed, 3:55 gear. My 29 Roadster had a 355, a little hotter than the 32, TH400, higher stall 9" 3: 55 gear, ran 295 radials, both cars had tire spin, controllable, hooked up good enough, plenty fast enough for a street rod. Note ! Speedy cost money, How fast do you want to go AND are you racing or cruisin, make your choice. Have Fun and Enjoy !
Unfortunately, I learned the cost of that 'finding the weak link' the hard way when I built my '56 Chevy. 529.7hp I broke stuff the first 3 summers it was on the road. Now, as long as I resist the urge to put slicks on it, it is doing fine.
What should I expect to pay for a rearend like that? Will these rearends still have a tag on them denoting the gear ratio like they did in the old days?
Less than a year ago, I went to a couple self pull junkyards in Tucson, there were half a dozen mid-late 90s explorers at each, I looked at tags till I found a 373 posi that looked decent. It was about 300 bucks all in, plus the labor to remove it. Getting the driveshaft loose from the flange was the toughest part, it has 4 11mm 12pt head bolts that are really tight, so I ended up knocking out the U joint and paying for the driveshaft flange instead of removing the bolts (the tools I brought didn't want to get them loose). Living in the rust belt as you do, ymmv.
I’d say $250 and yes from the factory there’s a tag with the ratio. The 2 door “sport” explorers nearly all had the 4.10 gears.
The 91-01 Explorer is the easiest way to get 31 splines. 95-01 have discs. 3.73 and 4.11 are common ratios for Explorers. 3.55 exists but are hard to find. There are tags on them with a ratio. I started my search with knowing the ratio code on the door tag and going from there. You probably know, but a common mod is you can get an extra p***enger side axle and shorten the drivers side 2 7/8" if width is an issue. In a pick-a-part you don't even have to pay extra....Note that those Explorers have a 1330 U-joint so you may want the whole driveshaft to shorten or you will probably want at least the flange Squirrel mentions (if you want a long one to cut down a 90s Crown Vic also has the right flange). Lots of earlier Ford stuff used a 1310 U-joint. There is of course the ****er S5-134X conversion joint, but I prefer 1 size if possible to make it easier to get parts.
Once you get inside the differential, good luck removing that little 8mm bolt that holds the diff pin in. Don't try to take it out before applying heat, then penetrant, then heat, then penetrant and finally a good quality 8mm socket! Still no guarantee you'll get it out without ******ing the head, but it's your best chance. They're great rear ends as long as you get past that point.
Yup, 1330 is fine for less than 400 or so hp. I bought an aftermarket flange for the driveshaft, that bolts to the 8.8 flange, but holds a 1350 Ujoint, because I like to make things a bit stronger than they need to be.
The pin is retained with loc***e. A little heat softens it up. Even a propane torch works, although an induction heater might reduce the fire risk.
Here's how tough a 8.8" Ford axle is. I built my Falcon g***er with a .040" over 454, Edelbrock aluminum heads, big cam, Weiand tunnel ram, twin Holleys, and a Super T10 4 speed and 8.8 Ford posi axle. At the first opportunity for another wrecking yard sale I went and pulled a 2nd 8.8 Ford axle for a spare since I planned to beat this car up at the drags. I made numerous 4,000 rpm clutch drops to launch the Falcon and never had a single issue with the 8.8" axle. When I later sold the Falcon and began building my '39 Chev g***er with a 430 HP SBC I dropped the spare 8.8" in it. Figured if that BBC and hard launches couldn't hurt the axle, then my SBC sure couldn't either.
1964 Impala SS, 327 reworked to about 350 Hp, 4-SPEED W/Hurst, 4:88 posi by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:46 PM 68 I bought a beautiful 64 Impala SS, 300 HP 327, 4 speed, 4:88 posi. I met the owner street racing got to know him and when he had to sell, tickets/short Huber law motel time, arrested for street racing. insurance problems. He had bought it new and he did race it on the street. We talked, price was right, now mine. So........... put on my recap street slicks, installed a Lakewood ****ter shield, a lesson learned the hard way with a previous car, Very lucky to have my feet. Go out to play/race it some, Then I added a few improvements, GM 30/30 solid lifter cam and all that goes with, and a Holly 750 carb. aluminum intake, Headers/straight thru gl*** pack exhaust. The car/engine only had 30K miles. It was Better and good enough for me, same deal, pick and choose my races. most all of street racing was 1/8 mile stuff, some 1/4 mile, my car lost it's advantage. at 1/4 length stock suspension modified by previous owner. never touched that. I would Launch a 5000 rpm, shift at 6500, and it jumped out on the start pulling left front wheel off ground 6"-12" I was told. X frame car. Made some $$$ But Broke several parts, first thing trans, 4 speed was a 2:20 first gear, Replaced with 2: 56 first gear, broke rear end, ring/pinion 10 bolt, not a pumpkin like Ford rears, had to pay a shop for that, now a 4:56 gear then I ripped the center bearing support out, X frames, 2 piece drive shaft, a lot of damage.had to pay the shop again, someone I knew from street racing, reasonable but not cheap, then another trans failure, buy another with 2:56 first gear trans, I did a lot mechanical stuff, body and paint, paint was great on this one, it was maroon with white interior, a Very nice car. I was 20 with some knowledge and experience, It was fun, I was working 2 jobs, the cost of fun got way out of balance for me so I already was going to sell it and settle down, I was getting in my Dad's Midget race car for my thrills soon, D-m car, I go to race that one more time, the police had a trap set for this event, 30 guys got tickets but myself and a friend lined first, we launched , red lights on and I went to jail (holding cell) see judge in AM. That was the end of my Street racing career
Weight of Vehicle & how hard you shock it @ Launch specially on T-Brake. There are complaints on some with harmonic issues Noise from third member to drive shaft ..
