Thinking of installing a 87-93 mustang 8.8" rear end in my 66. My question is: Are all 87-93 mustang rear ends 8.8"? I have located one on craigs list for $80. It has 3.42 gears which is just right, but it was in a 4 cyl car. Isn't there a 7.5" out there also?

 

I believe the 8.8's only came in V8 (and possibly SVO) cars. Most are 3.00:1 or 3.25:1, but I believe there are some floating around that are 3.55:1.

Keep in mind, the fox body rear will be wide for your car. It's the perfect width for a 67-68 car, but you'll need to either shorten the rear or get wheels with different backspacing to make it work on yours.

 

You might be better off looking into an Explorer rear axle. The Explorer 8.8 has a stronger carrier than the Mustangs do. You will have to cut the length down on an Explorer axle though. Mustang rears have a 28 spline carrier with a 3/4" crosspin whereas the Explorer axles have a 31 spline carrier with a 7/8" crosspin. All Explorers up through 2001 have this axle in various ratios from 3.27 thru 4.10 gears.

 

Stronger carrier, or stronger differential? The carrier is non-removable, and it doesn't care which axles you have. The differential is what is splined for the axles.

 

Differential. What you'll find is that the Explorer axles have an offset carrier because most of them are 4WD. Fortunately, you have to cut the axles down far enough to fit in a Mustang that you can re-center it that way. You can also find quite a few with limited slip rears in them. In the chart below, C is an open differential, L is a limited slip rear. The code is what you will find in the doorjamb on the Explorers.


Code ... Ratio
41 ...... 3.27C
42 ...... 4.10C
43 ...... 3.08C
45 ...... 3.55C
46 ...... 3.73C
D1 ...... 3.27L
D2 ...... 4.10L
D4 ...... 3.73L
D5 ...... 3.55L


To the OP...just curious as to what axle you have right now and why do you want to change it out?

 

I just checked my 2000 Explorer, it looks like I got 4.10's in her.
I forgot, what is a open differential compared to limited slip????

Lynn

 

An open differential means that the power is basically applied to only one axleshaft at a time (the side with less resistance). This allows the outer wheel to rotate faster in the corners, keeping the drivetrain from binding up. A limited slip rear has clutches in the center of the differential that allow it to supply power to both wheels simultaneously, but still allow slippage in the corners to keep the drivetrain from binding. If you go to a full locked axle, then both axleshafts are locked together and when cornering, you will get binding because the outside wheel in the corner cannot rotate faster than the inside wheel.

 

I am in the process of converting to a 8.8 out of a exploder. It is turning out to be easier than i thought. I will also get rear disc and a trac loc with 3.73s. Yah Yah