For those of us that still have sick minds and wish to keep/build up their 7.5" rears Moser Engineering makes replacement axles for the 85.5 to 88 year range. Cost is $235 plus shipping for a set as opposed to $350 for ONE from Ford.
I found this out because 210,000 miles is about all you can get out of a set before one of them explodes rear-end fluid out the side all over your wheel. Hope this helps;)
Thanks for the info...yea it helps
Aren't the 7.5 and 8.8 axles the same? I hope so, 'cuz if not I won't have any spares. I was intending on taking the axle shafts outta the 7.5 rear when I swap the 8.8 in and junking the 7.5 housing, since it'll be no good to anyone anyway. I'm gonna hang onto the axles whether they'll fit the 8.8 or not, but still, it'd be nice if they fit...
Yes, I was similarly planning to put my longer 7.5" axles into my 8.8" so my car doesn't look so GD ridiculous.
7.5 and 8.8 are interchangeable,and from what I have always heard,the same.
Yes, they are interchangable
yes the same
If you're talking a XR7 rear axle, then yes they are the same. The SN-95's are the same length in 5 lug. A standard Fox Mustang 8.8 rearaxle is too narrow for the 85.5-88 cougar/t-bird rear housing
Actually, I was talking about a TC 8.8:D I'm aware of the different axle lengths. I was made painfully aware of it when replacing a wheel bearing in the Cougar in spring '98 - the axle shaft was worn, and the JY sent a Mustang axle, saying it was the same. After disassembling the rear I discovered much to my horror (with the car on the hoist at work, on a Saturday, at about 12:45PM, 15 minutes before all junkyards closed) that the Mustang axle was too short. I ended up putting it back together with the worn axle, then wrecked the car before I got around to replacing the axle.
Oh, and if Ford wants $350 for one, they've come down. Back in '98, during my frantic search for an axle, I called a Ford dealership. $700 CDN. EACH. It was also during that phone call that I was told that the two axle lengths (8.8, 7.5) were the same, but now that I think about it, that was for an '88 Cougar, which would be the 8.8" drum brake rear. I didn't have the luxury of message boards then, so I didn't think that TC's had a different rear.