346only

I was wondering how fast people have gone with an 8.8 rear in an F-body. I've been running one for a year on the street and at the strip. I've cut many 1.5 60ft times and in the 6's in the 8th with a mostly full weight 99 SS. I added some Viking coilovers from MWC and put 15" race stars all the way around along with a th350 swap. I should have some new slips in a couple of weeks when I get a day off work. The car feels like a different car on the street, it's a beast now. I know the 8.8 in torque arm cars is hated but most of my build is. I'm looking for 6.4's in the 1/8 on an all motor 346, 2.5 5.3 heads, tv2 cam, fast 90/90, and cheap headers. I ran constiant 6.9x @104 before the changes.

Mean87SS

iTrader: (21)

I would be interested in knowing... Some don't say it can go fast as a 12 bolt or a 9

green94z

iTrader: (6)

A customer of mine has been 6.1@3850 raceweight

346only

That sounds good. I hope to run 6.4's on motor before I spray mine and I plan on hitting it with however much it takes to get in the 5's. In any non-torquearm car 5's wouldn't be a problem, I guess we'll see what it'll hold. My car is a little lighter than his also which will help.

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

Truth is the 8.8 is no better than a 12 bolt. They use the exact same size bearings, and have the exact same size gears. At least when you buy an aftermarket 12 bolt that was designed for a torque arm there is no heat distortion from welding a bunch of steel brackets on a housing that wasn't supposed to be there.

I guarantee you that an 8.8 with a torque arm bracket welded on will for sure have the machined tolerances way out of round and distorted if actually measured or fixture at the factory.

SteenH

This has been a concern of mine.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

There is no reason to waste efgort and $ in a 8.8 when there is a great rear like the mwc fab 9. I looked at many ways to do it and actually made a aluminum centerd dana 44 fit a fcar. Shoulda not wasted that time but i did learn some stuff in that process.

weedburner

I know of a torque arm 8.8 that's been 8.70 @165 (bolt-on TA, not a weld on).

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

And it likely requires more maintenance to keep it there. A 9" is just stronger by design.

weedburner

8.8 gets the job done, with more net power to the tire than a 9". I'm not sure what added maintenance you are referring to, but the FMS 8.8 3.27 gearset does not have a problem with it.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

I don't think you have toworry so much about net power get to the wheel with a 8sec car.

I'll take the 9". You're kidding yourself if you think the 8.8 is as strong or as versatile.

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

the bolt on torque arm on that car... is it like the one I have seen posted on here where the mount bolts on using the rear end cover bolts , seems like a much better way to go than welding.

JROC

How much power are you needing to support? Like 2,000+ or something? An 8.8 is an amazingly stout rear-end for it's size when not setup with 28 spline axles. Why do GM guys want to knock it when it's great and in many ways the best choice for a swap in a Gen4? Is it to appease sponsors or something? And bringing it down to a 12 bolts on it's level silly. Let see if I remember correctly it's "don't use a 12 bolt in a M6 car as it gets loud and has problems, but it is okay in a A4 car." For lack of a better term that's is that is just a dumb problem for a rear-end that's supposed to be a good but costly upgrade to have. Their are stock factory 8.8's supporting very heavy manual cars putting down 4 figure dyno #'s (think modded GT500's, modded coyotes running power adders) that don't miss a beat. The common upgrade for high HP Terminators is to trade their IRS for a GT's SRA and upgrade it to a 31 spline or better setup. Even better if you can get a manual transmission Mach 1 owner to trade you as he already has a 31 spline setup.

The majority of modern day Mudstain owners (say Foxbody on up) would rather have a well built 8.8 than a 9" unless they are wanting to support 2500 HP which you can likely build a 8.8 to do so, or they're wanting to run some negative camber which from my understanding is easier to offset your SRA rear-ends alignment with a 9" than other straight-axles, but that's more of a racecar thing and not something you really do to a streetcar. 8.8's are much cheaper, much lighter, way more efficient, there are tons of them out there and you don't have to use an aftermarket rear-end to get one that's strong, they have a huge aftermarket, aftermarket parts are much cheaper for them, etc. There are plenty of reason to like a 8.8 more than an other rear-end out there. Plus an 8.8 is built like a GM style rear-end only better than GM did it, and GM style rear-ends are much better looking than Ford style rear-ends like 8" and 9" rear-ends.

