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Ford 8.8 write-up

S

surfinpmp

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Richmod, Va
I have been looking into doing this mod to my jeep, and cannot find any write-ups. Maybe I am just typing the wrong thing in the search, but can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks
 
Anyone know why the Ford guy's are putting XJ Dana 44 in their rides and XJ guy's are putting Ford 8.8's in their XJ's? I could understand Ford 9" or a Dana 60.
 
I know im not going to a dana 60 or ford 9, cause I dont plan on going much bigger than 35's for a good while, or atleast till i get out of college.
 
surfinpmp said:
I know im not going to a dana 60 or ford 9, cause I dont plan on going much bigger than 35's for a good while, or atleast till i get out of college.
Click to expand...

so you are getting a ford 8.8 why?

the ford 9" will cost the same amount to swap under your rig, and can sometimes be found cheaper than an 8.8 in a junkyard, because Farm truck axles have less demand than say... Ford explorer axles...

and if the 9" ring gear is scareing you because of some supposed loss of ground clearance - i hate to tell you that an 8.8 only has about 1/2" more clearance... and if you want to, shaving and gettin that 1/2 back is MUCH easier with the stamped housing center section than the CAST 8.8 center section...

i run a ford 9" with 33's...
 
If that is the case can you give me some tech sites on that also, im am just starting to look at the swap, and am not exactly sure what the final plan is, it is just that some people have recomended the 8.8, so I have been looking into that first
 
XJ_ranger said:
so you are getting a ford 8.8 why?

the ford 9" will cost the same amount to swap under your rig, and can sometimes be found cheaper than an 8.8 in a junkyard, because Farm truck axles have less demand than say... Ford explorer axles...

and if the 9" ring gear is scareing you because of some supposed loss of ground clearance - i hate to tell you that an 8.8 only has about 1/2" more clearance... and if you want to, shaving and gettin that 1/2 back is MUCH easier with the stamped housing center section than the CAST 8.8 center section...

i run a ford 9" with 33's...
Click to expand...

Ring gear clearance is no problem with a 9".

Pinion clearance is a whole 'nother story.
 
XJ_ranger said:
so you are getting a ford 8.8 why?

the ford 9" will cost the same amount to swap under your rig, and can sometimes be found cheaper than an 8.8 in a junkyard, because Farm truck axles have less demand than say... Ford explorer axles...

and if the 9" ring gear is scareing you because of some supposed loss of ground clearance - i hate to tell you that an 8.8 only has about 1/2" more clearance... and if you want to, shaving and gettin that 1/2 back is MUCH easier with the stamped housing center section than the CAST 8.8 center section...

i run a ford 9" with 33's...
Click to expand...

stock disc brakes would be one good reason...
 
http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/axle/xj_dana44_02/

http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/axle/ford9/
9inchrearend.gif
 
Last edited:
An advantage of the 8.8 swap is that you can find one with reasonably low miles on it with the same bolt pattern as your XJ...

Most guys that run a Ford 9" run a different bolt pattern and usually throw new guts in them before swapping them under their rigs, and either run them full width or narrow them...

How many Ford 9"'s can you find in a junkyard with less than 10K miles?

The reason the 8.8 is an "easier" swap is because of the bolt pattern, the width, disk brakes, the relative ease in swap, and in most cases, a fluid change and brake pads is all the refurbishing before running them...

ya...

The 9" has been around forever and can handle big HP (directly dependent upon amount of cash sunk into them)...

Apples and Pears...
 
Since the 9'' has been thrown in here:

How can you tell the difference between a big bearing and small bearing 9''? Are the small bearings only on the '60s cars? Would broncos and F150s have the big bearings?
 
Ok, answered my own question, to an extent after reading this link that Ranger posted in another thread.

2ncp.jpg

Besides having the axle tubes flaired, can you also make sure that the axle is a big bearing by seeing if the bottom of the backing plate is flat or rounded? As well as the brakes?
 
You can not depend on the shape of the bottom part of the housing flange to tell big or little. I think that the bolt "spread" on the flange is pretty safe, since two (2) of my 9"ers' have little bearings and one is flat and the other rounded on the bottom of the flange. Also, it seems like the 4x4 axle has the big bearing the most, my other 2 9"ers' are 2x and the one from the '80 model 1/2 ton is a small bearing, 31 spline axle. The other 9"er came from a '79 1/2 ton. The 4x4 axle came out of a '79 1/2 ton. I am learning to just pull an axle if I am interested in buying the stupid thing because I have gotten 2 small bearing axles in a row. The good thing is, at least the axle shafts are the same length from, like, 1973 up to 1985, so there are lots to choose from, and you only have to carry ONE spare. Ren
 
the big bearing's also use a bigger bolt to hold the backingplate/shaft in...

somewhere like 1/2"? and the small bearing use something smaller...

i remember now on mine - the shafts are retained by 4 bolts that take a 3/4" socket - so the large bearings are the 1/2" bolts....


FWIW -
1976 f-150 rear end, 31 spline, big bearing, 3.50's, open, 5 on 5.5, 11x2.25" drums, standard pinion support, standard case, not sure on carrier bearings yet (havent had to measure), 65" WMS at full width.

5 on 4.5 can be drilled into the flanges fairly easy, however, you will have to look into explorer brakes or whatever else after that...

thanks Gil - i had forgotten about the bolt pattern change/width issue...
My 9" works for me...
 
XJ_ranger said:
the big bearing's also use a bigger bolt to hold the backingplate/shaft in...

somewhere like 1/2"? and the small bearing use something smaller...

i remember now on mine - the shafts are retained by 4 bolts that take a 3/4" socket - so the large bearings are the 1/2" bolts....
Click to expand...

Opie,

So you just look at the axle shaft and if the backing plate is square and requires a 3/4" socket, it is a big bearing. If the retaining bolts require a 1/2" socket and the backing plate has a rounded edge like the pic on this thread, it is small bearing? You can also measure the distance between the backing plate bolt holes I've heard.

My bro got a bolt in, hp44 that was in a guy's TJ with the factory 4 link. He has a early bronco 9" so we might just get adapters/spacers to change his Moser 5 on 4.5 60" 9" to 5 on 5.5 63-65". Or I might just pull him a fresh full width 9" from pnp and then start over with a nodular case, 35 spline shafts, etc etc.

Sorry to ask this in a 8.8 thread, but the thread has gone the 9" direction some time ago. :laugh3:

Troy
 
the big bearings use 1/2" bolts to hold the drum brake backing plate on and retain the axle shaft.

the standard nut that goes on a 1/2" bolt requires a 3/4" socket...

I dont know what size bolts came on the small bearing housing...

good for your brother...:laugh3:
 
All 3 of my 9"er's use the 3/4" socket on the retaining bolts, big and little bearing. Yes, you can also go by the retaining bolt spaceing, but use the top to bottom meausrement, it seems to be the larger of the two measurements.
 
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