Ben, thanks for the info. I was thinking about an Explorer rear for a future project but I'll be re-thinking it now...

 

i had too dig awhile to find a diff to replace the dana in my 53 , and it got tossed into my lap when the 87 crown vic i parted was given to me . the 8.8 from it is 3/8 of an inch wider than the oe diff . it's working out fine so far when i have the energy and time to play and with the 48-56 ford passenger rims i'm gonna run , and the offset of them , and smaller 205 75 15's i will not have any issues with clearance . maybe think of one of the square bodies as a donor next time eh ?????

 

I also have an 8.8 out of an Explorer. that needed spacers...just to add confirmation...once again..."Everything you read on the WWW is always true and correct".....isn't it?

 

Good to know. I'll add Crown Vic to my list of possibles. I'd rather be 3/8 of an inch too wide than two inches too narrow...

 

yep vern , you can rob all the four link oe stuff and the coils and run it as is with a fabbed xmember , or as i have done and cut all the brackets off bought a set of 3 1/4 perches from currie's and put it under the leaf springs . if you get one ut of a retired squad you get 11 inch drums , plain ol' civilian is 10 inch drums and all the parts are available at any parts house . i originally kept the shock mounts on it but when i put it under the frame and springs they were in the way of the u bolts . so you'll have to fab some or visit curries or speedway and tweak a set of mounts that are 3 inch for a 9 inch axle tube . i think ballistic fabrication had 'em for an 8.8's 3 1/4 tubes but don't remember i'll have to look again . it's also already 5 x 41/2 bolt pattern as so many of us have swapped too . if i would have used my 6 inch wide truck rims from an 83 with the offset they have they would have been rubbing the fenders with a tire with 7-8 inch cross section . yes i know they were a different pattern but i was thinking of trying to find someone to swap the passenger car centers into the wider truck rim ............they are still pretty common around here the square bodies and can be had cheap as most are just worn out . member the town car was 'prolly the same platform .

 

Thanks for the info Kevin!

 

i am a walking library of useless and trivial stuff ............. god only knows why !!!!!!!!!!! LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i got hundreds of hours of research into things like making my own disc brakes for the front including bearings to use , donor vehicles etc. in notebooks and i haven't finished one project , but maybe someday it will be of use too someone !!!

 

At the stock height my explorer axle would have worked. However, with the rear being 4" lower than stock, the box is now between the tires rather than above the tires. I went with 1 and 1/2" spacers, IIRC. Red locktite and torque them properly. I bought them from a 4x4 company on ebay, can't remember the name.

 

Vern, I don't know about the reasons for others but I do know my reasons. I have a TCI MII front end and with the wheels I had there wasn't enough backspace and they rubbed on the fenders. The wheels I had were 8" x 15" with no offset so a small amount of backspace (about 2 1/2"). I had to get new wheels so I ordered 4 with 3 3/4" backspace. The fit perfect on the front but not on the back. I need the spacers to get them wide enough for the bed to fit. I could have bought different backspace wheels, but since I had already bought the second set, and 4 new tires that wouldn't fit the new 7" x 16" rims, I decided to get the spacers instead.