8.8 swap

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indirect_connection said:
Just took the maiden voyage on my 8.8 swap. Thought I would share here because not many have used the Ranger option. I chose this option as I did not want to attempt to cut down an Explorer wheel, and the Ranger is the exact width to run the Mustang Bullitt wheels that I've been running.

It cost more than most 8.8 conversions because the combination I wanted wasn't a factory option, 3.31 with limited slip.

The junkyard rear had damaged backing plates and no drum hardware, so I converted to Mustang discs using instructions from The Ranger Station

I'm running a 904 and I found a Spicer 1330 yoke and had a custom driveshaft made at 53". No need for conversion u-joints.

I used speedway shock plates, but could have used 8.75 shock plates if I had had them. The Ranger axle is an oddball 2.75 axle tube and I had to slot the holes as the shock plate is meant for a 3" tube.

I used a Dr Diff perch kit and new springs. Right now the 17x8 with 245/45r17 are about 1" from the spring, and 1.25-1.5 from the quarter lip. I have just ordered 18x9 for the rear and plan to run 275/40r18. They should JUST clear. In anything they'll just need the fender lip folded over or trimmed. View attachment 1715957271 View attachment 1715957272 View attachment 1715957270
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That’s very well done. Great job thanks for sharing.
 
Nice looking Dart. The front end looks like it has positive camber though.
 
indirect_connection said:
Just took the maiden voyage on my 8.8 swap. Thought I would share here because not many have used the Ranger option. I chose this option as I did not want to attempt to cut down an Explorer wheel, and the Ranger is the exact width to run the Mustang Bullitt wheels that I've been running.

It cost more than most 8.8 conversions because the combination I wanted wasn't a factory option, 3.31 with limited slip.

The junkyard rear had damaged backing plates and no drum hardware, so I converted to Mustang discs using instructions from The Ranger Station

I'm running a 904 and I found a Spicer 1330 yoke and had a custom driveshaft made at 53". No need for conversion u-joints.

I used speedway shock plates, but could have used 8.75 shock plates if I had had them. The Ranger axle is an oddball 2.75 axle tube and I had to slot the holes as the shock plate is meant for a 3" tube.

I used a Dr Diff perch kit and new springs. Right now the 17x8 with 245/45r17 are about 1" from the spring, and 1.25-1.5 from the quarter lip. I have just ordered 18x9 for the rear and plan to run 275/40r18. They should JUST clear. In anything they'll just need the fender lip folded over or trimmed. View attachment 1715957271 View attachment 1715957272 View attachment 1715957270
Click to expand...
Very cool. Nice job!
 
Happy to report that this setup ended being perfect for the 18x9 Bullitt wheels with 275/40r18 tires.
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moparmat2000 said:
Stock 8.8 vent hole can be used as well. Its 1 inch off from stock mopar axle location as measured from the axle pumpkin center out. Mopar one is roughly 11" this is roughly 12" however it uses the same 7/16-20 threaded hole as the mopar axle combination vent/tee block bolt uses making this a direct bolt on. The combination tee block-flex hose i am using is 1972-1976 A body, however i dont see why the earlier brass tee with seperate threaded in hose wouldent work either.

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Really liking this concept. Can you get sharesome more info on your brake line setup? I’m just about there in my 8.8 swap after I weld it up this week .
 
Red_Duster said:
Really liking this concept. Can you get sharesome more info on your brake line setup? I’m just about there in my 8.8 swap after I weld it up this week .
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I got the housing done, never mocked up the lines, since I started doing the sheetmetal work, and the last 2 years this project has just set on the jack stands collecting dust in my shop. I have had a pretty rough last 2 years, so my heart is just not in it at the moment. Sorry.
 
moparmat2000 said:
I got the housing done, never mocked up the lines, since I started doing the sheetmetal work, and the last 2 years this project has just set on the jack stands collecting dust in my shop. I have had a pretty rough last 2 years, so my heart is just not in it at the moment. Sorry.
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No worries bud. Sorry to hear that hope things improve. I’ll get it worked out. :thumbsup:
 
