Scott,

You don't NEED a nine inch for a stock 53 F100, however, a nine inch from a 57-72 pickup will almost bolt into your 53 and give you the same bolt pattern as the front, so it's an easy change over. As Ferg said, there are also many gear ratios available. Then, later if you decide to replace the old flathead, the nine inch will stand up to any engine you replace it with.

Vern

 

I almost forgot, another benefit from the 9" is it's available with a variety of bolt patterns. 5 x 5 , 5 x 4.5, etc. The 5 X 4.5 is especially useful if you're updating your front suspension to an MII, "Volare", Dakota or Cordoba as you'll only need one set of wheels for all four corners......

Vern makes sense though and you need to understand what your purpose is before you just yank out the stocker and go with a 9".............

Later,

 

I have my eye on one of these that had a 351C engine. Before I go jack it up and determine the tag case etc. can anyone answer whether or not the width will work on my 56 F-100? I think the ranchero had the good heavy case axles?

Also, in reading this sticky it seems width measurments vary. Should we all be measuring from wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface, and spring perch centers to spring perch centers?

Jeff

 

Jeff,

A 72 Ranchero should be almost perfect. Measure from the axle face to axle face (with the drums off) and it sould be somewhere around 59.25 to 61.25 inches. 61.0 to 61.25 would be perfect. 59.25 could easily work.

The thread above will tell you how to tell whether it has 28 or 31 spline axles, not that it matters that much unless you plan to do a lot of smokey burnouts...

Wouldn't worry about the spring perch measurements, except for the 57-72 F100 which would bolt in perfectly BELOW the springs, on virtually all differential swaps you'll end up moving (actually replacing) the perches anyway and it's not a big deal.

Later,

 

This is my rear tag data. I've tried getting the information from the rear end group to no avail. Maybe someone here could help me out. I'm searched out on all the search engines. So, thanks in advance for helping out if you can.

WEB AH5 3CC
3.25 9 865A


Ona6day

 

Kenny,

Plse unsticky this thread so it'll start to sink. The article will be in your hands within a week.

Thanks,

 

No problem. I'll keep an eye open for it.

 

Hello 777
Are you refering to my question on deciphering rearend tag codes?

 

The way I was informed that technique will work fine for even number bolt pattern, believe or not for odd number bolt pattern you go to the opposite bolt hole and measure from the outside of one hole to the center of the other one. Don't ask me way but it works. The other choice is to get a plastic ring that has either the metric or americican bolt patterns on it to match up to for $3.00. Ed ke6bnl

 

Can someone direct me to a thread concerning the installation of an 01 Explorer Rear End? Yes, I'm new!

 

I have done some research on 8.8" rear end assemblies and here is what I have found.

You can calculate the rear width by looking up the length of the two axles from a chart such as this: http://www.drivetrain.com/axle.html#FORD%20CAR

Add the length of both axles plus 0.625 for the gap inside the carrier. This will be the width flange to flange. Additionally you can add 0.25 to 0.375 for the thickness of each drum to determine the track width.

Here are some examples:

A narrow choice:
93-97 Ranger with 4L engine is 58.5 wide (28 spline) (can have 9x1.75 or 10x2.5 drum brakes) (5 on 4.5 bolt pattern)

Slightly narrower than stock:
90-94 Explorer is 59.5 wide (all should be 31 spline) (I think these have 10x2.5 drums) (5 on 4.5 bolt pattern)

A bit wider than stock:
Any Aerostar with 4 or 4.9L engine is 62.5 wide (all should be 31 spline) (10x2.5 brakes) (5 on 4.5 bolt pattern)

The Aerostar uses coil springs, so you might not be able to use the spring cups.

I measured the Ranger sping pads and they are 39.25 (center to center) which is about 1" narrower than stock. I would just weld a little extra on to the existing pad and re-drill the hole for the bolt.