I might have switch band loyalties because I'm not gay, and GM is a lot less gay than what Ford has become and I'm not into boosting v6's to place my V8's but make no mistake about it Ford builds a very good rear-end that's superior to what GM does. And that's real. Fbody guys on here often act like a 8.8 is some kind of budget trash that is only relevant if you can get it for 1/3 the price of a built 12 bolt or 9" and that's straight up F'in BS. Don't get me wrong I'm not claiming that you should overpay for an 8.8 but it is very much comparable to any other performance car rear-end out there, and more than enough rear-end for what 99% of Fbody owners will every come close to needing. If all these other rear-end can be fabbed up to work well in a Fbody when they were never intended to then there is no good reason that a 8.8 can't either.

Look at it this way what other factory stock performance cars rear-end can match the strength of a S197's 8.8? (I'm not talking about a truck rear-end that's too big to be a viable option for a performance car) There aren't many. Maybe a Vipers or a MKIV Supras possibly, but IDK for sure?

handyandy496

iTrader: (9)

Dana 60, ford 9" You cant change carriers with an 8.8. I like the idea of having an extra with different gears I can swap in quickly.

weedburner

8.8's can also be set up in advance for a quick ratio change just like a 9", solid pinion spacers make it easy and more common than you might think. Much less expensive to do vs the 9", as you won't need that extra 9" case/pinion support/yoke.
...if the 8.8 has c-clip axle retention, swapping gears can actually be quicker than swapping a 9" as there's 2 less fasteners.
...if the 8.8 has been converted to 9" style axle bearings, there's 5 additional fasteners to deal with over a 9".

weedburner

Yes, attaches using the rear cover bolts. I use the same style torque arm on my 8.5" 10 bolt.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

No one is nocking a 8.8. It's likely as good as a 12 bolt. Which neither us as good as a 9".....period. there is even 12bolt centers for a 9" housing if you are worried about those few hp. I went a different route and picked up a set of used gleason 9" gears recently that were lightened and polished fir less than $200 shipped

In the end the 9" is even a cheaper rear. There is a pile of good used parts available. If on a budget it is even easy to source a stock ford center for almost nothing. Hell I've even hauled a few of those off for scrap before.

The 9" is the sbc of rearends.

Now if i had a mustang....which i do i woukd let the 8.8 carry me as far as it could. But to put one in a fcar really makes no sense.

weedburner

You're kidding yourself if you think the car in your sig is quicker with a 9". There is a point where it begins to make sense to trade efficiency for brute strength, but with a manual trans and 700 to the tires (5.73/1.30 60'), i'm not there yet.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

That's just it.....i don't worry about the rear. A 8.8 i would worry about. It's also not just the ring and pinion that makes a 9" better.....if one is smart enough to go with a mwc rear then the whole tq arm set up is far better than what you are goin to get with a 8.8. There are other factors here.....open your eyes.

Besides...i have already said you can do a 12 bolt center in a 9" housing if thoat 3hp bothers you so bad.

To add to this....i would be that a 9" overall weight in a fcar is probably lighter than a 8.8.

weedburner

It's about 3% difference in efficiency, not 3hp. At 500hp, that's about 15hp difference...not insignificant. Your sig says 417whp with your 9". If you had installed an 8.8, your sig would likely read somewhere around 430whp

I ship quite a few 8.8 housings. The typical 54" wide Crown Vic 8.8/9" hybrid housing i ship including caps/bolts/brackets, 3" axle tubes and 9" ends weighs in at 65lbs. I ship them thru the USPS as they weigh under 70 lbs including packaging. Mustang housing is a little lighter with smaller axle tubes, Explorer/F150 housing around 15lbs heavier with it's huge axle tubes.

In my shop I have a customer's 35" wide 9" housing with brackets installed, it weighs 44.3 lbs. His center section has gears/spool installed so i didn't weigh it, but i have a bare 9" single rib center that i use for my narrowing jig, it weighs 27.8lbs without a pinion support. That's over 72lbs or 7lbs more for a 9" that's 19" narrower.

My bolt-on torque arms for the 8.8 weigh 18lbs 12oz. Any idea what your MWC TA weighs?

You have more work to do if you want to convince someone in this 8.8 thread to be "smart enough" to go with a 9" over an 8.8.