I can tell you this, the brake line connections on the ford side are SAE, not metric thread. The only metric hardware I found on this axle was the caliper mounting bolts. That it. I cut the old flexable brake line tabs off the axle when I cut everything else off when shortening it. My plan was to mock up the axle housing with my new springs under the car, fit the calipers, and Tee block. Figure out where the rubber flex lines needed to be, tack the brackets back in place, then bend and flare my own new lines from the brass Tee to the brackets where the flex lines end. Also need to mock up parking brake setup. the welded on clip for the RH parking brake cable routing that goes onto the axle tube.
 
moparmat2000 said:
I can tell you this, the brake line connections on the ford side are SAE, not metric thread. The only metric hardware I found on this axle was the caliper mounting bolts. That it. I cut the old flexable brake line tabs off the axle when I cut everything else off when shortening it. My plan was to mock up the axle housing with my new springs under the car, fit the calipers, and Tee block. Figure out where the rubber flex lines needed to be, tack the brackets back in place, then bend and flare my own new lines from the brass Tee to the brackets where the flex lines end. Also need to mock up parking brake setup. the welded on clip for the RH parking brake cable routing that goes onto the axle tube.
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Good to know on the SAE. I assumed it was all metric like everything else modern. Appreciate you!

For the group, here’s where I’m at. My rear came from ‘98 Mountaineer. The ones local had much lower miles than the explorer. Contrary to some of what I read, same width as the explorers in the yard. Grabbed a spare short axle and slid it in the housing before they rang me up. At home, hacked everything off with the grinder and cut my 2-7/8 with a piper cutter. I went ahead and beveled it down to about an 1/8 and jigged it up. Tonight was welding night and tacked it in 6 spots, slid in the axle and ran 1 inch beads, beveled them back and ran the next bead back into them, jumping around. Almost finished but ran out of wire with about an inch left so I’ll wrap it up tomorrow. Cut is a 42” on center so my perches will straddle the weld.

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Red_Duster said:
Good to know on the SAE. I assumed it was all metric like everything else modern. Appreciate you!

For the group, here’s where I’m at. My rear came from ‘98 Mountaineer. The ones local had much lower miles than the explorer. Contrary to some of what I read, same width as the explorers in the yard. Grabbed a spare short axle and slid it in the housing before they rang me up. At home, hacked everything off with the grinder and cut my 2-7/8 with a piper cutter. I went ahead and beveled it down to about an 1/8 and jigged it up. Tonight was welding night and tacked it in 6 spots, slid in the axle and ran 1 inch beads, beveled them back and ran the next bead back into them, jumping around. Almost finished but ran out of wire with about an inch left so I’ll wrap it up tomorrow. Cut is a 42” on center so my perches will straddle the weld.

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Hell yea, looks great. I'm headed the same direction.. as soon as I find one worthy
 
Make sure to check out the late 90’s Mountaineers. All the explorers in the yard with 3.73s had 200,000+ on them and were beat. The 2 mountaineers on the yard still looked halfway decent and the one with 3.73s (that I pulled) had 116,000. I’ll do bearings and seals anyway since it’s apart but I feel much better about the ring and pinion with half the miles of the explorers.
 
Well, mines done once I figure out brake lines and actually get my car back from paint. Pretty happy with it though. The anti-wrap perches should let me move the axle back and center it up in the wheel arch a little better.

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Well, I picked up an 8.8 out of a late 90s Explorer over the weekend from a local Pull A Part.. $120 after core charge. (Core charge lol) It's a 3.73 LSD but I believe I'm going to go ahead and change it to 3.27. I just don't think I'm going to like the highway RPMs with the 904.. The 6.4 shouldn't have any issues with that gear combo. I also think I'm going to order the Dr Diff kit to move the springs in 1/2" on each side.. still on the fence. The down side (for me) to this is, that I'm forced to upsize my wheels to 15".

I may start my own thread.. This one is all over the place but alot of great info, when you find it lol.
 
