Im up late and that is because the mind or what is left of it, has been conjuring a mechancial nightmare. I have a hot rod application that requires a rear mounted engine, a full length auto trans, a ford 8.8 rear. It is a SBF engine so there really are no OEM junkyard transverse solutions, nor are there any quality or affordable transaxle solutions. The vehicle is supremely short in the rear and rear axle cant move backwards. So I have a very limited longitudinal space to fit those parts together. I could move a cab wall forward with a big recess, lots of body work, like a pantera, and have my back against a harmonic balancer. Even then, likely not enough length even with a pair of 1350 u joints welded together as a driveshaft, would the end to end fit. Even a powerglide shorty wont fix this short space. Ok next idea was to use a transfer case of some kind with a gear direction reverser. Point the tailshaft at the front bumper, flip the power back like an old Casale V-Drive system and feed the rear end like God intended it. I dont like it..... but I ended up with an SCS gearbox, 1:1, 3000hp capable, 12.2 inch offset between I and O shafts, I and O on same side. Its a V-Drive without the Casale name on it and without the V and quite robust. SCS makes monster truck and tractor puller gearboxes (dropbox) for driveshaft to output shaft height corrections. I have been contemplating another option to keep the engine further forward in ch***is, keep it pointed as God intended----- tailshaft to rear bumper---- and utilize the SCS gearbox as God intended it to be. I would like to INVERT the 8.8 (not flip, I mean pinion flange aiming at the car behind me!) which will give me Clockwise rotation on the pinion ensuring the standard ge****t is loaded on the DRIVE side of the ge****t, not the coast side. This corrects the first major defect called out for all "junkyard axle direction reversal" attempts. To resolve the second conflict, axle shaft wrong direction---- I would further like to flip the axle upside down to correct the AXLE DIRECTION back to forward (while maintaining ge****t load on drive side). The SCS gearbox would be behind the rear end, input shaft driven by a relatively short shaft OR potentially just a slip yoke to 1 9/16-24 spline gear shaft. The output would be a u-jointed shorty driveshaft, really short, but likely in the 12 inch range. The housing will become high pinion which causes concern with oiling, I believe it may lose strength to some extent but I am already confused on strengths and weakenesses of HIGH and LOW pinion housings so.... Normally the ring gear is driven DOWN in CW rotation. If altered as described the ring gear will now be driven UP. Is this a concern? I have quick performance torino big bearing ends and will have appropriate 9 inch axles for narrowing the housing. SO brake backing plate geometry will be corrected back to stock format with disc. Perches, etc all get remedied specifc to ch***is. This is NOT a drag racing ch***is or car. It will not be launched, dead hook, etc. Worst case it smokes some undersized tires for the HP available. So in summary the questions are: Feasibility, contradictions, missed thoughts, oiling, venting, strength loss. procedure: Upside down, then backwards 180 degrees, Clockwise input rotation. Essentially turn this "rear end" into a pseudo IRS/IFS Ford front end. I appreciate the input an help folks. The gearbox was had for a song, by luck, and I should have purchased a lottery ticket with it..... thats how much a smoking deal it was. Without it, this is a dead issue. WHY?? Someone will ask... weight over rear axle to provide improved traction on drive tires at high speed, mitigate the difficulty in fitment of engine, trans, exhaust and replacement front end into spaces not fit for the parts needing a home. And its rat rod level cool. Engine can hide behind the frontal area of the p***enger compartment (aero improvement).
No help , I would think able to flip Up side down & add more lube & vent Different. Do not know for sure, Curious to know If there is weakness / disadvantage Maybe the gear teeth root the way they are cut, weaker in that Direction ?
I spent a few more hours scouring tidbits from Currie and a few other sources. Doesnt appear to be any complications SANS LUBRICATION. Currie has a solution for a Ford 9 pinion to lubricate correct, naturally, with splash oiling. It is a modified chunk they build, a new part, not an OEM that was adapted. Nothing like it for the 8.8. High9 is a company doing something similar and also has a solution for the Ford 9, again new chunk. Their deal is raise oil level as half of the cure. Lots of mud truckers raise the oil level as a cure but they also burn up an equal nuber of pinions. From the True High9 company, the other 50% of the cure is a steel scoop/s****er welded to a part of the housing and it grabs oil, directing it towards the pinion bearings. Again----- Ford 9, not 8.8 I would like longevity and safety to not have a rear end lock up. A $200 pump and a few fittings, electric, would circulate the oil and potentially spray/flow oil up into the bearing area. Saw a few videos from Gale Banks regarding diff oil dynamics and I am pretty sure w/o some intervention, the pinion bearings will starve and in short order. Has anyone seen a rear end drilled and tapped to feed oil to a pinion bearing? I cant even find a nascar example and they do this sort of thing, or at least did as I understand.
