The subject pretty much states the decision I have to make. I am looking for input due to I cannot make my mind up. The ford 9" allows easy gear changes at the track while the ford 8.8 makes for easy narrowing. If anyone has input of either I would greatly appreciate it.
ford 9" or ford explorer 8.8"
- Thread starter cresjunkie
- Start date
What is wrong with a factory rear diff set up. They can handle alot of power. At the time the MKIII supra came out it was the Toyota Flagship. All the latest and greatest technogoly out there. Turbo, intercooled, double wishbone suspension, independant rear,abs,on and on andon. The magazines of the day compared to cars like the 928, jag XJ12, corvette. Turbo supras were not cheap either. $26 to 32k for MKIII new. On the main page they have some magazine articles on these cars new. You should read them. You are best served by not straying to far from factory design ideas. People do complain about the headgasket. At factory set boost they all went 80 to 100k miles before needing head gaskets. However, the day you crank the boost and feel some power well there goes the headgasket. Corolla owners never complained about there headgaskets going bad at 100k. BTW. Almost every subaru gets head gaskets at 80 to 100k miles.
I installed an 8.8 in my own car, but a friend is having me narrow, link up a 9 inch for his. Narrowing, I bet its the same for both. Took me about an hour to narrow the 9 inch after deciding how much to take from each side.
The 8.8 comes with c clip axles, but with disc brakes I doubt theyd ever fall out, but I ended up installing the Super88 kit with c clip eliminators, 9 inch outer bearings and chromoly axles.
The axle tubes need welded to the center section, but with the cast/steel difference, its kinda tricky to get a good pen weld that wont crack out. I did a tq arm setup like the Fbody cars and tied the tq link into the diff cover to handle the power.
The 8.8 is a little ligher, and the center section is smaller. Depending on the width you need, the 31 spline Explorer axle comes in at about 59.5 inches with one axle being 3 inches longer, so you can narrow one side and use the stock short axle for a 56.5 width rearend.
Huge difference is the really low pinion on the 9 inch. Its awsome that is support with 3 bearing, but damn its hangin low. The debate is out there that it takes a little more power to turn the 9 inch over the 8.8.
The 8.8 comes with c clip axles, but with disc brakes I doubt theyd ever fall out, but I ended up installing the Super88 kit with c clip eliminators, 9 inch outer bearings and chromoly axles.
The axle tubes need welded to the center section, but with the cast/steel difference, its kinda tricky to get a good pen weld that wont crack out. I did a tq arm setup like the Fbody cars and tied the tq link into the diff cover to handle the power.
The 8.8 is a little ligher, and the center section is smaller. Depending on the width you need, the 31 spline Explorer axle comes in at about 59.5 inches with one axle being 3 inches longer, so you can narrow one side and use the stock short axle for a 56.5 width rearend.
Huge difference is the really low pinion on the 9 inch. Its awsome that is support with 3 bearing, but damn its hangin low. The debate is out there that it takes a little more power to turn the 9 inch over the 8.8.
