Quote:
Originally Posted by MKS427
I have an 8.8 solid axle. Do you know of gears below 3.08 for it? I couldn't find any. I have a FFR and am considering swapping to IRS. I may have a choice between T-Bird and Mk VIII or '15 and newer Mustang. Any thoughts on the two? 3.08 and bigger is all I've found for the current platform.
Thanks,
Mark
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My preference, Mark, is the earlier 8.8 housing out of a 2007 to 2010 Ford Explorer. It is a HD version
of the T-Bird, MK VIII or SVT Cobra housing. It also has massive dual front mounts that dwarf the Cobra
generation housing. Here are the two side by side;
The Explorer version is a bit heavier and Ford added some "Vitamin C" in some of the tender areas to
offset warranty issues in the much heavier Explorer chassis. There are a number of nice covers for the
back. Do not use a stock cover they are paper thin and break like this SVT Cobra piece,
Ford offers a reasonably priced HD cast cover for the housing that looks like this;
There are all manner of differentials available for the Ford 8.8 rear end,Tru-Trac, Quaiffe etc, but I liked
(and bought) the Wavetrac Torque Biasing unit, click here =>
Wavetrac for a nice visual of how
the interior geared mechanism works (there are no clutch packs). An extra added benefit to the
Wavetrac is it comes with a
lifetime warranty.
The nice thing about the remaining IRS rear spindle hardware is you can purchase it all from Ford because
they make the pieces available just for kit cars. You have a choice of either the newer 2015 -2020 rear
knuckle kit or the earlier 2003/2004 Cobra style knuckles depending on which you like better. You can also
buy the parts from a salvage yard and save significant $$. Ford offers a full kit car version of their OEM rear
brake package or if you like, you can use stuff like Wilwood.
Although they (Ford) do not offer them I would opt for the Mark Williams billet steel caps,
They cost right at $100 brand new on eBay.
The mounting cage for the IRS is really simple to craft;
The "tall" gears are an over the counter item at your local Ford Dealer. If you go to Tasca's online FRPP site
you can get a little break on the pricing.
Here is an OEM Ford 2.73 ring and pinion (ring only in the picture)
You can buy these brand new right over the counter at Ford parts counter pricing or you can buy excellent
used parts off eBay below $100. This particular one was going for $80 or so — because no one wants them!
Not only that they usually come out of granny's daily driver and are in near new condition!!
Use your mouse, your keyboard, Google and a little initiative and you can probably do even better. These were
the first items that came up in my Google search. A focussed search will probably do better.
Ed