My friend has a ford 8.8 he got out of a junk yard, it has axles, suspension and all that stuff with it.. My question is, how hard would it be to converter this over to use on my car? and would it even be worth it? I read on ls1.com about a guy who did a conversion for like 1200.. But I wanna see if I can have some local do it for cheaper. I was thinking of buying some moser or strange axles and welding them on so then I could use my suspension I have now, get a 31 spline stuff and a strong posi or whatever so it would be beefy, and I would have to have something fabricated for the torque arm and the U joint on the driveshaft to make it longer and fit the rear too.. What are your thoughts? worth it? its only 75 bucks...

 

you might as well get a used 12 bolt in for sale section for around 1500+/-

 

if your gonna do it dont waste your time with the 8.8! i found a 9" out of a ford 4wd 75-79 truck 1/2 ton. it had a nodular center and 31 spline axles a posi and 3:90 gears all i did was shorten it have it drilled for my bolt pattern and the brackets welded on it ran me just under $900

 

you can do a 10 bolt -> 8.8 conversion really cheaply... Will will need access to a machine shop to create a set of collars for the slight difference in axle tube diameters. You'll also need a rear end jig to line everything up perfectly before you weld it all back together.

Find an 8.8 rear with 28 spline posi and the gear ratio you want. Pull the axles. Chop the axle tubes off a 10 bolt and off the 8.8. Weld the 10 bolt axle tubes to the 8.8 center section (using machined collars to strengthen it up).

All the brackets are there except the torque arm. Fab one up and you're ready to throw the axles in and drive it. 4 channel ABS (with traction control) won't be affected. If you have 3 channel ABS (no traction control), get a traction control 10 bolt and extend the center ABS sensor wires to the left or right sensor and you'll still have 3-channel ABS.

You can then get by using the axles out of the 10 bolt -- remember that the axles are now the weakest part of the rear. If I were you, I'd upgrade to a good set of 28 spline axles (summit racing sells a set for $250) and it should hold a hell of a lot more power that the stock 10 bolt. It still isn't a 12 bolt or a ford 9", but you can usually do this for around $600-800 if you keep your eyes open for the right parts.

 

i did my 9" for around 870 and it was easyer than that

 

If you're worried about keeping ABS (and have some skill w/ a welder), then the 8.8/10-bolt hybrid is a good idea. If you have no need for ABS, then swap in an old 9" and create a torque arm mount.

 

Any of you have an idea how to make the bracket for the torque arm in a 8.8??
Have any pics??