AkumaNoZeta Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 We all know you can buy American independent rear differentials such as the Ford 8.8 from the Mustang, custom 9", and Dana 60 from Corvettes. But I want to know if there's a article or something somewhere that describes how to customize your own live axle differential to one of an independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 I found this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Explorer-2002-05-Rear-Differential_W0QQitemZ170340230834QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item27a911a6b2&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A12|39%3A1|72%3A1171|240%3A1318 I like how it's aluminum and it wouldn't be that much different then mounting an R differential. What I don't really like is that it only has one tab on the front which makes me think that it would twist the housing on hard acceleration when it lifts it. What do you all think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=132822 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 I was actually more interested in being able to get a Ford 9" from a junkyard and being able to cut it down for use as for an independent rear, or cutting down my 8.8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I was actually more interested in being able to get a Ford 9" from a junkyard and being able to cut it down for use as for an independent rear, or cutting down my 8.8. Why would you try to convert an 8.8 to independent when you can get an independent 8.8 out of an explorer like in your ebay link? You need to securely mount the housing to install the diff. If you started with a straight axle, there are no ears cast into the iron housing to attach to a subframe or mustache bar. If you went with the IRS 8.8 then you would have attachment points built into the housing, much better for ease of installation. Tough to tell from a picture, but the one in the auction almost looks like an aluminum housing. On the 9, I'm SURE somebody has done an IRS version of it, and I think it would be easier to start off with someone else's housing than trying to mod a stock cast iron one. At least try to find a steel housing that you could weld to in order to attach it to the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 With the C5 subframe, you just need to build a "cage" to mount the upper control arms and struts. You can do that with it off the car, so its just one complete unit and then fab mounts to attach it into the chassis and then you're pretty much done, beside the drive line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo7MN Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Seems like it would be a lot of work to try and make a conversion when you can get an IRS diff ready to go. I've always been a big fan of the Mark VIII 8.8 diff, it aluminum, uses a standard gear set so any ratio and diff type under the sun is available and it isn't too hard to mount. The only real PITA thing about it is the axle shafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Thats why I was asking, I wanted to see if the effort would be worth it (because I can get live axles for free compared to actually having to PAY for an IRS version). The only 9" versions I have found were only sold as a kit/set with the Jaguar type IRS and I couldn't find it alone. Is the 8.8 cast iron? I read how the 5.0 guys weld a bead around where the axle tubes are pressed into the housing and I thought welding cast iron was very difficult, if possible. That means it's steel right? Same thing with the 9", with the ones I saw the axle tubes were welded into the housing...but the 3rd member is a seperate peice and I'm sure those are cast iron. When it comes to the 9" a custom housing can be made, and not really that hard to make, just time consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 You've got a point there. My main issue was if the housing is cast iron it would be hard to weld on mounts. Since you are correct that people weld on the axle tubes, I suppose it isn't cast iron. Still, the aluminum housing of the 8.8 IRS diff and the fact that you wouldn't need to make the mounts and weld them on are attractive features for that diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Yeah, I didn't know about the aluminum ones until after I searched for articles about IRS differentials and got a link to the ebay auction of that diff. I'm attracted to the aluminum factor because I read one guy saying it was only 65 lbs compared to the short nose's 75lbs and the 8.8 has more gear ratio options. I am still kinda worried about the thing having a single ear on the nose of the diff causing it to twist and eventually break with hard accelerations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Yeah, I didn't know about the aluminum ones until after I searched for articles about IRS differentials and got a link to the ebay auction of that diff. I'm attracted to the aluminum factor because I read one guy saying it was only 65 lbs compared to the short nose's 75lbs and the 8.8 has more gear ratio options. I am still kinda worried about the thing having a single ear on the nose of the diff causing it to twist and eventually break with hard accelerations. I have a friend that had a race truck that used a Ford 8.8 independent in it. He used a built 383 and never broke the diff housing. And he was hard on this truck. He did find the factory limited slip unit was a joke and eventually moved to a beefier unit that was still way cheaper than anything you could get for a R200. And yes the Aluminum units are much lighter than the factory diffs we have. There are a few of us trying to come up with a simple rear diff solution based on these but so far no one has anything running Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vega Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 i a have a 1990 240sx i am working on getting a 327 in and one of the bigget problems in this is that the stock r200 is a 4.08 gearing.. i am very interested inwhat you guys are doign to get the 8.8 to work with the irs. not that the r200 is week of course - its that i cant find any gearign options nismo and no one else really offers anything that is going to be that much of a difference. the 8.8 sounds great but what are all doing about the axle shafts and the hubs etc. etc .etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 the 8.8 sounds great but what are all doing about the axle shafts and the hubs etc. etc .etc. I personally haven't made a lot of progress but was headed down the path you'll find described on the V8 RX7 forum. That is to take the stock Ford CV halfshafts and cut down the inside and weld on a flange and use the bolt-in CV conversions available for the Z car. This takes care of the outer hub issues a lot of people are worried about. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vega Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 where does one get the conversions? also what kind of power with it hold (8.8 diff) updates? vega- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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