So did your 10 bolt tubes slide tightly into the 8.8 tubes? Also what are you going to be using for all of the welding??

 

my thoughts exactly. i like the LT1 brake setup over the ford setup. my friend has a 94 GT and i dont care for how they are.

i had to machine down the 10 bolt tubes 0.025 of an inch to get them to fit into the 8.8 tubes. i also had to get rid of the seem so they would go together (see pic) my boss (certified welder for NY State and ConEd) feels that with the right preheating and retard of cooling that 3/32" 7018 welding rod will work perfectly fine for the center. the tubes will be fine with 7018

 

Axle tubes are TIG welded and the tubes to housing will be stick welded with a special rod for cast iron.

 

i will be tig welding the first two passes around the axle tubes then give it a shot with a 3/32" for good measure

 

The housing is malleable cast iron. Even with proper heating / cooling I would use a high nickel rod. Do you plan on heating the entire housing?

 

i do plan on heating up the entire housing and retarding the cooling. Ill be ordering some high nickel rod this week in preparation for that

 

Any updates man? Progress looks good so far. My plans are different, but to each their own, I'm going with a mini latter setup and getting rid of the TA, the TA is a really good piece the more I think of it, but I have to try it my way and if I don't like it I'll sell the setup and go with an S60 or 9". I'm also going with cobra brakes and leaving the rear narrowed 2" per side.

I have the 8.8 and a 31 spline carrier, all I need is everything else haha

 

why not put 9inch axle ends on the tubes while your doing all this work?

i've welded several 8.8 housings and tubes with a mig welder, i was told they were cast steel. plus when you weld on them it doesnt pop and spit like cast iron would.

 

yeah just nothing to post pictures up of it yet lol. im waiting to get my tubes back from getting sand blasted so i can weld the lower control arm relocaters and then start welding the tubes into the center... hopefully next week ill make decent headway with it...

IDK i knwo alot of people can weld them but ill still take every precaution when welding to the center.. and why not the 9" ends, i just dont feel like it right now lol

 

wow thnx man for showing me your build thread, this is practically what i was asking. cuz like i said there are alot of ppl that go through alot of time and effort to cut brackets and perches and and get the angles right plus cut the 8.8 tubes to the right length. with 10 bolt tubes you ave all the mounting brackets and perches right there already to me it would make more sense to do like what you're doing and what i was wondering could be done. so are the lca brackets in the stock position along with the pan hard bar. so once this rear is done it will be literally a bolt-in installation? ive heard of ppl using explorer rear end but since the tubes are offset (longer on the drivers side, shorter on the passenger) you have to cut the passenger tube find another driver side tube along with the driver side axle, etc. somebody mentioned that the 02+ ranger FX4 rears have 4.10s and lockers with 31 spline carriers, if that is true i will be using that if i want a more bullet proof kind of set up. again thnx for the thread info and keep us posted.

 

I have the Explorer 8.8 and i will tell you from experience you cannot just swap the tube on the one side they are offset for a reason, the pinion is positioned 2 3/16 to the pass side creating the need for different length axles
pass side stock is 27 5/8''
dr. side stock is 30 1/2''
I ordered 1 set of axles but they are for the mustang 8.8 conv.32'' ea. side,then i realized the rear i got was offset(Explorer) so i ordered another set of axles
dr. side 32 1/2
pass side 29 5/8
adding 2''to each side gave me the correct length.... I will have pics soon,just have a few more things to do then i will post up everything

In conclusion, the mustang 8.8 is alot easier to work with when measuring just remember to cut the upper control arm mounts off the housing or you will beat the crap out of your gas tank with suspension travel! I chose the Explorer 8.8 since it had the gear i wanted,31-spline, LSD and 3.25'' axle tube housing and ABS sensor provision. I should have it all done in a few weeks time willing

 

ah, i see, thnx for the correction.

 

If you wanted to use the LT1 brakes which 9" ends would you need?

Thanks
Travis

 

then don't forget the c-clip eliminators..

just put a gm disc brake conversion kit for a 9inch.
you can go the hotrodders route and use early 90's jeep cherokee front rotors and use the old gm metric calipers from the 77&up intermediate cars, weld on brackets from speedway motors ($12 i think) or make your own.. ive used this setup on 4 cars and trucks ive built over the years. stops an s-10 thats running in the 6's.

you could go the expensive route an put wilwoods or aerospace brakes on the rear for about $550 to $600..

 

when im all said and done it should be a direct bolt in rear end.. someone told me that they will be offset... but when i put the tubes in the center and got everything to the exact length i needed them to be (overall width, and end to center) then put the carrier in and then measured from the end of the tube to the inside of the diff (after the diff itself was roughly shimmed) and they were the same measurement on both the passenger and drivers side... ill be giving an update sometime this week

 

yea when he said 80s, i was like hmmm. im a ex ford guy u might say, and i know my fords and ive yet to see a 8.8 rear on any ranger and there were only 2 motors out there unless you count the ubber rare deisel motor=2.3l always a 7.5 rear and the 2.8l carb and 2.9l efi version of the same motor all with a 7.5 to the best of my knowledge. the 4.0 didnt show up in a ranger till late late 80s if not 90s and it doesnt really look like a 8.8 but i never spent any amount of time looking at the one in my mustang cus they are almost perfect. we use em in jeeps and wheel em when dana 44 wont due so the 8.8 is pretty strong. the 7.5 is very close. ive had a few and could never really tell em apart like dana 44s and dana 35
hmmm this could get interesting but i wanna say no 80s ranger had a 8.8
someone please correct me if im wrong, and im sure i didnt read it but the ranger axle isnt center. we use 2 axles off one side to do 5 lug conversion on mustang 4 lug 8.8s though
so is this or is this not out of a 80s ford ranger?

 

Assuming that you plan on cutting off your old 10-bolt axle tubes, machining them down a little bit, and then pressing them into the Mustang 8.8 axle tubes, I believe you would need the Moser 7900FM (Flush Mount) ends. http://www.moserengineering.com/cata...00fm&x=40&y=10
These are the ends I've welded on to my 8.8 for my 99 SS, and I think the LT1 brakes bolt up about the same way. You may want to call Moser to make sure, though.

 

After you're done SoxXpupPeT, would you be willing to upload some finished pics and maybe a sketched blue-print so some of us can replicate what you're doing? Maybe in a sticky? I'm all for using an 8.8 because, let's face it, the other options are pretty expensive and I've got other places I'd rather sink money into.

 

i know i know its been a very long time. and ive been extremely busy. Trying to get the AC back in the car because the 100* days are literally killing me. and before i can do that i have to do 1001 things to make it work... but heres a small update to the build...
Axles tubes cleaned up with the lower control arm relocators welded in...


New parts









4.10's FTW! i cant wait to see how hard this car pulls with some good gears behind it! Next is to clean up the carrier and get the tubes welded in. Then fabricate and weld the torque arm mount to the center... the only thing i need after that are the axles. then final assembly and install to bad i have about 4 other projects that take priority over this build

 

Looking good... that is exciting... can't wait to see more!