Ford Expolore rear end??

The explorer rear end is a 8.8.The only thing that will "bolt on" are the disc brakes to a 8".

The explorer axle is wider than your '67 and the yoke is offset and may have floorboard clearance issues.

Does the Explorer have leaf springs? If so, you need to measure the distance from one perch to another. Just from memory, (may be off), I think the 67 is around 43 1/2 " from one to the other and the axle length is around 64 1/4" from inside flange to inside flange.

The Explorer has leafs, but the perches need moved.
I had one in my '70 for awhile but the pinion hit the floorboards too much!

samwe said:

The Explorer has leafs, but the perches need moved.
I had one in my '70 for awhile but the pinion hit the floorboards too much!

Click to expand...

Was that because of the offset center section?

I have an 8.8 out of a fox that I was going to install.... and it is 'centered' so any info would be appreciated.

what pieces are needed from the explorers disc brake set up to transfer to a 4-wheel drum car?

Red5oh said:

Was that because of the offset center section?

I have an 8.8 out of a fox that I was going to install.... and it is 'centered' so any info would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

Yep, 4" offset is quite a bit, especially since the pinion is higher.

Id advise a search. This topic is beaten to death an average of twice a week.

Red5oh, I did mine 2 years ago and this is what I had and what I needed, hope it helps

ok the rear I got came out of a 87 mustang of course it was 4 lug to begin with, I first had to gring all the brackets off to make room for spring perches I went ahead and cut the excisting brake line on it to make it easier to gring on it, after grinding the old stuff up I set mine up to get the pinion angle and transfered it to the new one, messureed from the center out to make sure i had the perches in the right place and welded them up, my old rear was an 8" rear, on the drivers side there was a bolt that held the brake line block to the rear the 8.8 has one but on the wrong side so I just took a stud and welded it to the tube to hold it down, next a pulled the axles out of the 8.8 and put mine new 5 lugs on, I did have to get the lugs pressed on but other than that nothing else, the bearings on a 8.8 are not pressed on, they just slide on, next came the brakes, I kept the same backing plates from the 8.8 and moved my parking brake cables to it with no problems they fit in the same hole that the 8.8 cables came out of, after that just put the 8.8 brakes back together and put the new 5 lug drums on, I was also able to use the same brake line that came off of the 8" they were a tad long but with a little careful bending you'll never tell the diff, all of this minus putting it back in the car took 5 hours it was actually pretty easy, as for the parts


axles were part #SAG-EV80-28 $249.99 which are 28 spline superior axle , from summit racing

spring perch part # DCC-4120074 $12.95 from summit racing

Brake drums I have no part # but I got them at advance auto for 35$ each they are for a 87 Ford Ranger

I also had to get a different U joint since the 8.8 and my 8" are diff sizes it was 8$ at advance auto and as luck would have it I no longer have that part # sorry

also the rear I got did not have the driveshaft companion flange, where our rears th u joint connects to the driveshaft and the rear end with u bolts the 8.8 is a bit diff it uses a press in type u joint on all 4 sides you will have to get this piece from ford but it is only 20$ the rear will have a round flange with bolt holes around it this piece bolts to the rear and the other end has holes for the u joint hope that makes since, if you get an 8.8 you will see what I am talking about when you try to hook your driveshaft up


my driveshaft after all is said and installed has about 1/2 " of slide room, this is working fine for me now but it really isn't enuff especialy if you have soft rear suspension so you amy have to have it shortened I was quoted 60$ to take an inch off and rebalance it

Summit also has a axle conversion tha tincludes the rear drums for $197.95 part number FMS-M1126A not sure if it has the bearings and studs though


if you go with the summit kit you should be able to get out for around 250 bucks plus getting the driveshaft shortened

if it matters any my car is a 302 with a c4 tranny

hope this helps if not drop me a line and i will see what i can do