Hey all, building my first Deuce. It is set up on TCI rails for a four link. Wanted to get some opinions on which rear end to use: I have access to a 86' Ford 8.8 Posi with drum brakes hub to hub for $250. Or Do I go with the ford 9" with its wealth of accessible parts and gears? I built plenty of mopars, but new to the 4 link set up and 32 roadsters. Thanks, Rob
I prefer the 9. The 8.8 is still a C clip axle, and while it is stout, it's more difficult to work on (no drop out chunk) and besides, the 9" is much easier to weld to. Ever spin a tube on a axle? It sucks. You doing a parallel 4 link, or triangulated? If triangulated, I'd go with a Spidertrax housing, rather than a thin sheet steel stocker. It's heavy duty, built for the rock crawling crowd, but it'll give you some good meat to weld tabs to, and it's beefy enough that it won't deflect under hard acceleration load (no truss necessary) Diamond axle makes a equally burly housing. (Currie can suck their own overpriced wang)
sorry to hijack the post but with the 8.8 most of them are 4 lug can you get wheels for that bolt pattern? (eg. chrome reverse?)
The only 4 lug 8.8's that I recall were in the Mustangs. All of the sedans, trucks and vans were 5 lug. 5 on 4-1/2 and 5 on 5-1/2 (and some metric later) Mustang and ricer wheels are all you'll find in the 4 lug. The 9" can be done in 5 or 6 lug (choose your spread) nobody's figured out how to make on 8 lug without adding full float outers. (not enough real estate in there)
Nothing wrong with an 8.8. Unless you are going to make monster horsepower, or intend to switch gears out regularly, it'll probably be fine. I think Ford Ranger axles fit an 8.8 just fine and are 5 lug. Not certain, but you may need two lefts or two rights instead of one of each side.
The 8.8 was only in the 4.0 powered Rangers, right? Or were there more? The rest are 7.5" rear ends, IIRC. Exploders had 8.8's, they're wildly popular with the Jeep and Mustang guys, for a pretty beefy axle (31 or so spline) and disc brakes with a drum hat for the emergency brakes (very effective)
Looks to me like you answered your own question (Do I go with the ford 9" with its wealth of accessible parts and gears?) . Besides the down side of no drop in 3rd member, brgs that run on the axles of the 8.8, the smooth nine inchers look cleaner. My .02
A 9 inch works great ... but a 8 inch in a light car without tons of Horsepower ... works too. The 9 inch has the advantage in my opinion because of the wide range of gears and parts available. Posi rears are almost impossible to find in the 8 inch series ... and the 8.8 ... which may be strong enough .. ... but they are butt ugly in my opinion under a 32 Ford. A rear end in the 56 to 58 inch wide range ... measured from the wheel mounting flange to the wheel mounting flange works the best for me. My roadster is @ 58 inches ( 69 Bronco 9 inch rear ) and 56 inches under the 32 3W coupe.
Personally, I'd use the late Explorer 8.8. It's every bit as durable as a 9" in moderate HP cars, uses beefy 30 spline axles, and is factory avalible with 3.73/posi. Plus, it has less parasitic drag than a 9" does. We get them at work from salvage yards complete for around $175. We then narrow the long side to use short side axles on both sides, and it fits perfect under a 55-57 T-bird.
Not sure, but I think 7.5 28 spline axles are the same as 8.8 28 spline axles. Just out of curiousity, how much do the various rear ends generally weigh? I've got a pumpkin from an 8" that seems pretty hefty, but I've heard the 9" is a real porker. No idea on an 8.8, myself.
Go with the 9 incher... I have an 8.8 posi unit under my T.... small block chevy/ t5 combo... It was good for a year... broke a bearing cap and chewed all the pinion and ring teeth.... now I have to either change the complete set up or pull the rearend to have the gears set up in the housing...I am changing to a 9 now....I shoulda known from the start... Jason.
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