Ok, this is not truck related, but you guys are so knowledgeable and the Mustang message board I use is not able to help me out. So, delete this thread if you must, but I'm sort of desperate and you guys have so much knowledge, I'm hoping someone is able to help me out.

My problem is I pulled my rear axle shaft in my Mustang (8.8 rear end) to replace the bearing and found a huge groove in the axle where the bearing rides. I am not finding any used axle shafts in the junkyards and the new ones are very expensive.

So my questions:

• Does anyone have any experience using a repair sleeve (like Redi-Sleeve or Speedi-Sleeve)?
• I have a machine shop guy who says we maybe able to weld some material in the groove and grind it down. But I need to find the exact specs on the axle, including tolerances. Anyone know where to find that info?

 

I dont know what the specs are but you should be able to measure the id of a new bearing and add 3-5 thousandths and get you in the right ballpark.

 

I have heard that the spedi-sleeve is a great repair item, but have not heard it can fix that large of a gap?

Have you looked for used OEM axle shafts at on line JY parts places? You would think you could locate some.

 

Speedi sleeve is to repair the surface the seal rides on, not what you need.
Did you check Ebay ?

 

I hadn't looked at eBay because I assumed that the shipping would be outrageous. I will check though; that is a good idea.

 

I think it would be a waste of money trying to repair that axle . Just my 2Cents ....

 

They make a special "axle saver" bearing that works with the worn axle shaft. I've used them in the past with success. I'll see if I can get more info.

 

Here's a link:
National Mustang Rear Axle Repair Bearing 7.5/8.8 1979-2004

 

I have had mixed results using repair bearings on axles . I would prefer to replace the axle . But ... Could be a get by repair .

 

I think I found one on eBay for a very fair price. If that doesn't work out I will fall back on the repair bearing.

Thanks for the help everyone. Glad you didn't run me off. I've been involved in a number of internet communities, and none hold a candle to FTE.

 

Outrageous pricing is very subjective, but in about 5 seconds, I found , with free shipping.

Are you outside of the US? I'm curious as to where one may live that there isn't a single 8.8 axle shaft in a junk yard.

Is dealer pricing terrible?

 

For future reference: Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

 

No that is a decent price. My search is narrower than just Ford 8.8. I have rear drums and 4 lugs which narrows it down a good bit, especially in the junkyard. The 20+ year old cars are getting harder to find. There are a couple of other models I found that would work, but they are even rarer (early 80's LTD or Thunderbird). Only two junkyards within an hour had the car I needed. One sold the rear end out last week. The other would only sell the whole rear end.

The only one I saw on Amazon for a decent price had the wrong number of splines, even though it said it would work, which made me leery to use that seller.

Dealer pricing has been in the $230 range.

EBay really came through. I should have checked there first. The shaft is so heavy, I assumed that I would have to get it locally or pay a lot for shipping. That's not the case.

 

you can pull axle shafts out of a ranger 8.8 and up grade to 5 lug at the same time, but you need two junk ranger 8.8s. Only one shaft fits