The proper way to narrow and strength a 8.8 housing

[Kotacars]

It seams that this rearend is gaining popularity in cheap rear swaps but the truth is that if you want to do this right it's a lot of money and work I have been drag racing for over 20 years and I have never had one of these housings that were straight from the factory.

[MonzaRacer]

Strange, I know of probably a dozen of these or more that we ordered up with DOM tubing axle tubes, welded full circle and made sure the are straight, billet bearing ends, billet bearing caps, aftermarket axles and preload cover and these are holding up from anywhere from 450-500 to one guy with an ex 10.5 slick car pushing somewhere in the range of 1400 on NOS.
Now has a 1013hp twin turbo tall deck SBF, zero issues when well set up,,,,but they REALLY hold up much better with cryo treated pro gears over non treated. Same on axles, Cryo treat made big diff on street setups with locker/posi setups.

[Kotacars]

What I was saying is it's not cheap to set one up right and it takes skill and knowledge

[dontlifttoshift]

So, you're not going to show us the proper way?

[astroracer]

It seams that this rearend is gaining popularity in cheap rear swaps but the truth is that if you want to do this right it's a lot of money and work I have been drag racing for over 20 years and I have never had one of these housings that were straight from the factory.
There's the qualifier... Cheap or "right"... as is the case with anything out there.

[Kotacars]

So, you're not going to show us the proper way?

The right way is in the posted pic

[dontlifttoshift]

Forgive my ignorance. I didn't see anything magical in the picture and was looking forward to something educational.

Did you weld the tubes to the center section? It looks like the brace is welded to the center section, what welding rod does it take to do so? Looks like big bearing Ford ends now to eliminate the c clips, correct? How did you fixture the rear end? Did you weld the bearing ends on last? The housing pictured appears to be a Fox or SN95, is the process the same for S197? Is there a difference in the Explorer rear ends, they don't have the 4 link ears cast in and usually come with a posi 3:73 or 4:11 along with disc brakes and would be my first choice for a PT build, any thoughts on that?

[Apogee]

Just because some pictures are worth a 1000 words, it would be incorrect to assume that all pictures have that same worth IMHO.

[nastyn8]

I bought an explorer 8.8, disk brake 31 spline track lock 3.73 geared unit for my cougar for less than $100 out of the junkyard. Replacing one axle and narrowing the unit, replacing all of the bearings seals and rebuilding the brakes and the track lok will run less than $1000. It is hard to beat that. The harder part with the explorer rear is the 3.25" axle tubes with every car related link kit made for 3" tubes

[Kotacars]

I bet if you put a line up bar in that stock housing it's bent

[Kotacars]

Nickel 99 tig welding the center section to the tubes but my guess is you know that already.

[TheJDMan]

just because some pictures are worth a 1000 words, it would be incorrect to assume that all pictures have that same worth imho.

I Agree!

[jovozx12]

I bought an explorer 8.8, disk brake 31 spline track lock 3.73 geared unit for my cougar for less than $100 out of the junkyard. Replacing one axle and narrowing the unit, replacing all of the bearings seals and rebuilding the brakes and the track lok will run less than $1000. It is hard to beat that. The harder part with the explorer rear is the 3.25" axle tubes with every car related link kit made for 3" tubes

There isn't a big difference in 3.25 verse 3.00 when your welding on mounts and tabs. If they don't fit good you can just touch them up with a grinder. The only problem is when you are putting on full circle mounts which would require you to cut the ends off to slide them on and that's a whole nother issue. Just by the 3" stuff. You have issues let me know I can cut them out for you on my cnc plasma.

[nastyn8]

I figured that's what I will do. It may not be perfectly straight but ive heard none are and they serve the original cars for 100's of thousands of miles. I am only building a fun street car, it will suit me we'll.
and thanks for the offer, I am sorting the front before the rear but can't wait to get to the rear.