8.8 girdle

[5.0fox]

im currenlty building a new rearend with richmond 4.10's all new bearings and a 4 clutch track-lock. would a differential cover be a worthwhile investment? ill be running at the track on 275 nittos and hope to be going mid 12's with a little more mods. is any girdle better then another?


thx

 

[STANGateURlilSS]

Yes A Girdle Is Worth It.. And While The Axle Is Out. You Should Have The Axle Tubes Fully Welded Into The Housing

 

[7-UP BILL]

Yes A Girdle Is Worth It.. And While The Axle Is Out. You Should Have The Axle Tubes Fully Welded Into The Housing

I have a T/A girdle now for 10 yrs. Never had a problem. I would recommend putting sealant where the girdle cap screws exit the housing, same for the drain screw. At first I had some fluid weeping past them, but it stopped after the sealant. ( put sealant on the threads then reinstall). Welding the axle tubes is a good idea, but get it done at a reputable rear end shop. You really want the tubes square in the pumpkin housing before welding.

 

[giddyup306]

If you use a dial incicator, you car stretch the pumpkin quite easily. Well worth it imo.

 

[tunedin302]

Definately a good purchase ... I went with the FMS (same as T/A)

 

[86bluecobra]

get a ford one then for us hard core guys that get down on out hands knees and belly's looking at cars can drule over nice shinny ford parts.

 

[Johnnb]

I run a SVO on mine with c-clip eliminators, Moser 31 splines, full length subframe connectors and Strange 3:73's and it runs 11.92 with 1.60 60 foot times on an eight inch wide slick.

 

[Shakerhood]

Beside the added strength, you get a nifty fill plug that is easier than gaining access to the stock fill plug!

 

[86bluecobra]

damn i forgot about that benefit. yes everyone should buy one just for the relocated fill plug. what was ford thinking putting it where they did?

 

[sn9550]

Here is my Trickflow.

 

[Shakerhood]

Here is my Trickflow.

I have the same one on my car, I had to get the Dremel out though because the one rib on the lower left side went too close to the bolt hole and the bolt would not go all the way down flush, it was not too big of a deal.

 

[HISSIN50]

It might be worth noting that some folks get interferance with the added thickness of the girdle. As Adam used to post, it is 'self clearancing' in most cases.

86BC, they put the fill plug where it was at the right height and in a spot where there would be no distortion/flexing due to loading.

 

[Mike92GT]

Speaking of clearance issues, I had to be real carefull when I mounted my T-Rex pump under my car. Didn't want it to get crushed by my T/A cover when I went over a bump.

 

[Shakerhood]

My Trickflow fit fine and the car is lowered a little bit.

 

[stangbear427]

My Ground Pounder fit fine and didn't require any machining anywhere, and I've had the car lowered everywhere from 3/4" to 2" and have more suspension components floating around under there than Ford ever intended. the Ford 8.8 has a lot of potential, it can be made to be a fantastic rear but in stock condition it's really quite pathetic. A girdle is VERY necessary if you launch hard at all, ever. Some people have gotten years of pounding out of them in stock form without problems, but like the stock T5, most people will tell you you're on borrowed time if you try it for long.

 

[CoupedUp]

Fill Plugs?

Look at the location of the fill plug on the SVO girdle vs. the TrickFlow unit, you see that the Ford units plug is higher up on the girdle.

How do you know when the pumpkin is at the proper fluid level ???

Do you just fill it to the plug on the Trick unit and with the Ford unit you have to measure out an exact quantity to pump into the rear every time ???

 

[HISSIN50]

Couped, interesting question. I am sure others will know, but what I might do...........:

I would remove the stock fill plug. But fill it through the girdle's plug until fluid starts to come out the stock fill plug hole (same idea as filling a T5 through the shifter).

 

[PeteyAce]

i got a trickflow cover worth every penny, while your down there you might as well clean up underneath and get rid of the rust like i did

 

[CoupedUp]

Couped, interesting question. I am sure others will know, but what I might do...........:

I would remove the stock fill plug. But fill it through the girdle's plug until fluid starts to come out the stock fill plug hole (same idea as filling a T5 through the shifter).

Hmm, I don't know ...
I do know I like to d&r diff fluid every 2 years or so.

Looking at these 2 girdles, and their plugs horizontal relativity to where the factory fill plug is located on the housing:
It appears the Ford unit (and most aftermarket) is a little too high up on the cover to use as a "it's full" reference .. removing the front plug does sort of make the addition of a girdle fill plug somewhat redundant ...
... and the TW girdle appears to be a little too low on a horizontal relativity to stock, therefore making it also an unnecessary feature on the TW girdle.


Someone that has one (and uses it) please chime in

Don't know about filling the T5 through the shifter part of the housing ... the fill plug is as easy as pumping ATF into it until level with the threaded plug hole ...
Maybe for someone that doesn't have a bottle pump ...


This is good though ... I've wondered about this girdle fill plug thing for a long time. As an engineer I've looked at these girdles for a long time and wondered wtf the designers were thinking in regards to these fill plugs

 

[stangbear427]

I think they're thinking that if you know how much goes in, it isn't an issue. Kindof like knowing how much oil your engine takes- you put in five quarts and stop, whether it looks right or not. Of course, exactly what fluid measure of juice goes in an 8.8 housing isn't quite so well known...

?