8.8" rear end questions

Topic: 8.8" rear end questions (Read 5178 times) previous topic - next topic

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #15 – January 22, 2011, 10:52:29 AM

Quote from: vinnietbird;350480

I was told to use the same size tire front and rear for rotation purposes,but,the tires are unidirectional,so,I thought it was basically pointless to do that,SO,UOTE]

Why would rotating your tires be pointless? I always try to run the same size on a daily driver so they can be rotated front to back periodically, the X pattern rotation hasn't been recommend in 25+ years

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #16 – January 22, 2011, 11:01:50 AM

Quote from: hypostang;350482
Why would rotating your tires be pointless? I always try to run the same size on a daily driver so they can be rotated front to back periodically, the X pattern rotation hasn't been recommend in 25+ years[/QUOTE

Why is that Daryl? I still do the x pattern on my F-250.

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #17 – January 22, 2011, 11:08:36 AM

Actually , I know people who still do and have had no trouble............. But according to the instructors from Hunter alignment products the radial belts are more pr0ne to separating if the rotational direction is changed ... That was taught to me back in like 89 or 90 when the dealership I was working at got a new alignment rack and I had too spend 4 days in class learning how to use it . Since then I have always just front back rotated , tire technology may be different now though so I could be outdated in my thinking ,
But it works for me :hick:

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #18 – January 22, 2011, 11:14:39 AM

You can't do the "X-pattern" rotation on unidirectional tires. They are made to turn one direction. Now,if you want to pull the tires from the rims,remount them for the opposite side,re-balance everything,then sure. I'm not going through all of that.

Also,I like the larger tires out back. I want the widest tire I can fit,yet still look "right". 255's are as wide as I can fit up front with no rubbing at all. I'm pretty sure I can go to 295 or 315's out back with no issues.

Rotation for the Sport is not an issue I concern myself with for the Sport. Never have.

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #19 – January 22, 2011, 11:17:30 AM

Quote from: vinnietbird;350485

You can't do the "X-pattern" rotation on unidirectional tires. They are made to turn one direction.
Quote

But you can front to back rotate, that was my point .

But if you like the staggered size look that is a different story and I can understand that , but here on the twisty turny mountain roads i live on the front tires tend to wear on the outer edges a lot faster than the rear tires wear.... so I rotate mine to keep the wear even . :)

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #20 – January 22, 2011, 11:24:53 AM

I also have larger wheels out back...17x10.5 as opposed to the 17x9 up front. That also dictates a lot for the Sport.

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #21 – January 22, 2011, 11:26:48 AM

Quote from: vinnietbird;350489

I also have larger wheels out back...17x10.5 as opposed to the 17x9 up front. That also dictates a lot for the Sport.

Well , yes that would make a really big difference

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #22 – January 22, 2011, 11:36:26 AM

I am wondering if the 87-88 cars have a different rear wheel well than the 83-86 cars, anyone? I cannot even see how I could stuff a 305 under my car without mini tubing the car and that is something I am still considering.

Darren

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #23 – January 22, 2011, 04:02:16 PM

Yes Darren. The rear wheel wells on 83-86 Birds are just about the same width as Fox, Stang wheel wells. The rear wheel wells on 87-88 Birds are wider. They afford you the room to hang 315's if you have rims with the proper back spacing. You still have to remove the quad shocks though. On a Bird that's been lowered, more modifications might prove necessary.

Like Vinnie, I too have plans of mounting 315's on the back of my "Red-Winged Blackbird."

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #24 – January 26, 2011, 10:59:56 PM

i found that a fox 8.8 is cheaper then the next style up rear and there are more to come by. just make sure its a good one the one i got was out of a 91 and it had 3:08 and posi after a month it started to sound funny then a few months later it was making poping sounds it was in the car for about 7 months b4 it really started raising hell so i decided to have it rebuilt and it was destroyed inside posi disks were shatered and parts got up in the pinion bearings and took them out gears were wore. so if you find one make sure its low miles find out how it was driven or if you want to be safe have it rebuilt. mine has new every thing except for the carrier and axles

8.8" rear end questions

Reply #25 – January 28, 2011, 12:09:11 PM

I was able to get an SN95 rear end out of a 95 GT and it was $175 brake to brake. They were nice enough to include the ABS sensors without cutting the wires and the soft lines to the calipers. This has been an average price from what I have seen on the Mustang boards. These rear ends are the same on the GT's from 1994 thru 1998. In 1999 the overall width increased and the housing got wider as well as the axles getting longer. The housings on the 86-93 GT's and the housing on the 94-98 GT's are identical. What is different is that the axles on the 94-98 GT's are longer to accommodate for the ABS sensors and exciter rings on the axles.

With all of that being said if a person wanted to use an existing Fox 8.8 rear but convert it over to the 94-98 GT/V6 rear disc brakes (they are identical as are the axles) but keep the track width of the Fox rear you would want to use the caliper brackets under SN95 and brackets only:

http://www.northracecars.com/Brakes.html

The GT/V6 rear brakes are more than adequate for our cars and are very abundant in the salvage yards which makes them pretty cheap to install. They also have the brackets for the Turbo Coupe rears and the Cobra rears. I have their Cobra brackets on my 83 Bird and the quality and fitment is really good. One thing you will need is a set of the hubcentric rings with the SN95 brakes if you are going to use Fox style 8.8 five lug axles like those in a Ranger pickup. This is due to the rotors lining up on the axle hub which causes them to be hubcentric. The hub on the Fox style axles is smaller than the hub on the SN95 style axles thus making these adapter rings necessary. These guys have them here:

http://www.discbrakesrus.com/make/ford/hardware.htm

The flip side is if you are going to order a set of axles then just order the kit from North Race Cars which includes axles that are the Fox length but have the SN95 style hubs.

Darren