I think you’ll like the 373 gears in it. That’s what I have. I run about 2100RPM at 80 mph with the 5.7 up front. I did the offset shackles as well. I already had 17” wheels. I’m sorry I skipped right over your post on the 904. You may be right about dropping it down. I have the 545rfe.
 
loganscuda said:
If anyone goes with the aluminum cover with fill and drain plugs that has the ribs on it make sure you grind down the inside to clear your tone ring. https://duckduckgo.com/y.js?ad_domain=amazon.com&ad_provider=bing&ad_type=prad&eddgt=F_JNjYxmsovEc2dyFehYWg==&rut=6cf3d476518f535fb79ce0f1e62234ab6ae01d848dfb48d999184fa77b3ad5cf&u3=https://www.bing.com/aclick?ld=e8sBBGv5_-Ln7P0nvWnfDLnDVUCUwQD6bXi5PrEeIhNmSrqQzNfNJuTEcBuwsN_dGRBBKPFbmqRqIJzyW5Z8jgOGjE-XTSgGk1z5hhDbvWLG35Us6Jg-av0PSgnW8AITbzmEh8uX82PouaYzEkG1uKQWQtPfTEIzz9uHteA-9ugBTmJcIxLvm-I4qN4LoJj8_2NMoEQQ&u=aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZ3d3cuYW1hem9uLmNvbSUyZkFsdW1pbnVtLUZpbm5lZC1EaWZmZXJlbnRpYWwtTXVzdGFuZy1EUjNaLTQwMzMtQiUyZmRwJTJmQjBDMUI4M1hSSCUyZnJlZiUzZGFzY19kZl9CMEMxQjgzWFJIJTNmdGFnJTNkYm5nc210cGhzbnVzLTIwJTI2bGlua0NvZGUlM2RkZjAlMjZodmFkaWQlM2Q3OTkyMDkzNDY2MTU2MiUyNmh2bmV0dyUzZHMlMjZodnFtdCUzZGUlMjZodmJtdCUzZGJlJTI2aHZkZXYlM2RtJTI2aHZsb2NpbnQlM2QlMjZodmxvY3BoeSUzZCUyNmh2dGFyZ2lkJTNkcGxhLTQ1ODM1MjA0MDM5NTg0MDklMjZwc2MlM2Qx&rlid=3697484c3ccc1780b1fb2db71dad3478&vqd=4-34795198478688459144226447561701794796&iurl={1}IG=8FCB83C14252489E9E896A2C478A7B5A&CID=186E98E3ADAF625139618CABAC2F634F&ID=DevEx,5088.1
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This reminded me.. Has anyone developed a plug for the tone ring sensor? Seems like that would be an easy one for a 3D printer guy. My buddy is pretty good with 3D printing but recently moved and isn't set up yet.

Also, I've been thinking a little about some kind of snubber... as a few others have. There are the 3 bolt holes for the whatever the hell that shock was, that appears to be the only mounting spot. But I'm wondering if a guy could actually use the bosses that guard the tone sensor as some kind of mounting point as well.. maybe something between the bosses that connects to the snubber that is also using the 3 bolt holes. Use the bosses like mounting tabs and drill a cross hole through them. Just random thought that I have put no effort into looking at further... But the sensor would definitely have to go away
 
Dantra said:
This reminded me.. Has anyone developed a plug for the tone ring sensor? Seems like that would be an easy one for a 3D printer guy. My buddy is pretty good with 3D printing but recently moved and isn't set up yet.

Also, I've been thinking a little about some kind of snubber... as a few others have. There are the 3 bolt holes for the whatever the hell that shock was, that appears to be the only mounting spot. But I'm wondering if a guy could actually use the bosses that guard the tone sensor as some kind of mounting point as well.. maybe something between the bosses that connects to the snubber that is also using the 3 bolt holes. Use the bosses like mounting tabs and drill a cross hole through them. Just random thought that I have put no effort into looking at further... But the sensor would definitely have to go away
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The fox body mustangs have 8.8 rears with snubbers. Not sure how they mount to the center section. I have an '88 fox body with 8.8 and it has a snubber from the factory.

Other tid bit is the Tracktion Lock clutches in the 8.8s can be changed without removing differential and ring gear from housing. And you can shim the clutches extra tight for more traction. You can also add a clutch to each side.
 
Haven't really seen it discussed.. What offset are you guys running with the springs in the stock location?
 
Dantra said:
Haven't really seen it discussed.. What offset are you guys running with the springs in the stock location?
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I have 5.28 backspace on a 18x9.5, but my springs are offset and I have 1/2 inch clearance to them.
 
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