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i started my 8.8 swap apporx a week ago. i got the rear out of a 98 exploror, it has 31 spline axles, posi, and disc brakes. i got the rearend for $107 at a junkyard about 1.5 hours from me. as some of you know the pumpkin is offset 3 inches to one side. i narrowed the long side to match the short side. which mean now the rear is approx 5 inches narrower than my stock 7.5 10 bolt.
yea that was my thread. i just finished the swap about 2-3 weeks ago. took me about 1 week to do the swap. i just transfered all the stock brackets over to the ford 8.8 but mine was outa a ford crown vic. its 3" wider than the stock 3rd gens. it on the otherhand only has 28spline axles. but i rebuild the posi with carbon fiber clutch pack and used all ARP studs and support girdle. now the weakest link is the 28 spline axles.
i have a few issues with your design. first... the 5" shorter than stock axle is gona kill your wheel selection. your gona have to run short backspacing prob 3" or so and massive offset. Unless your gona throw on some spacers/adapters 2" or 2.5" spacers will get u back into normal range. If you were to do spacers i would have then be adapters as well... the ford bolt pattern is 5x4.5" and chevy is 5x4.75"... so unless u want to use ford rims i would suggest getting the adapter/spacer to convert your ford bolt pattern to a chevy pattern. Unless your using custom axels in which you could have them machined for chevy bolt pattern.
The only other thing that i have to say is that your design is SUPER strong. alot of metal there for support for the TQ arm... but negative to that is that its not really all that neccessary. Also you might have issues with clearance to the floor pan. ppl have complained that the "ears" of the 12bolt/ford 8.8 will punch holes into the floor pan behind the rear seat when the rear compresses. to be safe most ppl will cut the ears off for the clearance. THe tubing youve used is gona cause less clearance but you could get away with it.
You've basically used shagwells idea... which is a good one. the tubes allow for easy welding and a strong bond. the support which you both welded and bolted to the pumpkin will add stability and incorporate the pumpkin like the stock design. only issue i might see with this is that the forces of the rear rotating will put more stress onto the axle tubes vs the pumpkin. in which case you will have to weld the axle tubes to the pumpkin completely around so you dont twist the axle tubes(which u did). that support bar thats bolted to the pumpkin will help but im not sure how much force it will soak up.
also looking at your pics u posted... you made all the brackets for the LCA/springs and panhard bar... but your panhard bar is not braced? the stocker uses and V pattern of fully welded steel in the inside of the panhard bar bracket across the whole underneith of the bracket. this is to control collapsing forces from the pushing/pulling of the panhard bar. could take some pics of mine if u wanted
What tq arm are u gona run? a custom one like shagwell? Over all its a strong design, looks good. let us kno how it works out.
Last edited by customblackbird; 07-20-2009 at 04:42 PM.
Similiar to my design, but being box not bent tube definitely makes it bigger. Clearance between the top box and the fuel tank may be an issue. - As customblackbird noted, that much skinnier is going to make wheel fitment more difficult. Depending on what you planning on doing with the car, you may or may not be able to run adapters.
Did you use a squaring jig to re-set the tubes? I hope so. Going with a custom tq arm?
__________________ Jp Shawgo
1986 camaro - 10.5 outlaw/Outlaw 632
1989 lead sled still awating its transformation
- If you can't afford to do it right the first time, can you afford to do it again?
very interesting...i came up with a similar design about 3 years ago, but to use a gm 8.5" instead...i'd love to get away from my heavy *** 9" but still know that it's gonna hold up...
very interesting...i came up with a similar design about 3 years ago, but to use a gm 8.5" instead...i'd love to get away from my heavy *** 9" but still know that it's gonna hold up...
You and I talked about this years ago. I initially did one with 1/8 flat plate, basically surrounging the housing making it look similiar to a fabricated housing from the back. I didn't like how it largely relied on the welds between the housing and the plate for strength, so I canned the idea and went with tube. It's not been tested to potential yet, but I trust it for everything the 8.8 will handle.
i do remember that. i'm really interested in results as i'm seriously gonna try it on an 8.5" if you guys have good luck with it. i HATE how heavy my car is right now, and i know that an 8.5" would be far more efficient. i have a buddy that's been deep into the 7.xx range in an 80's cutlass on an 8.5 so i know they can be built to handle decent power...and i could use the extra cash i get from selling my 9"...or put it back in my dad's car or something...
The upper & lower bridge pipes weld to both axle tubes, as well as the housing. Then there are 2 kicker legs on each side(4 total) that come from the bridge pipes to the housing; bolted and welded to the pinion damper casting pads.
On that one I just did a custom tube tq arm, as since that is under a '68 stang and I did the full tube chassis, I did not need a bolt-in type arm. I will be doing another one in the next few weeks that will utilize a stock type arm, so I will be making the bracket to attach a stock type arm.
__________________ Jp Shawgo
1986 camaro - 10.5 outlaw/Outlaw 632
1989 lead sled still awating its transformation
- If you can't afford to do it right the first time, can you afford to do it again?
