Narrowing Ford 8.8 at home....

[Spork82]

Hey guys,

Looking for some advice or constructive critisim. I have a 8.8 that I bought for my 68 Mustang. Im wanting to narrow it an 1" per side, unfortunatly I don't think I can just cut the ends and weld up 9" plates since I already purchased my Wilwoods. I remember reading about a guy who drilled out the spot weld on the axle tubes (where it meets the center section) and used a bottle jack to push the tubes out and cut/weld back in. Anyone here tried this or have any suggestions.

TIA

[Quickboat]

Buy a new set of ends and weld them in. You can get a bigger bearing to boot.

[Rhino]

Agreed. using 9" bearing ends gives you a larger bearing in addition to c-clip elimination.

[Spork82]

Thanks guys, I found out that Strange Engineering makes 9" ends that will still allow you to use 8.8" brakes (stock or aftermarket). Next question is will my axles still work, I bought a brand new set of Ten factory 31 spline axles for it.

[Skip Fix]

Need to check the OD of axles vs the ID of the bearing the ends use.

Also it really needs to be done with a jig-usually a bar through the bearing saddles to insure it is exactly straight. Too much free play in axles and side gears to use them to locate it right.

[Spork82]

I ended up buying a sleeve kit to shorten the ends from fortesparts.com. Unfortunately using Torino ends would not work with my brake kit and those ends would require more material to be removed to be welded because of the 4 link shock mounts. And I really didn't want to try and sell the axles I have and buy new ones. This car won't be drag raced so removing the c-clips wasn't imperative.