Good day everyone, wanted to run something by you pertaining this 8.8 explorer rear diff sitting in the garage. I know the common thing is to narrow the unit by cutting the drivers side tubing by 2 7/8 of a inch then use a passenger side axle to complete the unit. This is all great and all, but what if I wanted to eliminate the c-clips all together and narrow the complete unit down to 55" instead of the 56 (w/disks) or 57" (w/drums). Correct me if I'm wrong but I assume ill need to buy aftermarket axles and ford 9" large bearing ends. Please let me know the best avenue I can take with this 8.8 that won't cost a pretty penny. Thank you Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Mark Williams - and I suppose many others - make "C" clip eliminators for the 8.8 axle. With what you say you want to do, you may be better off money wise starting with a 9"?
I was looking into a nine inch diff, cost seemed way higher then what I needed because the third member with lsd , buying axles, and purchasing the housing. With the 8.8 it's axles, cost to narrow plus the 9" axle big bearings. Could I find a nine inch rear diff with a LSD from a factory vehicle out there? Thank you Ron Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I had 8.8 axles in the bronco 2 I blew up 3 rear axles in that truck running 31" tires and a v6 on the road. If you do run that axle buy a good locker and replace the spider gears they blow up real easy. good luck.
I believe that they may not work with OEM discs? Not ABS compatible. Moser, Strange and Yukon sell kits.
First off not all 8.8" are the same, but the Explorer 8.8 has much stronger 31 spline axles, vs. the older 8.8 with it's 28 spline axles. If you have a disc brake 8.8" then you don't need to omit the c clips or go to eliminators, as the disc brake setup holds the axles in if one breaks. If you have a Explorer 8.8", then shortening the long side tube cost me $50 locally, and the price of a short side axle at Pick N Pull, which was another $50. Can't swap to a 9" for $100. The shortened 8.8" Explorer is 55.25", so not sure where you're getting your measurements. The drum axle I did was 58.25" face to face before shortening, and it took 3" off to make it fit the short side axle. I'm running an 8.8 3.73 LS behind my Falcon with a Super T10 four speed, and a 464 BBC. It seems to be a pretty tough rear axle to me. A near perfect copy of the 12 bolt GM axle, only 31 splines instead of 30 spline axles. I'm running 10"x30" Hurst slicks, so it's not little short tires that put little pressure on the drivetrain. As for cost; at $200 for an 8.8", and $100 to narrow it, I couldn't even buy the 3rd member in an open differential 9" at that price. I had a 54" complete 9" Ford, without a differential. I sold it after seeing what a decent LS diff. would cost in a good gear ratio. Just way too expensive, compared to the 8.8" Ford.
Go to pic a part and get the right axle out of a ranger and just cut the tube down and reweld the end back on and you are good to go and it is cheap, have done 4 this way and no problems yet.
Call quick performance in Iowa and see what they say. They will either hook you up with the correct parts you need or be able to build you exactly what you want for a very reasonable price.
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