The 9 bolt in my Z is no good. it has 28 spline axles. I just happen to have an 8.8 ford rear with 3.73 posi, and also a 9" ford reaqr with 3.25 open gears and some extra 2.75 and 3.00 gears.I thinkk I can just use the camaro 9 bolt outer tubes and axles in the 8.8,. but I'm not too sure about the 9". The 9 " has the same splines but the pinion offset on the 9" is a little different than the 8.8 and I'm afraid if I use the 9" the offset will put the pinion off center with the 9 bolt axles. Has anyone used a 9" center with 9 bolt outers?

The 8.8 has 3.73 and posi, but the 9" is more convienent wheh I want to change gears.

When i do this i'll take plenty of pics and maybe get Tristan to put it on his website.

Any clues?

 

That topic could be taken entirely wrong.

 

I thought the same thing/might want to re-phrase that!

 

sounds like it'd work. i'd make a jig to hold the tubes in place. look at some tool makers or suppliers for an idea of how a axle jig looks and works.

 

heh, yeah, the subject was a little suggestive. I'm hetero.

anyway, making up the jig is np, it's just deciding whether I should replace the 9 bolt with an 8.8 or a 9. doh!

 

Sounds like a lot of work, but yeah might work out.

And I also paused at the topic. Please dont make me do a double-take again. It hurts my eyes.

 

I'm in the process of building an 8.8 rear right now.
I tried using a 9 bolt as a basis, it didn't work as well as I thought it would. The axles are 2 different lengths. The posi is narrower than a 8.8 posi. So if you use the stock axles the rear will be a couple of inches wider than a stock ninebolt. I ended up going with a regular 10 bolt for axle tubes. I then got some 3 1/2" pipe. cut into 4" sections It is 1 1/2" thick. I am having it turned down at a machine shop as we speak. The 8.8 axle tubes are a little larger than the 10 bolt tubes. I'm having one side of the sleeve enlarged so it will slide over the stubs that are sticking out of the 8.8 center section. The other side of the sleeve will be machined to slide over the 10 bolt axle tubes. Then I square it up and measure it for width. Then weld up both sides of each sleeve.
For the torque arm I'm copying a mustang design. it will bolt on under the axle tubes on each side in a v configuration. then bolt to the front of the housing in the main webbing on each side of the pinion yoke. It should only require drilling a couple of holes. pinion angle can be changed by placing spacers between the torque arm and thes two points.
I hope this gives you some ideas. I hope to have the sleeves back from the machine shop in the next few weeks. WHen it's done I'll post pics.
total cost with mosier 31 spline axles will be under 500 dollars.
Kory