79 malibu rear end

[tommi3520]

Hi guys

Now its time for a rear end on my 1979 2 door malibu, i snapped an axle because of wheel hop and i see the casing is in bad shape so instead of wasting money on this i have been offered to buy a 8.8 rear from a ford explorer, Any infos on that?, Maybe the ford soes not fit because its longer but i have to mesure that. Please feel free to add some notes if you have any!

thanks!
Tomas

 

[bowtie81]

Hey Tom
Do a search on the site for the 8.8 conversion, they are getting popular for g bodies. You'll def need control arm swap.

 

[dwkohout]

a 8.8 rear from a ford explorer

The explorer rear uses leaf springs so no mounts for the 4 link.

 

[tommi3520]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Im gonna answer myself for others that might view this thread, Here are threads that i found:

Ford 8.8 swap....

If you rewelded the lower mounts.... The axles are very similar in width. What about the upper control arms? I wonder if the differnce in the "ears" is too substantial. I plan on running spherical bushings on both ends. I just thouht about it... 8.8 is a dime a dozen (so are 7.5 housings) I...

www.maliburacing.com

how many 8.8 Mustang rear ends?

How many of you have installed the 8.8 Mustang rear end in your G body? Do you have any pictures? Did you have to change the lower controll arm brackets or did you use the Mustang brackets? What did you do about the difference in over all width of the rear ends? What parts were required for the...

www.maliburacing.com

I live in Iceland so buying control arms or some kits to go with the mustang rear end is expensive, so my plan was to take the 8.8 and my 10 bolt to a garage and have them weld all the 10 bolt ears and brackets onto the 8.8 and bolt it into place, i dont know if i have to mod the driveshaft and i have to double check the width of the two rears.

 

[xclreaper]

Nice links. That will help alot of people out im sure.

 

[tommi3520]

I mesured the 10 bolt 146cm and the 8.8 explorer 150cm (where the rim ends to the drum)
So that will work i think.

What im thinking now
-is to make new holes on the axle for the bolts that hold the tire. So i can use my old rims and tires.
-use the 10 bolt drum on the 8.8. (junkjard has the 8.8. but drums are missing)or use the back plate and drum off the 10 bolt to the 8.8

Answer if anybody knows, i´ll update how this goes.

 

[SSedan64]

What are you going to do about the lack of UCA mounts on the 8.8"?
Welding Cast is next to impossible at a high stress point.
Could try this Truss setup option:

ford 8.8 truss system for g body.

Hey everyone. I was wondering if someone could point me in the direction of a good truss system for the 8.8. This is going in my 86 cutlass. My spring break is in two weeks and would like to finished this rearend swap during that time. I am going to get a rearend from a 97' and up Ford...

www.hotrodders.com

A few more 8.8" Info links:

Ford 8.8 swap compatibility

Are all the ford explorers posi or is it just the V8 explorers? I'm asking because I want the explorer 5 bolt axles and I have a posi from a 87 mustang that had 4 bolt axles both are 28 spline....any suggestions?

www.hotrodders.com

Ford Ranger Rear Axles - The Ranger Station

www.therangerstation.com

8.8 install done with pics

well i heard it would work and it does. started with 8.8 mustang rear out of 92. 33 spline axles,spool, c-clip elemintor, 410 gears removed old ford brackets from 8.8 removed old 7.5 pos meaured old brackets from 7.5 took a long time to make sure i did not damage brackets and spring...

gbodyforum.com

I would try to find some Ford Drums & have both Axle/Drum or Disc Rotors re-drilled with GM pattern.

 

[tommi3520]

thanks for valuable info!, ill have the uca problem in mind!

maybe ill do this:

but ill have to talk to the garage that would do this work for me, yeah ill try to get the drums with!

Tomas

 

[tommi3520]

I just bought a 8.8. But now i see that the housing is not centered, the yoke is not in the middle and not even close.

My plan was not to change the width of the housing nor change axle length, just weld the brackets off the 10 bolt and put it on the 8.8

am i misunderstanding somthing or?

 

[prairiehotrodder]

you should have bought a nine inch. Then you would have something to work with. A 70's ford truck 9" is the best one to get and then you can weld to the center. Get rid of the exploder diff.