Mark VII rearend

Topic: Mark VII rearend (Read 7781 times) previous topic - next topic

Mark VII rearend

Reply #30 – April 04, 2007, 04:25:24 PM

Quote from: Chuck W;138251

NO...does no one pay any attention to what I have been saying?

The 85TC 7.5 rear housing IS THE SAME AS THE MUSTANG HOUSINGS (7.5 and 8.. The Tbird/Cougar USES LONGER AXLES.

The 86-88 TBird/Cougar 7.5 housing IS WIDER BUT USES THE SAME LENGTH AXLES AS THE 83-85 TBIRDS/COUGARS.

That is why the 85 has the same housing width as the Mustang and the same overall width as the 88 TBird.

Vinnie- When/if you can, pull an axle from the 85TC and the 88 TBird rear end and compare the location of the bearing surfaces.

Don't forget to add that crucial extra bit of confusion: 87-88 TC 8.8" disc brake rear housings are the same width as 87-93 Mustangs rears but have the longer T-Bird/Cougar axles, so the overall width is the same as all 83-88 Birds and Cats.

On a somewhat related note, when I put my 87 TC rear back together I used my old 7.5" axles because the TC ones were worn. They were identical length, but because the old axles didn't have the ABS rings on 'em they looked like they were sticking out of the housing further. This was only an appearance, though, as the axles were the same length (I checked before installing). The brakes all went together fine though. The bearing surface was actually "shiny" right out to the end of the 7.5" axles, owing to the longer 7.5" housing - about 3/4" of this shininess is sticking out of the assembled rear now.

Mark VII rearend

Reply #31 – April 04, 2007, 05:07:31 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;138281

Don't forget to add that crucial extra bit of confusion: 87-88 TC 8.8" disc brake rear housings are the same width as 87-93 Mustangs rears but have the longer T-Bird/Cougar axles, so the overall width is the same as all 83-88 Birds and Cats.

On a somewhat related note, when I put my 87 TC rear back together I used my old 7.5" axles because the TC ones were worn. They were identical length, but because the old axles didn't have the ABS rings on 'em they looked like they were sticking out of the housing further. This was only an appearance, though, as the axles were the same length (I checked before installing). The brakes all went together fine though. The bearing surface was actually "shiny" right out to the end of the 7.5" axles, owing to the longer 7.5" housing - about 3/4" of this shininess is sticking out of the assembled rear now.

On the first part...I got tired of repeating myself for probably the 5th time this week...that's why I specified 7.5 housings.

So what you're saying on the bearing surface on your 86-88 7.5 axle is that it's in the same place on the inner location and extends further out onto the axle, and thus the bearing surface is wider?

Mark VII rearend

Reply #32 – April 04, 2007, 06:00:38 PM

To simplify things a bit, I have yet to hear of a differance between axels from 8.8 to 7.5 I beleve there 100% interchangable.

Then to mess it up, on some 8.8 31 spline falls into play... Cobra rears I beleve are 31 (ok, forget I said that

)

Mark VII rearend

Reply #33 – April 04, 2007, 06:23:34 PM

Quote from: Jim_Miller;138300

To simplify things a bit, I have yet to hear of a differance between axels from 8.8 to 7.5 I beleve there 100% interchangable.

Again.....something else I have been saying for a while now......

Mark VII rearend

Reply #34 – April 04, 2007, 07:54:32 PM

Quote from: Chuck W;138294

On the first part...I got tired of repeating myself for probably the 5th time this week...that's why I specified 7.5 housings.

So what you're saying on the bearing surface on your 86-88 7.5 axle is that it's in the same place on the inner location and extends further out onto the axle, and thus the bearing surface is wider?

I dunno about the actual bearing surfaces, since the axles showed no wear at all (which is why I used 'em), but the seal surfaces are definitely wider. The TC axles would not have gone into the 7.5" housing all the way because the ABS rings would prevent it (even without the backing plates installed). If I didn't already have the brakes on I'd snap a pic, but the shiny portion of the 7.5 extends almost to the point where the axle starts to widen into the - it's about 1/4" back from the . The ABS ring on the TC axles are about 3/4" thick and are pressed right up against the , and the shiny surfaces extend almost all the way to the abs ring (about 1/4" inboard from it). I actually do have a pic of the TC axle, attached below As you can see from this pic, though - the actual bearing surface (which is worn on this axle) is inboard just about as far as it can go before the axle starts to taper away from the machined surface.