Just so you're aware, the '80s-90s Mustangs and other Fox body cars used 28 spline axles. I'd avoid those, or know that they require an upgrade to the axles and carrier.
The 8.8 is strong enough for seven second trans brake street strip cars making 1000+ hp. I personally think they are stronger than a 9” that doesn’t have a small Fortune spent in parts, a 9” will spit the center out sending the drive shaft out like a rocket.
I wouldn't insult a fine Ford 8.8 by comparing it with a 12 bolt The Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 S197 with a supercharged 5.4 4v put 540 hp through a stock 8.8 [from the factory] My FR500C puts 450 hp through an 8.8 [the only mod is the alloy backing plate] These both ^^^^ have the Torsen center which isn't the best for drag racing. And you're normally stuck with a 2-spider LSD or mini-spool unless you convert to C-Clip eliminators @midnightrider78 if you're swapping in an 8.8 do yourself a favor and weld the axle tubes to the housing [pre-heat and MIG away]
Torque what you need to look @ . With Weight & traction , Op does not sound like its going to be that much torque with 375 hp unless long rodded /stroke ,, Apples & oranges Some will get a life time on ring Some 1000 p***es Some 100 p***es Some 50 p***es Some 10 p***es
The best 8.8" Ford axles have the 31 spline axle shafts, and also the 3.25" axle tubes. Unlike the 12 bolt Chevy the axle shafts on the 8.8" are much larger. If you get really serious you can install the Strange A1090 C clip eliminator kit to make them p*** tech at NHRA drags. Most tracks don't ask, but some will require these for certain vehicles.
Comparing an 8.8 with a 12-bolt is like comparing Heidi Klum with Rosie O'Donnell- no. I picked up an Exploder with the 302, AOD, and the nice width 8.8, 31 spline 3.73 limited slip and 4-whl discs, thinking when it croaked it would be a good driveline to mine for something, and in the meantime had a nice leather interior, stereo and the best A/C of any vehicle I've ever had, so a great beater. Problem is, it just won't die
Even the 90's mustangs with the 28 spline axles hold up pretty well. I have beat the **** out of my 96 with both the original gears and now 4.11 gears and im on the same axles running a fair amount of tire. The explorer rear end with 31 spline 3.73 gears is about perfect with a overdrive and your going to need sime serious traction, car weight and horsepower to break it. If you do then parts are cheap. That said there not getting any cheaper and are getting harder to find and yards and market place sellers know there getting sought after . Often buying a whole parts Explorer is the way to go . Pull the rear part out the rest then s**** it. Im currently looking for a couple Explorer rear ends in the southern WI area . Think I want one for my 49 Willys Jeep PU project.
There is plenty of online info on how to figure out gear ratio and if it has what ever they call their posi/limited slip. Read down though this and it will tell you 99% of what you want to know. I wish I had paid more attention to the Ranger Station tech info when I had my little Ranger 4x4 and I would probably still have it. . Ford 8.8-Inch Rear Axle History & Specs - The Ranger Station
I had a 2001 Ranger 4x4 frame and complete running driveline (we used the cab and front end to fix a super low mile Ranger that had been rolled). At the time, I had no clue about these rearends. I sold the entire ch***is/driveline for $500. Doh!
The one 8.8 you should be after is the Explorer 8.8 because of its 31 spline axle and diff, now the only thing that not sure of is the C clip eliminator kit need because I have only heard about one but never seen one listed anywhere. I got around this by buying aftermarket axles and axle ends for a 9”.
The 8.8 is your new $ friendly axle . We had 3/4 ton pipeline trucks that had 8.8 axles ,used all day long way over loaded and beat to **** off the road , never one issue . I don’t like the look in a street rod but who cares ? Is a tough SOB , cheap and works great .
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