The 8.8 rear is one strong, readily available, and affordable rear end that is perfect for MANY projects. And because they came in so many different cars and trucks over the years they are in virtually every wrecking yard on earth. This means they are affordable and parts are still available new as well. But if you don’t have a Ranger, F150, Mustang, or some other Ford they came in stock, then they probably don’t just bolt right in and may or may not be the right length. And the length may not be the only issue as the offset center section is sometimes not ideal for all applications. Sometimes you can shorten just one side. Sometimes it takes both. In these videos you can see one option for how to narrow one that you pick up for your project. Is it the right way for you?
Check them out below.
Hmm. Had to watch w/ sound off but I guess I will step up anyway. If this were to be for a paying customer and not somebody’s d.i.y. out in the driveway, next step is toss that one and start over by doing the cutting and welding out on the end where stresses on a semi-float are lower to minimize any chance of eventual failure, and after the bracketry is welded on which is guaranteed to warp the tubes, and block off the tubes when cutting to not blow hot sparks and cutoff wheel media throughout the housing, and finally buy-borrow-or make (it’s easy) a standard precision fixture that indexes off the inner and outer bearing surfaces (the only ones that matter) to assemble and especially check the work afterward, that’s what they’re for, don’t fixture off the outside of the tube early-on and then leave it unless you can come back later and prove that everything’s straight which it probably won’t be. Just a helpful suggestion.
That is not the right way to do it . You need to use the bearing surface as a point of reference to make sure it is true .