There are also vehicles with 8.8" IRS but the Lincoln's and Thunderbirds used a rare 5 on 4.25 bolt pattern. I have only found the Cobra to have an 8.8 IRS with 5 on 4.5" pattern. You can swap the Cobra hubs onto the Lincoln spindles but some report the lower balljoint causes interference and has to be replaced.

A lot of the axles and brake parts from an 8.8 can interchange with the lighter 7.5" rear. That makes it easier to find lots of these parts in salvage yards.

Volvo use 8.8" rear assemblies but I haven't found any width information.

 

More 8.8" info

I went to get an Explorer rear and discovered a few new things.

The Explorer axle is mounted on top of the leaf springs (perches on the bottom side). This doesn't matter much because the perches are actually to narrow by about one inch so you will most likely be cutting them off.

The Explorer plates that go on the other side of the springs has a mount for the shocks. This might be usable for your bottom shock mount.

The 8.8 center housing is designed for 3.25" diameter axle tubes. The Explorer has 3.25 tubes all the way out to the ends (practically). It appears that all Aerostar vans also have 3.25 tubes the full width.

A Ranger 8.8, on the other hand, has axle tubes that taper down to 3.0" and thus allows the use of 3" perches and U-bolts. Another strange Ranger setup is the use of two different size brakes in the rear. I don't know why but some have small 9" brake drums and some have 10" drums. Also don't forget that Ranger axles are 28 spline where the Explorer and Aerostar are 31 spline.

I have a hunch that the center hub on the Explorer axles are bigger than an Aerostar so that the wheel can have a larger bore which allows it to slip over the bigger hub on the front axle because of 4 wheel drive. I tried to put Aerostar wheels on my axle in the junk yard and they wouldn't fit because of the center hub.

The 8.8" has a plastic like material cover. And it seems that Explorers are likely to have a limited slip carier.

All the rears have a sensor in the center housing for ABS/speed. There are teeth on the carier that the sensor can detect. I hope that I can use this for a speedometer because I have a weird transmision. Someone should be able to use this sensor to drive an electric speedometer.

 

Rapping up my input about the 8.8 rear end.

This is regarding the axles with drum brakes.

It is most desirable to at least get the 10"x2.5" drum brakes, staying away from the very small 9x1.75 drums.

If you did what I did and picked up an Explorer axle you will notice that although the Explorer uses the 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern it has a larger 1.75" hub in the center of the axle because of the 4 wheel drive.

Maybe this isn't a problem but if you have an Aerostar front end like I do and it has the standard 5 on 4.5 with a 1.5" hub then your wheels won't be interchangable.

I have a solution.

Aerostar and Rangers used 10x2.5 drum brakes on their rear axles and their 2 wheel drive versions had the smaller 1.5" center hubs. These drums are exactly the same size in every way except the center hole.

The solution is to remove your Explorer axles, remove the wheel studs and turn the center hub down on a lathe. Now you can use Aerostar drums and the same wheels will work in the front and the rear.

I happen to own a lathe so I did this and it only took a few hours. Make sure you measure the center of your new brake drums before you turn you axles down to get a nice fit.

Get any Aerostar drums, I referenced a 91 Aerostar for a part number.

I will put some pictures in my gallery but it is so simple there really isn't much to show.

 

This didn't occur to me at first but it is an easy solution for mounting your shocks.

See the pictures in my gallery.

Cut the ears off the Explorer spring pad plate thing. Also cut the rear flange off completely. I had them mounted so that the Explorer mounts where facing inside and back, where the shocks would almost work with my stock upper mounts.

Next you have to cut out a little of that inner cup thing.

Now you can mount the original shock mount across the two rear bolts. Works just like it did when it was stock. Why didn't I try this first?

This works when the Explorer axle is mounted on top of the leaf springs and you place the spring plate thing under the leaf spring stack.

 

Just a note on wheel fitment on 8.8 axles.

94-04 Mustang wheels do fit. I had some around and they bolted right up. No need to have the axle flange milled.
I figure I will use a Mustang space saver spare once I get to that point.
There are TONS of aftermarket wheels out there that should work on our trucks if you take this route!