OK, so Matt (seek) came over today for the rear out of my White Sport. My car is an 87 Sport with code "M" on the door tag. Which is 2.73 locking according to Eric. The rear is definitely open. We pulled the cover (OE Ford grease that's 20 years old smells GREAT :hick: ) and it had NO trac-loc unit at all. The rear is the original and the tag was still on the cover. It did have the 10" vented drums and a TC swaybar (and TC rear springs, even have the same part # and green sticker).
So we sauntered over to Matt's car and jacked it up. His 88 Sport is also an "M" code. He has the 9" rear drums and it is indeed a trac-loc.
So what gives? Both of these cars have their original rears, the tags and codes all match, yet right there in front of our eyes was an open rear.
So I gave it to him cheaper and took a shower and a nap. It's hot :(
The vented drums are the 9" ones. The 10" ones are smooth. My guess would be that somebody over the past 20 years swapped the rear, either the whole housing or just the differential. It would go a long way toward explaining how your 87 Sport had an 8.8" rear when all the other 87's had 7.5" rears...
Does Matt's 88 have the 8.8"? Only some of those did (and according to Ford, none did, but we know that's incorrect). I've always figured Ford tossed the 8.8" rears into the last few 88 Sports because they were left over from the XR7's, which "officially" had them.
my 88 sport has the m code rear. 2.73 limited slip 8.8 w/ 10" drums.
Ford is full of $#!t. The "m" code 2.73 trac-loc turned out to be a 7.5" OPEN rear with 9" brakes. What a pile of trash! The tag was still on the cover and matched all the door code info too. All this with TC springs and swaybars.
Stupid Friday assemblers!!!!
maybe the axle was changed and the original tag was switched over?
Axle was just as "worn" as the rest of the car. It's a 2-owner car with full receipt records. Nobody would replace that flismy tag on a different rear. Whoever bought this car new got SCAMMED. It seems the axle code means nothing in these cars.
My axle code is acurate on the XR7, 3.08 locking. Hey since mine is an '88 with the 10" drums and quad shocks, is it supose to have the 8.8"? It kind of looks like it is an 8.8" diff but I haven't jacked the car up yet to check and see.
Your XR-7 should have the 8.8, yes
I've NEVER seen a wrong axle code on a Ford rear... And I've seen more than a few over the years... IF it's wrong, it came from the differential assembly plant tagged incorrectly... All the final assembly plant(Lorain in our case) does is put the car together...
Ive got axle code "M". If I smoke em, I do smoke EM. Both. :D Similarly, it's a freakin' dog off the line so it's gotta have the 2.73 :D :toilet: You know screw it, someone told me a good shop near me would change my gears for like $250. Im gonna pony up dammit, I want like 3.45s. Sick of havin' nuttin til 3k rpm. /sorry end threadjack-rant
Sucker says M all over it. It's definitely the original rear, and definitely never been a trac-loc unit.
Ok, here is a pic of my diff and the tag. Looks like its an 8.8" to me.
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/DSC02952.jpg)
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/DSC02953.jpg)
That's an 8.8
One tag is the VIN, one gives me "7465B" on one line, then "27 75 .." on the other (can't read the last digits). Its definitely a 7.5 with 9" drums (drums are in good shape, shoes are toast), no traction lock, it had single shocks (my 7.5 has the quad bracket like I think they're all supposed to), and I think standard wear for the 130k miles.
On another note, I can't use this (except maybe the gear and pinion, but new ones are only ~$200 so whatever). Trunk hauling doesn't seem like it'll work so I have to leave it up here until whatever happens to it, happens. BTW Michael, the control arms bolts weren't all that bad actually, just a few hits with a hammer. You'd better give me a discount on my next purchase! :p
Stupid bolts :hick:
Shoot me a list of what you want/need. I'd try the gears because yours howl like CRAZY and the "thunk" in them doesn't sound good.
Before the "27" will be a 3. it's a 3.27 ratio... 75 means 7.5" ring gear...
