[Mac88]

I am looking for a set of 3.73 gears for a 88 Mustang. I guy is trying to sell me a set for $100 but he said they're for a GM. Is there a difference and will these work?

[lmsport]

Nope, wont work.

This will. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-4209-88373/

[pontiacjosh]

x2 wont work you probably have an 8.8 so only 8.8 gears will work

[TroyBoy]

IF you have an 8.8, you should be able to get a set from tha salvage yard cheap. They came in a lot of Explorers and Mountaineers. I have a 97 Mountaineer and it also has Traction-Lock. The tag on the rearend should say something like "3L73" IIRC. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Mac88]

Did all explorers come with the 3.73s? If I pull a set off a explorer in the junk yard, how can I be sure they're 3.73s?

[pontiacjosh]

count the number of ring gears and the number of pinion gears and divide the ring gear by the pinion gears

[TroyBoy]

There should be a metal tag on one of the bolts.It will have the gear ratio embossed on it. It will say "3.73", this is a single track or "3L73", this is a Traction-Lock rear. They also put 4.10s in some accoirding to other sources I have talked to. Remember that you will probably need the carrier also,depending on what gears you have already. There is an Explorer website with lots of info but I can't remember the name right now,sorry.

[Mac88]

The gears in there now are 4.56s. Too much! I want to go with the 3.73. Will I need the carrier?

[prostreet6t9]

Originally Posted by Mac88

The gears in there now are 4.56s. Too much! I want to go with the 3.73. Will I need the carrier?

The carrier is the same.

[Mac88]

I may have asked this before. If I did, sorry for repeating myself. Someone told me it would be much easier and probably cheaper to just pull an entire rear end of a explorer that already has 3.73 gears in it and swap the whole thing. Does anyone agree with that? First time I've ever dealt with rearend gears, so this whole process will be a learning experience for me.

[TroyBoy]

The explorer/mountaineer rearend wont work as a swap but the internals will. Explorers/mountaineers have an offset rearend(one axle is longer than the other) and the short axle is supposed to be the same length as one of the mustang axles. I've been told and read that you can use a pair of the short axles from two explorer/mountaineers in a mustang to convert to 5 lugs. Besides all this, I believe the mounting points are different. Hope this was helpful.

[musclecarsrock68]

its not to bad to switch all the guts over. i have only done chevy axles befor but you will most likly need a rebuild kit also. it will come with a new crush sleeve if your application needs one. all new bearings but most importantly it will come with the new shims and gear marking compound b/c you have to have those to make sure the teeth are all meeting up properly. you will also have to measure the backlash once you have it all together. if there is to much play, or no play at all then you need to pull it all out and adjust the shims accordingly hope this helps.

[berrmich]

Make sure you save or measure your pinion gear shims from your old gear. Add/subtract based on the difference between heights of the gears. (Assuming that your gears you are removing are ford gears.) If you do this you need no special tools except to measure the backlash.