Ford Explorer 8.8 Axle Swap - My Setup Data

Ford Explorer 8.8 Axle Swap - Write Up / Setup Data

I finished up my 8.8 swap last week and thought I would share my setup with you guys.

I realize that every rig is different, depending on what leaf springs you have, or whether you are running a SYE/CV-driveshaft or longer shackles, but I think this is a good baseline for someone wanting to prep their axle without too much down time, especially if it's a daily driver.

MY SCENARIO BEFORE AXLE SWAP:


1997 Sport 4.0L
AW4, NP231
Dana 30 / Dana 35 (3.55 ratio)
AA SYE
Tom Woods CV Driveshaft
Stock shackles
No TC drop
4 deg shims on D35
Bastard pack rear leafs 3-3.5” (XJ main, trimmed S-10 main, S-10 second, smallest XJ)




FOR THE SWAP:


1997 Explorer 8.8 axle with 3.73 LSD and disc brakes
MORE anti-wrap spring perches, spring plates and U-bolts
Spicer drive flange for 1310 universal joints




AXLE PREP:


For me, the most tedious part of the swap is removing all the Explorer stuff from the axle. I only used a reciprocating saw and disk grinder and it took several weekends to get it all removed and smooth. Maybe a portable band saw would work better? Plasma cut?



Several weeks before the swap, I did a mockup install of the 8.8 axle to set perch angles and shock mount locations. I did some measurements of the D35 and found that the stock pinion angle is set pointing up approx 11 degrees relative to the perches. The stock perch to perch distance was 43 and 9/16 inches (43.5625”) center to center.


For the 8.8, I set the pinion angle pointing upward 15 deg relative to the perches. This seemed correct since I was using 4 deg shims with the old axle.



I also made sure the perches were centered equally on both sides by measuring the distances from perch to brake flange. It turned out to be about 5 inches. 5 and 1/16 inches is probably more accurate, but just make sure it's equal left and right keeping the perch to perch dimension of 43.5625 inches.



For shock mounts, I considered the pre-made stuff from JKS and Ruffstuff, but ultimately ended up cutting a cheap leaf spring perch in half. I opened up the perch hole to 5/8 and welding a 5/8 bolt. Looks good and works good. This also allowed me to use a stock shock since the lower mount is now about 2 or 3 inches higher.







Here's a guide for mounting the shock mounts with the correct angle.


When you are ready to tack weld the shock mounts, place them as far outboard as possible while leaving room for the u-bolts.


BRAKES:


For my brake lines, I used this handy dandy plier from Harborfreight tools.




http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95782


For bending hard lines, I strongly recommend pre-bending some coat hanger wire to have template for bending. Otherwise, you could end up buying lots of hard line as you'll do it over and over 'till you get it right.


You'll need to cut and flare at least one end of each line unless you're very lucky finding the exact length.


I used 2 Explorer passenger side soft lines bolted to fabbed brackets welded to the spring plates. I re-used the Dakota rear brake distribution block mounted to the vent hole using the stock brass D35 vent tube fitting.


I decided to modify the proportioning valve by removing both the spring and inner o-ring. This made a significant improvement in braking. I still need to make sure the rear brakes do not lock up first in a panic swap, but I think they are near being balanced. I already have a Tilton adj prop valve I can install if the rears end up locking up first.


I played around with e-brake cables from Explorer, ZJ and modifying the D35 cables, but I eventually caved in and spent the $130 on MORE cables which should be delivered shortly.


NOTABLE COMMENTS:


I had a Dynomax catback that interfered with the pumpkin on the 8.8, so I had to make some minor modifications, so be prepared.


The LSD will make the steering feel like it wants to self center slightly more than before. I consider this an improvement since some of this was lost when I originally lifted my rig.


I'm okay with the stock Explorer 3.73 gears. I have 31 inch BFG KM's with about 50 percent tread, and the speedo has returned to being accurate. I plan to regear the front D30 to match. I will need a new carrier to run 3.73 or lower (numerically higher) gearing in the D30.


Good luck to anyone who want to try this swap. I hope the numbers help.

Thanks for the info.
How'd you end up with a D35 in a 97 Sport? My late model 96 Sport came with a 29 spline 8.25. I never knew the 35 was still being used. S'all good now though, nice job. -B

My XJ was originally equipped with ABS which is why it was a D35.



BTW, forgot to mention that the driveshaft length worked out perfectly. No mods required to DS. But remember that you will need 2 u-joint retaining clips since you're changing over from straps to press-in type to hold the u-joint to the axle.

Here's a pic to show that the driveshaft worked perfectly. You can also see see some clearance mods to the exhaust.

Awesome! thanks for this write up i have been looking into doing this myself recently, answered alot of my questions regarding spring perches and shock mounts, one quick question tho.. can you use any year exploder?

Very nice write up.

You did a Fantastic Job on your Swap!

I'm thinking about this Swap for my '96 XJ.

I have one question. Do you think the Exhaust has to Arc so high over the Axle Assembly?

What are your Feelings now that you have Driven it?

Thanks

Thanks for the comments.

I recommend using a disc brake 8.8 axle which I believe they started to appear in 95 or 96. There's a lot of info about this swap on the web, and not just .

For the exhaust, I didn't raise the arch over the axle but lengthened this arch. The interference will be at the u-joint adapter flange, so I cut the exhaust very close to the back of the muffler and made a quick turn up for the arch. I then added about 4 inches at the arch to reconnect the tail pipe portion.

