Im going witha 8.8 rear swap and 3.73 gears. I was woundering if it would be cheaper and better to find on out of a junk yard or order from newtakeoff or v6mustang

 

I got mine from newtakeoff. It was sent directly to the shop that installed it and it came with the gears that I wanted (3.73) and the adapter for the V-6 drive shaft already attached. I have had it for about 5 months now and I have had absolutely no problems with it. It was a great modification and I am very happy with it. The only bad part about finding one at a junk yard is you really don't know how it was treated. My car was only a few months old when I put my 8.8 in so I wouldn't have condidered putting anything from a junk yard on it...my personal preference though.
Good luck with the upgrade. You will really enjoy the 3.73 gears!

 

Like he said above. You don't know what you get from a junk yard even with a guarantee. Two days shipping from newtakeoff and the rear was at my house. NEW and ready to go. A junk yard rear also has the wrong(V8)flange installed.

 

What adapter is that? do we need some kine of adapter to fit in the V6? I thought it was a simple swap and everything will fit in... I already have the 8.8 rear axle and the 3.73 gears ready to install but i don't have any adapter.. do i need one?? thanks..

 

In order to fit the V6 driveshaft to a GT 8.8" rear, a new pinion flange is required.

 

thanks 28HopUp .. i'm placing my order right now..

 

I just called newtakeoff and ordered the same after talking with the shop that was going to do my 3.73 gears & Trac-Loc... shop owner told me FRPP is discontinuing the 3.73 gears for 7.5" axle. I agree with some of the other posters who say they're more comfy knowing they have the beefier rear end.

BTW - when you call to order ASK for their BEST PRICE! I got my leather seat kit from them for $200 just by asking - and they sold me the GT axle with 3.73 for only $665... that makes it SO much better than playing around putting 3.73 on the 7.5" axle!

Good luck you guys!

 

WOW! This 3.73 gearing should have come stock! Now the engine is always IN the powerband and ready to accelerate at any moment. Before the swap, my crusing rpms were typically around 2100 and now they're 2600. The V6, like any smaller engine, likes higher rpms & the 3.31 gearing was bogging it down; 3.73 is just perfect IMO. When I'm on the highway in 5th @ 80mph my tach reads 2750... which is beautiful for the V6 powerband.

I honestly feel this mod makes a much more noticible performance improvement than a CAI & tune... but now that I have BOTH, it's amazing! The dyno will have to wait 500 miles, 'til I break in the brand new 8.8" GT axle and 3.73 gears. I'll admit it was rainy & driving home I unconsciously spinned the tires (plural!) a couple times & noted the T-Loc working! All in all, I'm wicked happy I did this & recommend it highly!

Considering that you avoid the cost and risks of a gear swap going wrong and causing you to go back repeatedly to fix it, you gain the T-Loc plus a beefier 8.8" axle... it's just a no-brainer! The shop did my install in 2 hours & I was on my way in a MUCH snappier car! Cost under $900..I'm a happy camper.

 

Thanks for the review and congrats on the new rearend. I plan to order one this week hopefully and I'll be tackling the install myself. That price you got is amazing!

I think one thing is being overlooked when it comes to this, those 3.73's were not in that rear end when it came off the GT. Someone had to add those. I've only heard of one of these takeoff being defective and that was blamed on defective installation. With that I assume most of these swaps go without a hitch, or better stated whine. I'm sure we'd be hearing about it if that was not the case.

Just wanted to throw this out there for others that may be new to this whole thing, because I was certainly guilty of assuming these takeoffs were not altered in any way. I spent considerable time debating/researching building the 7.5 or going with a 8.8 and I'm pretty confident the 8.8 is the way to go, at least for me, others may disagree. It's been talked about that the 7.5 can be built up nicely, but take into consideration the installation. You should have a very good understanding how to do so or you need to find a reputable installer who stands behind their work. Either way it's no guarantee you won't get whine, but for now my bet is the 8.8 is a safe way to go. So far it seems whoever is repacking these takeoffs is pretty good at it, hopefully none of the outfits supplying these gets sloppy on the gear changes, but if they do I'm sure the forums will learn of it.

iROK, good luck on getting to 500 miles and avoiding the temptation of letting it rip, thats the one thing I'm not looking forward to. I know you plan to dyno the car, do you have any baseline 0-60 or 1/4 mile times to compare before and after?

 

scorpio333, That's a good point about the gears, but there may be another explanation because there's no evidence that the rear end was ever opened up for a gear swap... I don't necessarily buy the story of the OEM parts coming from after-market companies discarding them during an "extreme makeover". I suspect these are axle assemblies coming out of Ford directly. Impossible to know for sure, but the most important thing is that the rear end performs as if it's brand-new.. and it does! No whine or any unusual sounds; nothing but a feeling of positive traction and lots of instant acceleration!

I have no baseline dyno run.. VMP advertises the CAI/Exhaust/Tune gets 210 hp and 250 ft-lbs torque compared to stock V6 185 rear wheel hp and 225 ft-lbs of torque. I'd like to see the specific dyno numbers for my car, but ultimately it's the 1/4 mile time that really matters.. I'll get back to you!