Help with Rear end, 31 Spl explorer carrier, FRPP axles ??

Hey Guys,

I put together an 8.8 from a 92 stang. Consisted of the 92 housing, FRPP 31 spline axles, and a 31 spline Trac-loc carrier from an explorer (early 90s).

Is there anyway for this combo to work. It all fits together but the exploder carrier is wider, the axles stick in quite far. No matter what thickness clutch pack i put in, i can't get any combination to work.

With a stock thickness clutch pack, the axles when seated in the tubes in the right position (seals on seal surface, the axle sticks about 3/8" past the side gears and clutch pack.

The exploder carrier uses a bigger cross pin than the mustang, but either the axles stick in too far, or i can't get the spiders to roll in.



Im pulling my hair out over this one.

Do I have to buy a 31 spline carrier specific for the mustang axle??

Any help is greatly appreciated. The races i am going to are less than a month away and i don't want to run with 2.73s

Thanks in advance.

Mike

The axles are Part number M 4235 B

Ford Racing Performance Parts [M-4235-B*]

Heavy-duty 31-spline axle shaft (29.16" long) for applications using 31-spline differentials.

I measured them roughly about 29 and a 1/4 long.

Any ideas where i could be going wrong? Basically with a ~.625" clutch pack thickness, the axles when pushed in sit in waay to far. In fact, the side gears will bottom out on the ends of the splines before it is flush with the seal surface on the outer end.

I've tried multiple clutch pack thicknesses with no luck.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I'm registered to race in less than 3 weeks

BTW were you running a trac loc diff or an open diff from an explorer. I noticed the open exploder carrier i have uses the same smaller cross pin as the mustang although that's about the only difference.

I'll get some pics tomorrow.

Imagine this, though for now.

I put in the new clutch pack, slightly thicker than the original worn out one. Put the side gears in, then i slide the axle in.

Now the axles will go in so far, that they bottom the ends of the splines on the sidegears and actually push the side gears away from there seated position in the carrier.

If I put the C-clips on and push the axles out so the clips seat into their pocket on the sidegears, the axles are hanging about 3/8" extra out the end of the tubes. I can see the entires seal surface.

From what i can figure, the explorer carrier is wider dimesnionally than the 28 spline stang unit. Therefore, the axles poke further into it.

Thanks,.
Mike