I know you asked above, but I have to ask again: WHY? What is the intended use for this vehicle? We already have tractor pullers. They are hot rods, but are not streetable.
I would think you could tap in a port To oil pinion Bearing or others bearings , Race might need a hole , like cam bearing. Fuel car rears & other Hight Torque Applications have pumps also I would think all cars @ Lemans do.
As long as you are turning the diff the correct direction, there should be no problem, aside from venting and oiling. What if you put seals on the inner ends of the axle shafts and filled the carrier almost full of oil?
Its a slow land speed truck. 500hp, all small block ford. For Blytheville mile. I believe the resolution for oiling is a pump. There is a port that feeds the outer pinion bearing between the seal and bearing cup. Usually is is in the bottom position, simply occupied with oil by gravity and oil level. If the pinion is high, the port is then on top, allowing for a top fed port to be drilled in and flow 2 gpm or so of oil to the bearing. Its discharge/return appears to be through the inner bearing itself back to the main oil volume. I dont have an open 8.8 (or an open 7.5 for that matter) till I get time off this week. Cant visualize in hand.... but I did some searches on the tube and sure enough the oil ports were clearly visualized. The Outer bearing slinger handles distribution inside the pinion bore, just ahve to feed the oil into the area. Im doing it! I had posted some time back about a ford ranger, 80s, std bed/cab with a blower frankensteined into service, all JYD parts. A Jag Eaton blower on top of some manifold, draw through carb. I was asking about intake manifolds and in a quandary about a universal manifold that could have a non-conforming blower installed. Someone may remember the questions, regarding a holley high ram and a Speedway china junk blower manifold. You folks helped out with the concerns, I ended up with the Holley. Well I have a pair of Eaton M112's, a holley high ram, some aluminum plate, some oring gaskets. The intention of the car started as a pure garbage pile for a street only Sunday grocery car. Do a burn out, go home. Then I got the idea why not beef it a bit for an 1/8 mile trip infrequently. That led to cobbling parts from junk that work well together. Well its been in pieces since Covid and I have had too much time to think. Then I was made aware of ECTA and went to an event. Wife signed on immediately for the project shift. Then I talked to Steve (ECTA) and he indicated that I didnt need a cl***, didnt need to conform, I could run what I brung so to speak, as long as it is safe. My sons could drive it, wife can ride in it if I pay the antes for extra people, it again becomes a family affair--- not that my sons have any interest! If it goes 150, they will gain interest, they are boys after all. Noisy, stinky, crazy looking.... it kind of what many boys like including me. And if it goes somewhere it is sure to draw a conversation, weird rude looks, anger, etc. Like an M80 going off in the neighborhood NOT on a holiday.... some are angry, some said, "good one". One may ask also why not leave engine up front, which has been done on rangers thousands of times with v8 swaps... its tight, a PITA, header clearance ****s, traction ****s, accessoriy drives ****, etc. I have to install my Horton Welder series MII crossmember with a power rack with a Volvo 2** series Electric PS pump. All fuel, PS, electric, would normally have to go to the back of the car. Now I get the abilty to place the engine relatively precise both longitudinally and horizontally for weight bias, to acquire high traction, high clearance for anything to happen in and around the engine, short driveshafts, spinning parts away from driver position, ease of a 1/4 inch shield on the TC bell housing, ease of trans blanket install and all the extraneous weight moves to the front where it can be ballasted and controlled. Coil overs in rear are easier to define an operating point, the MII coil springs less so. I can adjust ballast for front tracton and ride height easier. Not having fenders to avoid with an engine install is amazing. 23 T bucket amazing. No firewall mods, heck I get more legroom if I delete the trans tunnel. Its a frankenstein, truly a work of junk, not art. It has to go fast, no records will be set and that is ok by me. Ive never been 150 mph in a car at age 55, been 125 on a motorcycle and 120 on four wheels thats it. When I die my sons and wife can say, "he was nuts, look at this **** he stuck us with." But in the true sense of the hot rod, I built that **** on a tight budget, safely and "uniquely". See pic I added of an SCS gearbox, except mine has only one in, one out, same side of case. A four gear reverser rather than a load splitter as pictured. It should end up in the position of approximatey a winters QC differential gearbox and at a glance might be mistaken, at least thats what I envision for placement. Thumbnail is an 8.8 as it should be installed. Really easy to flood that port with oil by pump once gallery is tapped. Gravity will do the rest.
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