Questions about wheels/studs
- Thread starter shaune
- Start date
Another vote for Bash's solution.
Do you know if it has 28 spline or 31 spline axles? If it is 28 spline, it is my understanding that 8 inch axles can be interchanged. Gives you more possibilities to look for another rear end with the smaller bolt pattern and just swap axles.
Do you know if it has 28 spline or 31 spline axles? If it is 28 spline, it is my understanding that 8 inch axles can be interchanged. Gives you more possibilities to look for another rear end with the smaller bolt pattern and just swap axles.
Gfart, another option for sure is to sell what I have and go the 8.8 route. Problem is the nearest junk yard for me is 3 hours away, or Kijij somewhere. The various reservations around town usually have derelict vehicles (not just the rez, some back yards in town have junk too). I am into the current rear for $1000, I rarely “make” money when I sell stuff 
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Scotty it is the less desirable 31 spline in this one.
There is a crown Vic I saw today on the road to the dump at a boarded up house......
.Scotty it is the less desirable 31 spline in this one.
There is a crown Vic I saw today on the road to the dump at a boarded up house......
Shaune: If you decide to go the 8.8 route, even if you end up spending a bit more, look for one with the disc brakes, the emergency brakes are a mini set of brake pads, and use the ID of the rotor as the drum.
Sorry I can't tell you what year the CV's, Marquis and Lincolns started using rear discs....and just to add to the options, the last year or two of Rangers (at least the ones with 4.0L SOHC) used an 8.8 with discs as well.
And there's also the Explorer 8.8, but they had a fairly big pinion offset to line up the driveshaft to the transfer case, but the upside is, you can have a fairly lowbuck narrowed diff by sourcing another short side axle and shortening the longside axle tube. Not necessary unless you plan to tuck a LOT of tire under your truck
Sorry I can't tell you what year the CV's, Marquis and Lincolns started using rear discs....and just to add to the options, the last year or two of Rangers (at least the ones with 4.0L SOHC) used an 8.8 with discs as well.
And there's also the Explorer 8.8, but they had a fairly big pinion offset to line up the driveshaft to the transfer case, but the upside is, you can have a fairly lowbuck narrowed diff by sourcing another short side axle and shortening the longside axle tube. Not necessary unless you plan to tuck a LOT of tire under your truck
Gfart, another option for sure is to sell what I have and go the 8.8 route. Problem is the nearest junk yard for me is 3 hours away, or Kijij somewhere. The various reservations around town usually have derelict vehicles (not just the rez, some back yards in town have junk too). I am into the current rear for $1000, I rarely “make” money when I sell stuff
Scotty it is the less desirable 31 spline in this one.
There is a crown Vic I saw today on the road to the dump at a boarded up house......
I would think that CVs, Maquis & Town Cars would have discs by the mid 90,s as my '93 T-Bird does. But probably later for Rangers. Either way I would put more importance on finding the correct track width for your truck. When looking at CVs etc. the pre '03 have more conventional wheel offset whereas the later ones have deep back spacing like front wheel drive wheels. So whether disc or drum, get the correct width axle. After all you've got drums now on your 9".
Advantages and disavantages to 9" vs 8.8". If you're racing with a sanctioning body you want a 9" as the wheel and axle will stay on the car if you shear the axle off at the splines from excessive torque. Also some like to have 2 pumpkins setup with different gear ratios that they can easily change for the drags or the street. This may be uncommon, but I know of 2 instances where the hub flange broke off the axle and caused a great deal of damage. Just ask Kool52. The other one is a friend here in Summerland who had his break that is in a '49 Chev pickup behind a 4.2L six. I suspect that the probable cause of these failures are the result of the donor vehicle being in the wrecking yard because it was "T-boned" which would put a very high side bending load on the axle which caused a small crack to start. Then the crack propagates over time until it finally fractures. In the case of my friend here, that was about 37 years. If you have new after market axles in the 9" this would not be an issue at all.
With the 8.8" replacement axles and bearings are readily available and cheap and easy to change without a press. Also, there's a good chance of finding one with disc brakes, or finding disc brakes off a CV that can be added to one with drums.
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