I used the 8.8 in Mama Root's 55, which I narrowed and used two short axles to center it all up. I am collecting parts for the 56 F100 and I was pondering using the same rear. I was trying to wrap my head around how this rear end could be used in millions of SUV's with this offset. Did Ford offset the engine by 3 inches? Does it even matter? I was thinking about installing it as is, without the shortening the right side tube. It uses the flat plate type of u joint.
Mines down to 56” for my 56 Victoria. The wider F-150 drum brakes worked perfect for me. All the useless castings were cut off the center area along with unused suspension brackets. I know 70’s vans were offset to move the engine to the p***enger side.
We did this last month.... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/do-i-offset-the-engine.1346104/
Holy cow. That was spirited. I never saw that thread. Thanks. I may mock it up and see how much offset it actually has. 3" centers up the tube and makes it match the other side, but I don't ***ume that the pinion will mirror that number exactly. I would have to jack the 55 up and look/measure it. I have a 9" under it, but it will cost more to overhaul the pumpkin in it, than to swap this out. Plus, I get limited slip, 3.73 gears and disc brakes with a parking brake.
Yes, Ford offset the engine in the Explorer to clear the front diff on Dana TTB front suspension in the first generation. No, the driveshaft doesn't care if it is centered or not.
The rear end offset usually becomes more of a problem as the driveshaft gets shorter. Its all about the angles the U joints are functioning at, as long as the angles are within the operating range of the U joints, all is good. And yes, there are a lot of vehicles where the drive trains are not on the vehicle center line of the ch***is.
I shortened the one in the 55, because it was gonna be too wide anyway. This one is the same (or close) as the 53-72 pickup.
Kerry and his friend put a '95 explorer 8.8 into a 55 Chevy. It was less 1/5" narrower than the stock Chevy rear The biggest part of the job was cutting off the old spring pads and cleaning it up. Redrilling the PCD was easy on C-Clip axle flanges The offset driveshaft never was an issue in the tunnel [or caused any vibrations] He also did a Cut'n'Shut on 2 x 8.8 rear ends [Using 2 x long axles for a 3rd gen Camaro swap AND 2 x short axles on the leftover which was sold] He ended up with one at 62.675" for the Camaro and the other at 56.925" He did both cuts and welds without using a truing bar and got it straight The secret was machining up slip tubes, which he put in the freezer He heated the ends with a hot air gun then slipped the tube in and plug welded. Then the short ends [with the slip tube] went back into the freezer for another round plug welds were needed to hold the slip tub in the ends when it was "tapped" into the other half
I just used a giant pipe cutter. After about 4 hours. I got tired of using this dull, rental cutter. I used the groove I created to center my cutoff wheel. I used some angle iron to center it......well here, you can just look at the thread. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-mild-custom-transformation-mamas-55.1119265/page-4
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