As for my thoughts on the results of the swap, it's been one of the best mods I've done and has given me more peace of mind. I now have a really stout axle and the improved braking itself is worth it.

For cost, even though the axle an brakes were under 200 bucks at the self serve JY, I spend another 300-400 for prep, scrapped parts, and that darn ebrake cable assembly. Not to mention another few hundred bucks I will have to spend to regear the front D30.

One thing I noticed when driving with the new axle for the first time is that the turn-in is also quicker. For example, when making a right turn, it feels more willing. I attribute that to the 8.8 axle being 5/8" narrower on each side.

And on that note, since the axle is narrower, i recommend wheels with 3.75 to 4 inches of backspacing. Mine are 8 inch wide Cragar D-windows with 3.75 backspacing and didn't want to run wheel spacers. The rear 31 inch tires still stick out a bit beyond the stock flare.

Reading back to my original post, i want to clarify that 43.5625 inches really means 43 andd 9/16. Machinists and engineers will usually recognize the decimal numbers. Like 5/8 is .625, 3/16 is .1875, etc...

I don't expect anyone to weld perches to that kind of accuracy!

very nice!

I have a D30 carrier with spiders you can have. I can also regear the D30 for you if you aren't planning to do it yourself. PM me if you're interested.

jeeperjohn said:

I have a D30 carrier with spiders you can have. I can also regear the D30 for you if you aren't planning to do it yourself. PM me if you're interested.

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Wow! John, thats awfully nice of you to offer that. You're a bit far from me, but I appreciate the offer. Besides, I need to chill out a little bit and financially recoup. Probably won't be collecting parts for the regear until next month as I save some dough.

CaliGold said:

Wow! John, thats awfully nice of you to offer that. You're a bit far from me, but I appreciate the offer. Besides, I need to chill out a little bit and financially recoup. Probably won't be collecting parts for the regear until next month as I save some dough.

Click to expand...

Hey there, I also have a high pinion dana 30 3.73 R&P in good shape. You can have them for next to nothing if you're interested shoot me an offer and they're yours.

Here's an update on the MORE e-brake cables.



I ordered p/n EB3 which is for 97-01. It arrived in a timely manner and was pleased with the quality. I was happy to see that the cable ends were crimped instead of using set screws, and the threaded nuts at the ends od the sheathing make installation and adjustment a breeze.









It was a little strange to see the labels on the cables as “YJ-4 LONG” and “YJ-4 SHORT” thinking that they were intended for YJ's, but I know a lot of components are shared among Jeep models so I installed these with an open mind yet had my suspicions.






Putting these next to the stock cables, I noticed the sheathing length is slightly shorter on both cables. Made me wonder if these would work for XJ's with taller lifts.





So on to the install. The cables went in without a hitch, but noticed that cable tension adjuster had to be threaded in all the way to get any holding from the e-brake. The e-brake handle was up all the way too. Hmm....





So let me explain that I installed new e-brake shoes during the swap, and had the star adjusters at it's shortest length, and didn't adjust the brake shoes yet, so I understand this could be a factor. So I adjusted the brake shoes and indeed, this made the cables work well. Without brake shoe adjustment, you will not get enough braking force.


The star adjuster is in the oval slot at the backing plate:





So although I feel these (EB-3) cables are not optimized specifically for 97-01 XJ's, they will work if you do the following:

1. Maximize the length of the sheathing by having the threaded nuts near the ends instead of winding them in too much.
2. Adjust your e-brake shoes with star adjuster to the point of dragging the brakes, then back off a few clicks to free it back up.
3. Adjust cable tensioner (underneath handbrake lever) almost all the way in.

I still have about a 1/2 inch of adjustment left on the cable tensioner, but since the e-brakes are generally for static use, I dont think I will need to make any further adjustments. The e-brake handle is set to go up about 1/3 of it's total travel when in use.

Of course, I had to try an e-brake pull while driving (at slow speed) and I'm happy to say that it works better than the stock D35 e-brake.

Even though it was difficult to spend $130 for e-brake cables, they are well made and work well. Glad I got them.

Awsome thread thanks a million. This bad boy should be a sticky!

i just looked at the 8.8 i got for my xj and had some questions. How close is the the spring to hitting the caliper bolt? it looks really close on the one i bought that was already in a xj. So i guess the question is will you be able to remove the caliper bolt or is the spring in the way?

bobyep said:

i just looked at the 8.8 i got for my xj and had some questions. How close is the the spring to hitting the caliper bolt? it looks really close on the one i bought that was already in a xj. So i guess the question is will you be able to remove the caliper bolt or is the spring in the way?

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It's close but enough room to comfortably loosen the bolts and remove the calipers. There should be no issues when changing pads.

hey caligold did you loose a lot of up travel puting the shock where you mounted them?

A stock length shock has a total travel distance of 6 inches. With my setup, it can compress 3.5 inches and droop 2.5 inches. That's measured in shock travel and not wheel travel which is slightly more. I currently only have 3.5 inches of lift which is one of the limiting factors, but haven't bottomed out on the shocks yet with my bastard pack leaf springs.

i did the same swap but don't have alot of uptravel now ...i guess i'll have to make some new mounts

Re: Ford Explorer 8.8 Axle Swap - Write Up / Setup Data

CaliGold said:

I finished up my 8.8 swap last week and thought I would share my setup with you guys.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pictures. I put 8.8 brakes on my Dana60 and this thread showed me that I had put the backing plates on backwards. :banghead:
I was wondering why the calipers sat so low, this is how they're supposed to be...

:dunce: