[ericnova72]

There are some posts at www.maliburacing.com on using the 8.8 in GM G-body's, you might search there.

[big gear head]

There are a lot of people using the fox Mustang 8.8 in the G body cars. They claim that all you have to do is use the correct upper arms and weld on a set of spring perches.

[zildjian4life218]

Originally Posted by big gear head

There are a lot of people using the fox Mustang 8.8 in the G body cars. They claim that all you have to do is use the correct upper arms and weld on a set of spring perches.

ok this is the info i have found so far. The best donor will be a 95 and up explorer. They had 31 spline axles some came with limited slip and most had decent gear ratios. Of course I will check the carrier and gear ratio but there are a ton of these at the local u pull. They also came with disc brakes. I also found the stock gm 7.5" width to be 57.5" and the explorer was very close to that. I would only need to take a couple inches off each side of the housing. anyone have any truth or better suggestions to what i have said? Thanks

This is a good write up http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/in...topic=104354.0

[OLNOLAN]

I have a question thats revelent to the thread if you don't mind ZJ4L. With the nine inch pinion being offset, is one axle tube and axle shorter/longer to center the pinion in the frame or did all the fords run drive lines that were off center to the frame? One tube shorter/equal axle length? Not being familiar with it just got me wondering.olnolan

[ericnova72]

Originally Posted by OLNOLAN

I have a question thats revelent to the thread if you don't mind ZJ4L. With the nine inch pinion being offset, is one axle tube and axle shorter/longer to center the pinion in the frame or did all the fords run drive lines that were off center to the frame? One tube shorter/equal axle length? Not being familiar with it just got me wondering.olnolan

There were a few with a centered pumpkin, '72-76 Torino/Cougar/Montego comes to mind, along with the small '77-79 Crown Vic/Lincoln Versailles(the Granada platform one). Most everything else was offset.

Someone else might know of some others.

Pretty much going to come from cars that have a factory 4-link rear and the upper arms attached to the pumpkin. Mid 70's LTD/Thunderbird is 4-link, but seems like all the arms attach to the axle tubes(like the 71-73 Vega does) and nothing to the pumpkin so it doesn't need to be centered.

[zildjian4life218]

Originally Posted by OLNOLAN

I have a question thats revelent to the thread if you don't mind ZJ4L. With the nine inch pinion being offset, is one axle tube and axle shorter/longer to center the pinion in the frame or did all the fords run drive lines that were off center to the frame? One tube shorter/equal axle length? Not being familiar with it just got me wondering.olnolan

Exactly what eric said. some were offset some were not.

[OLNOLAN]

How much driveline offset does it come out to? Is the engine/trans. mounted 1,1 1/2, 2" off center to the frame rails? What about the tube/axle lengths?Nolan

[ericnova72]

Engine is almost always centered from what I know, driveshaft runs down the tunnel on an angle to get to the offset pinion flange. Can't tell you on the tube lengths and axle lengths.

Even GM stuff with equal length axles(10 bolt, 12-bolt) have a pinion offset to the passenger side, engine centered, and the driveshaft goes down the tunnel on an angle. GM offset the BBC engine to the passenger side in '67-69 Camaro and '68-70 Nova, but that was just so the exhaust manifold would clear the steering box, not to match the rear axle.

I don't know of a single car that has an absolutely centered pinion gear so that the driveshaft is straight from the trans to the pinion flange, the driveshafts are all angled the amount the pinion is off centerline of the rear case. The driveshaft is never perfectly parallel to the engine centerline as it heads to the rear.

A lot of people seem to mistakenly think the driveshaft runs through the car/truck exactly parallel with the frame rails... it never does in any car I've ever seen.

[OLNOLAN]

Maybe I'm missing something cause I always thought the GM pinions were centered like in this photo;http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1276&bih=575

[ericnova72]

Originally Posted by OLNOLAN

Maybe I'm missing something cause I always thought the GM pinions were centered like in this photo;http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1276&bih=575

While it looks centered in a photo like that, it isn't. It is about 3/4-7/8" to the passenger side. Fools a lot of people because it looks centered to the naked eye, so they assume it is. It you take a tape measure and measure from each backing plate to the pinion center you'll see what I mean.

[OLNOLAN]

Thanks for the tip Eric, To the naked eye it looks centered. I guess less than an inch of offset over the length of the driveshaft will still operate smoothly? I guess you can tell I've never done alot of driveline setups from scratch, mostly just worked with what was there.
Still curious about the nine inch tube/axle lengths. Nolan

[ericnova72]

Yep that angle to the side is no different than pinion angle up and down, with the rule of thumb "equal at each end" so that one end cancels the other everything is fine

[big gear head]

Originally Posted by zildjian4life218

ok this is the info i have found so far. The best donor will be a 95 and up explorer. They had 31 spline axles some came with limited slip and most had decent gear ratios. Of course I will check the carrier and gear ratio but there are a ton of these at the local u pull. They also came with disc brakes. I also found the stock gm 7.5" width to be 57.5" and the explorer was very close to that. I would only need to take a couple inches off each side of the housing. anyone have any truth or better suggestions to what i have said? Thanks

This is a good write up http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/in...topic=104354.0

The Explorer has leaf springs. You will not have anything to attach the upper comtroll arms to. You need a rear end with the triangulated 4 link like the G body uses. The rear end used in the link you posted is a Mustang GT 8.8 rear end, which uses the triangulated 4 link.

Mustang 8.8

[zildjian4life218]

Originally Posted by big gear head

The Explorer has leaf springs. You will not have anything to attach the upper comtroll arms to. You need a rear end with the triangulated 4 link like the G body uses. The rear end used in the link you posted is a Mustang GT 8.8 rear end, which uses the triangulated 4 link.

Mustang 8.8

So can I get the explorer rearend and get the bracket kit for the 9" and cut off the leaf spring mounts and then weld on the uca, lca mounts and spring cups?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9-For...#ht_1850wt_939

[big gear head]

No. The center of the housing is cast iron. You can't weld the brackets on cast iron. You must find a rear end that already has the eyes cast into the top of the housing or use a housing that is made of mild steel, like the 9 inch or 8 3/4 Chrysler, so that you can weld the brackets on.