what is the first year that an 8.8 rear end
was manufactured.Can anyone recommend.
which years are best to use in a
1974 mll that I am building for drag racing.
I'm not exactly sure about the 8.8, but I think they were available in the early 80's in trucks. Now if you mean the 8", they were around in the early 60's. Someone else can chime in and probably give more specific numbers, I am not an expert on axles by any means...
the 8.8 is a very stout unit and there are a ton of gear and axle combos for it but it is not a bolt in. you will need to remove the trailing arm mounts from the housing and tubes then add spring perches. i believe the 8.8 from the fox body or exploxer are and inch or two wider than the stock rear in the II. an 8.8 from a truck will have the perches but they are much larger than the II perches and the tubes would have to be narrowed to fit. keep in mind one draw back of the 8.8 is the c-clips. you can add a c-clip eleminator kit but if you are using it for the strip it may not pass tech as some places do not want you to run c-clip eliminators under a certain index.