After going thru spider gears like a fat kid on cake in my ford 8.8 rear end with 33" in a 94 f150, ive decided to run a ford 9" axle. Now going into this i knew it was going to take some magic to make my speedometer work without the 8.8 tone ring. I have the mazda 5 speed but dont feel like messing with the internals to set it up for the speedometer. My mechanic is a very cool guy and is really working with me on this. But tommorow (thursday mar.11) is descion day. Im curious as to see if any of yall have ever adapted an 8.8" tone ring to a 9" carrier? The sensor is the least of my worries thats easy. weld a plate, drill a whole tap it for threads and sylicone it. Anybody have any experince with what im trying to do? the tone ring was originally pressed on the carrier of the 8.8 but the 9" carrier is about an 1/8" smaller on the OD of its carrier. He is thinking of machining the inside of the tone ring to be smooth and cut off the little locking lip, and centering it on the back of the 9" carrier and welding it in place but only spot welds. any ideas?

 

could just pull the ABS fuse and warning light and not worry about it.

Justin

 

Then i have no speedometer, no odometer, no tripopmeter. and no odemeter makes for a fishy story when i need warraty work on my new motor. Its 5yr/50,000miles warranty. I neeeeeed my speedo really badly. If it was just the abs i wouldnt have a problem with doing that but its also my speedo. Oh and my cruise control. i use that too much too.

 

just weld the spiders solid in the carrier and then dont wory about them

 

then what you were planning sounds like it oughta work. keep us posted on how it turns out, i'm sure there are alot of people interested in this.

Justin

 

LOL, weld up the spider gears... been there done that. about 3 weeks ago my trucks passenger rear tire, drum, wheel, and axle passed me in the ditch. my centerpin had grenaded itself and caused to axle to slip in, clip fall out and the whole assembly went its own merry way. I said no big deal, the spider gears way chipped and chewed up but in tact none the less. i went to the junk yard, bought a center pin, a new backing plate. i rebuilt the spring and shoe assembly that i had skidded on at 50mph, replaced the centerpin in the open diff along with the spider gears. noticed it was a bit loose but thought nothing of it. I welded it up and put it back under the truck. I tested it out later that afternoon and my welds broke, but nothing came apart. i then limped it home, pulled the diff cover and welded it AGAIN. it lasted a week. i was on my way to work when coming around a corner i heard a grinding noise, pulled over to find my drivers side wheel, tire, drum, and axle shaft about 2 feet outa the housing. i had it towed to the shop and found that the passenger side spider gear has somehow got bound up in the case itself, causing to much play with the other 3 spider gears and causing the c-clip to fall out, and my axle sliding out again. so there, lol, thats the story. when 8.8's are abused off-road they belong in jeeps and exploders, im done with it. im going 9" with a 35 spline option in the future.

 

why not just get a 10.25 sterling full float out of 250 hd that already has the sensor and throw it under there

 

no money for new wheels, and the ground clearnce would kill what little capability my 4x2 has. and i dont have the money for a 10.25. If i had the money to do that i would get a dana 60 or dana 70 out of an econoline van that had the senor. much better aftermarket for those then the 10.25, thanx tho.

 

Were I work we make tone wheels and pulse wheels. Thats all I can say right now.

 

either weld up your 8.8 correctly, or try making the tone ring work with the 9" another option might be to try and convert it back over to a normal speedo cable setup.

 

There may not be enough demand for the place I work at to make a tone wheel for the 9 inch set up. I am how ever going to continue this on my own.

What I need is an expert with the ford computer or the part that pertains to the speedo. I know enough to get myself in trouble. I have gone as far as calling a someone at Ford that works with the timing pulse wheels which are on the engine. he has no experience with the speedo set up but gave me a few things to look at. He also gave me a number of someone else but he only worked on one project with the other guy and does not work with the speedo set either.

I have gotten some helpful info from them but I need more. There are several variables when trying to design a tone wheel that one must look at. I am trying to come up with a simple design that would not require alot of work and can be installed with ease.

Any one have any spare speedo parts lying around?

 

we got the ring centered today and we tig welded it. It required us to notch about 3/16" off the top and bottom of the inside of the 3rd member. On monday we will be adapting the speedo sensor to the 9" housing. all is looking promising so far. and using a cable operated speedo would require dissasembly of the transmission to setup the speedo gears. its the mazda junk.

 

Keep me posted. If there is that kind of room then a tone wheel for the inside may be the way to go.

 

yippee!!!!!!!!! 4.10's in an ABS Ford 9"!! it works great!!. If youre not careful the ring will play with your backlash so it has to be dead nut on +/- 0.... and you have to clearnce the 3rd member but sofar all is perfecto!! i do need to add about 2" to my drive shaft tho. and man does this thing really move compared to my 2.73's...

 

Thats great.