My Ford 8.8 swap write-up

[Knanthrup]

Hi guys. Sorry for all the posts on this topic lately, but I thought I would make a new one because I finished my write-up on my 7.5 to Explorer 8.8 rear swap. I did it to share it with everyone my experience and I figure a lot of you may find it helpful if you're looking to do a fairly simple rear end swap without having to narrow or heavily modify parts.



EDIT: THE ADDRESS HAS CHANGED TO

www.knant.com/axleswap/index.htm



Enjoy!



Images may be a little slow to load, let me know if it's deathly slow or dies I may have to change servers.

[redneckgames]

Awesome. You have made me to want to do the swap! The page is great. My computer is slower than hell and it downloaded everything great. you done an awesome job with the write-up. thanks

Brad

[Knanthrup]

Hey no problem. I did it for the community and everyone else to have something to reference to. I know the rumor around here has been back and forth about whether this is a good swap or not and I thought I would clear it up with some details and pictures to back it up!

[redneckgames]

Have you driven it much? Any difference? I mean except for the posi and 3.73\'s

[Knanthrup]

Yeah I really finished it last night and took it out right away. I actually just took it for a spin 5 minutes aho too. It has a really solid feel to it. The axle actually lowered the rear of my truck too, id guess maybe .5-1\", i think because the larger diameter tubing spaces the wheel up higher on the spring. Hard to explain the feel really but it definitely feels different, like i said more of a solid riding feeling. The added weight to the rear may be part of it. The brakes feel stronger, and the posi and 3.73 gears made an even bigger difference than anything. I can\'t tell you how great it is to have a posi, the grip is just wonderful. And the gears made my useable power much easier to obtain, especially since my NV3500 has fairly wide ratios. Right now it\'s no doubt the best mod ive done to the truck besides the engine swap itself

[JAMCAR223]

KNANTHRUP- YOU KNOCKED THAT SWAP OUT

QUICK! GLAD TO HEAR IT PAID OFF AND YOUR HAPPY. I HAVENT HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT

YOUR INFO YET BUT I WILL.I JUST LOL\'D CAUSE I SEE YOU ALREADY UPDATED YOUR BIO W/ 8.8. ANYWAY,IMO THE ONLY GOOD THINGS FORD MAKES ARE THEIR REARENDS??

[JAMCAR223]

JUST CHECKED OUT YOUR WRITE-UP, GOOD JOB!!! I MAY BE PARANOID,BUT MY ONLY AREA OF CONCERN WOULD BE THE\"MIS\"ALIGHMENT OF YOUR LEAF SPRING STUDS.GUESS WE\'LL KNOW WHEN YOU GET IT TO THE TRACK.BTW THATS A NASTY LOOKING LEG INJURY-CANT BELIEVE IT DIDNT BREAK-

WITH ALL THAT SWELLING THAT WAS A HARD HIT!

[Knanthrup]

On 2005-03-16 15:33, JAMCAR223 wrote:

JUST CHECKED OUT YOUR WRITE-UP, GOOD JOB!!! I MAY BE PARANOID,BUT MY ONLY AREA OF CONCERN WOULD BE THE\"MIS\"ALIGHMENT OF YOUR LEAF SPRING STUDS.GUESS WE\'LL KNOW WHEN YOU GET IT TO THE TRACK.BTW THATS A NASTY LOOKING LEG INJURY-CANT BELIEVE IT DIDNT BREAK-

WITH ALL THAT SWELLING THAT WAS A HARD HIT!

Hey thanks for your comments, I really appreciate it. The swap really didn\'t take long at all. A lot of it was spent cleaning up the axle, from there it was pretty straight forward with exception to the driveline attachment which I had to make a run to NAPA for the new U-joint. The \"mis-alignment\" doesn\'t really worry me. It was just enough for me to have to pull the spring by hand to get it to pop in. With the U bolts around the axle and mounting it down, the spring is sitting completely flush with the axle with no slop or sign of trouble. I will certainly give it a test at the track though. Opening test n tune is beginning of april here.



I did update my profile I just want everyone to know it can and has been done and if they need someone to talk to im here. I\'m probably one of few with this rearend in an s-10 right now. As far as Ford stuff goes, yes this is the only Ford part I would ever use on my truck. I would have loved to have used a Chevy 12 bolt but there is absolutely nothing I could find that would fit without narrowing. I guess I don\'t feel too bad because everyone and their brother is running ford 9\'ers at the track in every make of car. Some day I might go back to a chevy rear though.

[Knanthrup]

fyi, the address has changed to www.knant.com/axleswap/index.htm



my other server went down and i got a few questions about it

[buckethead]

well yall can chalk another ford 8.8 under the rear of another s-10. I finished installing mine today, and this write up helped me out tremendously!! Thanks Knanthrup!