Explorer Rearend

I'm still looking for a rearend. I've found several for pretty good prices, but none close enouph to me. I don't want to have to pay shipping.

do you have an email address?

Would an 8.8 out of a 94-95 GT mustang bolt in?

65mistress said:

Would an 8.8 out of a 94-95 GT mustang bolt in?

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No. not even close. Completely different rear suspension, coils instead of leafs. I believe it's also much wider too. Probably more work involved than the Explorer rear. Also won't have the 31 splined axles either. That's why the Explorer rear is such a good deal, you get 31 spl. axles, posi traction and sometimes disc brakes to boot.

65mistress said:

Would an 8.8 out of a 94-95 GT mustang bolt in?

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I think you would have to mount spring pearches and I also think it would be WAAAAAAAY to wide for a 65.

I thought the mustang didn't need 31 spline, i thought 28 was what it needed...will the 31 spline be just as good for the 6 cyl, after axle shortening of course?

31 spline axles would be overkill for the six-banger and for most smallblocks. BUT, it's still the easiest, cheapest, and best overall option.

D.Hearne said:

No. not even close. Completely different rear suspension, coils instead of leafs. I believe it's also much wider too. Probably more work involved than the Explorer rear. Also won't have the 31 splined axles either. That's why the Explorer rear is such a good deal, you get 31 spl. axles, posi traction and sometimes disc brakes to boot.

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I was positive that I saw somewhere on the internet that they fit. Have you ever measured one? I'm inclined to trust you over 99.9% of internet posters, but I see you said "I believe".

As far as brackets and perches go, IMO that's something a guy could fabricate. I would be pretty shy about trying to narrow a housing, though.

Just for FYI, here's the experience of a fellow Mustanger:
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I know this doesn't answer your question, but I think the reason you haven't found anyone that has successfully done this swap is the cost. I've done a little research on this topic myself and what I've found is I could put together a stock replacement type 9" for about the same or even a little less than modifying an 8.8 to fit. Assuming you take a junkyard 8.8 as-is, you still have to pay for cutting the housing and welding on new ends. If you do this you might as well have 9" housing ends put on to eliminate the c-clips and make axle selection a bit easier (9" axles are relatively cheap to order in any length you need). Adding it all up you have the cost of a complete 8.8 rear ($400-$800 depending on condition, ratio, posi or not, etc. Also, the cheap Explorer rears won't work, the pinion flange doesn't line up with the trans yoke in a Mustang so you have to get a wider rear to cut it to fit), new or reman axles made to fit (approx $300), plus labor for cutting the housing, rewelding the ends and replacing the spring pads ($250-$500). As you can see, you can easily spend over $1000 on this project and that doesn't include anything for the diff and assumes reusing your factory drum brakes. If you need to rebuild anything or change the ring & pinion it will cost you considerably more. While a race prepped 9" can cost well over $2000, a streetable rear can be put together for under $1000 using a bolt in oem 9" housing. With the exception of 65-66 original oem housings, 9" housing are inexpensive and not hard to find (my '71 housing cost only $50 bare). Center chunks can still be found reasonably priced in salvage yards (pre-'84 F150 trucks and vans are a good source). Unless you're given a usable rear for free it's just easier and no more costly to go with a 9". Even assuming equal cost for both rears, the 9" is still a stronger rear with better aftermarket support and parts availability. The 8.8 is strong enough for most streetable engines, plus it is a little lighter and more efficient (by 1 or 2 %) than the 9" so an argument can be made for doing the swap but it would depend on how much you're willing to pay to have those minor improvements in exchange for the 9" strength.

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Hack said:

I was positive that I saw somewhere on the internet that they fit. Have you ever measured one? I'm inclined to trust you over 99.9% of internet posters, but I see you said "I believe".

As far as brackets and perches go, IMO that's something a guy could fabricate. I would be pretty shy about trying to narrow a housing, though.

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I saw the actual axle to axle width somewhere, but can't find it at this time. What I do have to go by now is the Mustang Redbook, that list's the track widths for all the Stangs from 65-2000. The 65-66 car's track width in the rear is 56 inches, the 79-93's are 57", the 94-95's are 59", the 99-2000's are 60", almost as wide as the 71-73's. I'm don't know the exact axle to axle dimension for the 79-98's but it's close to 58-59", about right for a 67-70 car, but too wide for a 65-66, unless late model offset wheels are used.

Okay, I found the 94-98 8.8's housing width, it's 55.63", this is the housing itself, doesn't include the axles, so you'd need to add another 5" for the axle to axle dimension ( the std Ford offset for the brakes is around 2 1/2 ' per side)