Thread: 8.8 Mustang rear axle question

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I have two questions:

1) I posted this on another forum, and didn't really get an answer, so I thought I would see if there is a Ford expert on here that might know.

I have never built an 8.8 rear end. My one Son is building a drag/street '84 Capri, and he is using an 8.8 rear that we picked up a while back. It has already been prepped with 3:73's, girdle, etc. My Son pulled the axles to have drag wheel studs pressed in, and we noticed that both axle end bearings protrude about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch from the housing. You can see this much of the shiny bearing sticking out.

We have another 8.8 that is pretty stock, and the bearings on this one are flush with the ends of the axle housings.

One person on the other forum ventured a guess that these bearings were axle savers, and designed to ride on a different portion of the axle, to correct some wear. But I looked at the axles, and there is no wear anyplace on them. We tried tapping them in further, and they won't budge, even though it feels like there is some room behind them when I put my finger in there.

What have we got here? Should we just leave it as is? The axles seem to seat ok, and the backing plates etc, seem to fit fine. Help !!!!

2nd question: My original user name was Donsrods, and it got to where I couldn't log in, so I redid it as "meagain", then that got wiped out too. So when I saw a thread where other people were saying they were having trouble, I came back on as "Itold youso." But I would LOVE to regain my first "Donsrods" user name. The one I am using makes me look like a smart***, and I don't really want to come across that way. How can I get my old user name back?

It must still be in there somewhere, but no matter how I try to sign on under that name and password, it says it doesn't recognize me.

Thanks alot.

Send a PM to Bill (MRMUSTANG, I think) Never have ran an 8.8, can't help you there....... Does the bearing seat all the way into the housing??? Could measure that. If the bearing is not all the way into the housing, then measure from where the inner edge of the bearing seats to the cross pin in the carrier, match that to the measurement on the axle from the inner edge of the bearing to the tip of the axle........ They use a C-Clip retainer, so you can't just grind a bit off the end of the axle I don't think????? Maybe also match the width of the bearing to a new bearing at the part store.....

there are different width's of 8.8 axles, t bird and lincoln town car were a bit wider I have seen info in the 5.0 magazines. also I think the later mustang's are a bit wider. the ranger pickup has one axle shaft that is the same width as the must. must uses two the same length ranger had different side to side If you want 5 bolt you need two ranger's to get the parts also lincoln town car rear disc are suppose to be an easy swap, I have a lot of parts but haven't finished putting them all together, 2 5.0 must, 2 5.0 capri, ranger with 5.0 am hobbling around on crutches right now so not doing anything

Originally posted by Itoldyouso
I have two questions:

1) I posted this on another forum, and didn't really get an answer, so I thought I would see if there is a Ford expert on here that might know.

I have never built an 8.8 rear end. My one Son is building a drag/street '84 Capri, and he is using an 8.8 rear that we picked up a while back. It has already been prepped with 3:73's, girdle, etc. My Son pulled the axles to have drag wheel studs pressed in, and we noticed that both axle end bearings protrude about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch from the housing. You can see this much of the shiny bearing sticking out.

We have another 8.8 that is pretty stock, and the bearings on this one are flush with the ends of the axle housings.

One person on the other forum ventured a guess that these bearings were axle savers, and designed to ride on a different portion of the axle, to correct some wear. But I looked at the axles, and there is no wear anyplace on them. We tried tapping them in further, and they won't budge, even though it feels like there is some room behind them when I put my finger in there.

What have we got here? Should we just leave it as is? The axles seem to seat ok, and the backing plates etc, seem to fit fine. Help !!!!

2nd question: My original user name was Donsrods, and it got to where I couldn't log in, so I redid it as "meagain", then that got wiped out too. So when I saw a thread where other people were saying they were having trouble, I came back on as "Itold youso." But I would LOVE to regain my first "Donsrods" user name. The one I am using makes me look like a smart***, and I don't really want to come across that way. How can I get my old user name back?

It must still be in there somewhere, but no matter how I try to sign on under that name and password, it says it doesn't recognize me.

Thanks alot.

where are the axle seals?

Darned good question. I never gave that a thought.

I've got to find an exploded picture of an 8.8 to see what is what. Like I said, I have zero experience with this particular rear end, what with C clips and all.

You have raised a really good question. Thank you, and thanks to everyone who responded.

Don

Duh. The answer was right in front of me, thanks for pointing it out. I pulled the Chiltons Manual, and it says the bearing goes in first and the seal on the outside. OF COURSE IT DOES ! It has been so long since I've done a rear axle, I forgot about the seal.

Chiltons says there are two kinds of rear axle bearings on the 8.8, one is a press fit, the other is a loose fit. Both work ok. Then it says to install the seal after the bearing seats.

My Son and I are going to pull the axles again on Wednesday night, and see what we have there.

Thanks again for making me stop and think. Don

Originally posted by Itoldyouso
Duh. The answer was right in front of me, thanks for pointing it out. I pulled the Chiltons Manual, and it says the bearing goes in first and the seal on the outside. OF COURSE IT DOES ! It has been so long since I've done a rear axle, I forgot about the seal.

Chiltons says there are two kinds of rear axle bearings on the 8.8, one is a press fit, the other is a loose fit. Both work ok. Then it says to install the seal after the bearing seats.

My Son and I are going to pull the axles again on Wednesday night, and see what we have there.

Thanks again for making me stop and think. Don

thats what we're here for.