so my cars off the road for a bit due to disgusting insurance rates. so im thinking of taking my money and putting a new rear end in the ol' cat.
so after some short research, ive come up with these guys. im going to continue to look around, maybe find a place in town that can help me out, so i can avoid shipping and all that jazz.
http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_catalog/ring_and_pinions/ford_7.5_ring_and_pinion_gears.html (http://"http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_catalog/ring_and_pinions/ford_7.5_ring_and_pinion_gears.html")
let me know what you think. maybe some advice. i really dont want to go through the pain of rebuilding everything to accommodate a 8.8 or a 9 inch. they seem to offer a feasible option, and since ive just finished drivelines and transmissions at SAIT, i figure i can put it in myself without any major problems. :welder: Ive still got the original stock 2.73's in the car, and im not really shooting for anything crazy, maybe the 327's or the 345's at the most.
I've got 3.45s. I think they are a good choice. At 65MPH I turn 1800 RPM. I plan on going to a 4.11 when I rebuild the motor. That may be to low for you.
okay, how are the 3.45's with the 5.0 for take off? its probably different being injected, as opposed to carb'd, but im looking for a bit of a better launch feeling than the 2.73's can give me right now. its been suggested to go to 300's and do some 202 heads to get the extra power, but the heads work is a little beyond me and my paycheck for the time being. plus i dont think the stock to 300's move would do enough for my likings.
You would be suprized. I would not worry about the heads right now, that can wait for a engine rebuild. Gears are the best bang for the buck. I would at least go with a 3.45 or 3.73s. You'll also want a limited slip because unless you have fat tires it's going to spin. Even with a limited slip, if I floor it at a stop light my car well spin through a four lane insection.
You can find limited slips carriers for 7.5 all over ebay cheap. That was the first thing I did to my cat was put 345's in it, It made a difference over the 273's. It took a lot of punishment and held together,It's actually going in my buddy's cat this spring.
Why not just find a TC 8.8 rear? 3.73's, disc brakes, and its basically a bolt in that can be had for anywhere from $100 to $200 complete. If you want to dress it up then you can strip it down to just the gears being in it and have a local place sand blast it and then paint it black. I did this and it worked really well. Just duct taped the axle tubes openings up and told the guy to be careful around those but usually sand blasting units will not eat through the duct tape. Once that was done and the paint was cured I rebuilt the trac lok, installed new axle bearings and seals, rebuilt the back brakes and we installed it in my buddy's Mustang. It was the best upgrade he had ever done for about $250. It took a new 93 Cobra MC and adjustable proportioning valve for the rear discs but man that car stopped well and it was a huge improvement over the stock 3.08 gears. He already had the SVO or Lincoln front calipers so the brakes were balanced pretty well and it maintain the four bolt pattern on the wheels.
Just a side note, if you are looking to go five lug then I would change this up a little but it would basically be the same.
Darren
All I did was take an 8.8 from an 88 LX, add an extra clutch in a new clutch pack, install 4.10s new brgs and seals and reuse the axles, emg brake cables ,backing plates and drums from the 7.5 and bolted it in. The only real change ( if you consider it one ) was the way the brake line attached. I used new hard lines and a stainless flex line to the body.
EDIT: I installed the 8.8 with the stock 3.73s from the 88 first to see if the above would actually work. When I confirmed my ideas worked , I then took the other 8.8 I had and did the gears etc as well as install the ENERGY suspension upgrades.
I plan on a 8.8 this winter myself, i don't really see the point in a 9inch unless you are dragging it.
There are plenty of 8.8's out there behind some low 9 second Mustangs on slicks with no issues. Most of the road race cars I see in NASA all have a cambered 8.8 with about 1 deg of negative camber in the axle tubes. The housing itself and the carrier & pinion bearings are a good design. You just have to build the rest to stand up to what they can handle just like the 9 inch.
Darren