1WLD BRD has L08 and 88 on his... 3L08 is A TL 3.08 88 is a 8.8"
All this info IS in the shop manuals... You guys that have 'em should read a little more...
Tom
Wait, what? It's a 3.27 open 7.5 instead of a 2.73 trac-loc? WTF?
Wow Michael, you're 0 for 4. No traction lock, no 8.8, no 10", no 2.73. Need more exposure to non-TC's! At least it IS a Ford rearend. Back down here now, after finding that my lugnut key was left here, the entire thing was pointless. At least I now know not to pull my rearend and try the gears since they don't match. Going on to live with the howl. No hard feelings though, I'm sure we can get something worked out - just a weird innocent mistake. I need to keep in mind you're still only my age, there's much more to learn about these cars, for the both of us.
On a side note, its time to look for a motor. One of the rings is near shot, getting slight oil burning - only noticeable when I manually shift from 3rd to OD on the highway. Fun. I'm thinking about just finding a crunched up TC in Seattle to tow back and steal all the good parts from over a long weekend.
The rest of the numbers were unreadable after cleaning them up. I didn't see anything before the 27, but yeah, 327 would make sense. Kinda sucks though, having expected to get a decent rearend in the car, only to have nothing get done since its no better than whats on the car already (with exception of gears that do appear to have half the wear as mine).
What exactly do you seek, Seek.
I have a 8.8 posi unit $40, no gears.
Here's also a very good buy on a 8.8 complete with 3.08 gears by Tacoma. $100
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/pts/369586812.html
TED
If you are looking for a complete car for parts here's two near Olympia on Craigslist this week. The one in Puallup is temping because it black just like mine.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/car/369283764.html
2.3 Turbo coupe w/ 133957 miles
Needs some TLC, It has a few dings & scratches, ceiling felt is coming down
No stereo, 900.00 OBO
360-459-1879
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/car/369214616.html
1987 thunderbird turbo coupe - $800
87 turbo coupe drives great but performance is down I think its the mass air flow sensor power goes flat after 4000 rpm car is 20 years old so there is wear and tear great fixer upper lots of parts avalible on ebay to get it back in shape 253 370 8988
I know I posted this before.
Good luck TED
I saw that post of yours before, but those both should be running - I'd take a damaged car to strip of the rear, brakes, suspension.
My rear's fine, just noisy as hell (always has been, since '92 when it came into the family)...the main reason for the rear swap. I figure I may as well do it right though, with an 8.8. Would prefer lower gears for economy purposes (I got 34.5mpg on the drive up to Seattle yesterday!), but would use a 3.55 or 3.73 since most driving IS NOT at highway speeds. This was going to be a trouble free 8.8 swap, with very little needing to be done with the brakes since they were still drum, but no part of it came together. I can wait until I find a damaged TC to steal from if need be.
I've been more worried about the old 302 that was never taken care of prior to my ownership (at 160k miles) so its showing its age at 213,700 now. Emissions again in 5 months and I figure I may as well put the money towards a new motor instead of to a repair place to get my waiver (again, and what they did didn't change a thing - "bad" EGR. I wanted them to replace the seized o2 sensors but nooooo).
If the tag has the correct info, I'd bet it was swapped early in life...
Had a '70 Caprice with a 400 small block(or so we thought)... Every thing was correct, 2bbl carb, air cleaner, etc... Absolutely looked original, till we checked the code stamped into the block... Was a TRUCK 350...
ah, the joys of workin with used cars!
ive bought, sold, traded, and given away alot of parts off used junk. i learned a while back that you always hafta get to takin stuff apart before you will every KNOW exactly what youve got.
there is no way to know the full history of a used car. especially sumthin that is 20+ years old.
in this case, simply pullin the wheels or crawlin underneath to look at the tag woulda been enough to warrant further diggin to find out exactly what was there before tryin to sell it.
live and learn, eh? :hick:
1st non-TC I've ever stripped. I'm guessing the rear was swapped before the original sale, because none of the receipt records I have mention rear axle. I have to be really careful on the rest of this thing...