I'm building a ~580hp 383 for an 84 Z and decided to go Ladder-bars to get rid of the LCA's so I can respline the axles n get the rim to move further inwards, however... whats the power ratings on the Ford 8.8? Should be easy to pick up from a junk yard.

My intention is to find an 8.8 from an 85+ mustang (any year reccomendations?) n have 4.11, 4.30 or 4.56 gears installed (depends on tire size I end up going with) with a Spool (cheaper than a locker, dont need much streetability!). Im assuming that when using a spool it also raises the life expectancy of the rear since theres no spider gears to break.

Also I heard that when resplining, the original splines are on a specially hardened part of the axles so when u narrow the rear and respline, you're effectively removing the strong part of the axle and putting splines in the not so hard remainder of the axle, is this true? How badly does it affect strength? I just wanna find a cheap rear end to build up mildly so I dont break my stock 3rd gen rear when the engine goes in.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if anyone in the central florida area can tell me where to find an 8.8 rear and what kinda price I should expect from a junk yard then please lemme know.

 

Well, as far as "power ratings" are concerned, I believe that Dale Basemann is running one in his 10-second turbo Impala. That has to say something about 'em.

 

Well, if you're going to be cutting the housing down anyway, you might as well start with one out of an explorer... you'll get the larger 31spline goodies inside from the factory.

WRT to resplining the axles... At issue is that the root of the splines should be larger in diameter then the axle and when cutting and resplining you almost never end up with that, and almost anything that you do about it will end up being weaker anyway. Any hardening could be redone afterwards so that shouldn't be an issue.

Considering that, the fact that you'll really want to install some sort of aftermarket axle ends to eliminate the C-clips... you'd be better off just going aftermarket with the axles and getting them exactly the right length and ends for what you need.

WRT to strength, there's plenty of mustangs in the 9's with them, and I believe that there are a few in the 8’s…

 

Do you know of anyone who has used an 8.8 in an f-body before, does anyone have pictures of the set up

 

There is a thread on LS1tech right now talking about a guy in Louisianna taking stock axels and making them work on 8.8 rears. Installed with gears for $1500. Pictures too.

 

There are plenty of Mustang guys running 9s and even 8s with 8.8 rears.
Of course, they aren't running stock axles.

 

How about a link? I just looked for it and couldn't find it...

 

do you know if they have any pictures of the setup ?

 

Try 7's. Excellent rear, They hold pretty good.

 

I'm currently having an '03 Cobra 8.8" assembly (even larger 31-spline inner axle shafts than the '01) built for my car ('95 RX-7). I wanted to retain the IRS but increase the power handling, and the fringe benefit is that the aluminum carrier shaves about 15 lbs. of weight as well as being stronger.

I will have custom 300M half shafts made, but suffice it to say that the 8.8" is plenty strong. Mine will be going behind 650+ horsepower and 560+ lb-ft. of torque and an M6 with a Street Twin.

I'm using Ford Motorsports 3.55:1 gears, a Zexel Torsen T2-R "race" differential, and Mark Williams billet bearing caps.