8.8 swaps - who's done them

[gnvair]

In certain areas I agree with this. For a normal street cruiser, weekend track car I would hunt for one of these housings. But for something over 600whp the Mustang 8.8 housing are not tough. The tubes are nothing like what came in the Exploders. And C-clip eliminators for the Mustang housings are not reliable. But again, 2 different applications.

The tubes are 3". The 84-87 G body 8.5 is 2.75" (same as the 7.5). The G body 8.5 will bend the housing before the Mustang 8.8.
I spent many years building Fox bodies including working for a well known shop here in New Jersey. We had 8.8 rears in the 7's. With the typical spool, axle and girdle upgrades they are just as durable as any of the GM integral rears. You should be skipping all of the production housings and go right to a fabricated 9" with brace if you are making that much power that you are worried about bending a housing.

 

[Hurricane77]

So other than aftermarket of your choice, it's mustang, crown Vic, and explorer. Mustang is getting hard to find, crown Vic needs narrowed, and explorer needs a truss kit. Does that kinda cover it?

If you really want a challenge, you could try and bodge in an IRS 8.8 from like a 3rd Gen Explorer etc 😉

 

[gbodytoys]

At least 10 decent youtubers have done series on this.

 

[maliboost]

I have a '79 that one of previous owners installed an 8.8. I was told it was a from a '92 Mustang. My car has some very custom welded-in UCA mounts on the chassis, as well as adjustable upper arms. Lower arms just look to be tubular -- very similar to the UMI's in my Chevelle.

I'd be happy to post pics if anyone is interested. Previous owner was running pretty consistent low 6s in the 1/8 with a 35-spline axle upgrade and a spool. I hope I'm that fast when I'm done -- i bought it as a roller.

 

[Tomeal]

The Mustang 8.8 isn't getting hard to find. The 8.8 housing remained the same up to 1998. The 94-98 rears were wiser because of the longer axle shafts used with the disc brakes those years came standard with. The 99-04 Mustang 8.8 can also be used but is a bit wider than the 94-98 rears.

I'm leaning towards this route. There are a couple in the yards near me. The width seems very close to the explorer. These should just need upper and lower arms and a spherical joint, correct?

 

[gnvair]

I'm leaning towards this route. There are a couple in the yards near me. The width seems very close to the explorer. These should just need upper and lower arms and a spherical joint, correct?

Yes
Don't forget coil spring perches unless you are going to run coil overs.

 

[maliboost]

Yes
Don't forget coil spring perches unless you are going to run coil overs.

Attaching a couple pics of my setup, in case it could help anyone..

 

[Tomeal]

Think I found one, someone already robbed the brakes off of it. I probably would've replaced that anyways for piece of mind. Got there way to late to get it out, they were closing.



They do have a complete one still on a car, I would have to remove it. But it has rust all over it.

I really like that this one has very little surface rust. If I going to buy brakes for it, what upgrades can I do if I'm buying it from scratch? See some guys go with cobra brakes or something better than stock. For what I want to do with it, I think stock will be ok. Just don't know if there is better for not a lot more than stock.

 

[ck80]

Think I found one, someone already robbed the brakes off of it. I probably would've replaced that anyways for piece of mind. Got there way to late to get it out, they were closing.

View attachment 199357

They do have a complete one still on a car, I would have to remove it. But it has rust all over it.

I really like that this one has very little surface rust. If I going to buy brakes for it, what upgrades can I do if I'm buying it from scratch? See some guys go with cobra brakes or something better than stock. For what I want to do with it, I think stock will be ok. Just don't know if there is better for not a lot more than stock.

Depending how they price em, if there's no discount for the brakes missing grab the brakes off the rusty one and loosely attach em. Then youve got core parts and can see how it all goes together.

Depending on your plan for using as is ot rebuilding, could compare gear ratios and do the same, just loosely swap the parts and worry about correct settings at home if the rusty rear has a more favorable ratio.....

 

[Tomeal]

They are the same ratio. Can walk out with the rear for like $120.