Cobra 8.8 differential rebuild shop question

[Sestemybe]

Good afternoon,

Thank you everyone for your time. I need a rebuild on a ford 8.8 aluminum cobra differential. Currently I have a bare housing with caps and factory cover. I am planning on using a torsion TR2 center carrier, either 3.27 or 3.55 gears, full new bearings, would prefer a solid sleeve instead of the factory crush sleeve.

Does anyone know of a shop or place that is knowledgeable on rebuilding ford 8.8 cobra differentials? I am willing to ship everything or just send the bare housing and purchase parts through the shop. Most places locally to me in Spokane WA kinda look at me cross eyed when I ask them if they have a case spreader and if they’re familiar with pre-loading the ring shims on final assembly. Any help is appreciated.

John

 

[Noobz347]

Moved to Talk section since for the most part: An 8.8 is an 8.8.

 

[baileygruwell]

Any more info on this? I am currently doing pretty much the same install except for 3.73s. I am having a little trouble deciding on carrier shims and looking at gear patterns. If this would be better suited in a different discussion please point me in the right direction

 

[Mustang5L5]

An 8.8 is an 8.8.

A tiny bit different. A case spreader should be used to take the carrier out. Often times, it's not however. Folks who have DIY have made them

Homemade case spreader and holding fixture.

So a couple weeks ago I finally got tired of hearing my rear end howling like a coyote so pulled my IRS to rebuild my rear diff and replace the IRS bushings. Didn't have the scratch at this time for Bruce's kit so just went with MM urethane. Still a marked improvement over stock. As for the rear...

www.svtperformance.com

 

[baileygruwell]

I've opted out of making the spreader, so far I've had decent luck with getting it in and out with using a prybar, I know that sounds barbaric but i promise I'm using it in a safe way without damaging anything. The one thing that a spreader will allow you is to get your preload correct if you do not have the factory shims. That's not to say that you definitely should NOT make the spreader, just that I have had good luck without. I'm currently onto my final assembly after taking my T2 out fortyeleven times. One thing I will add that if you opt out of spreading you will need to be careful getting your shims installed, you will need to beat them in with some form of hammer and the steel shim will tear away at the aluminum. What I have been doing is building the same thickness shim with one of the kits that include a wide variety of thin shims, dropping in the thinnest ones first and then using my mallet on the .100 shim. Sestemybe I encourage you to try it yourself. It really isn't that difficult as long as you are okay with a lot of math and trial and error.