Rear Diff. and Gear advice please

[Fox_84]

I have the stock 8.8 in a 90 mustang gt. I have 373 gears from Ford Motorsports. Are there better quality gears?
What can I do to make this rearend bomb proof? And I plan on installing 5 lug axles, any ideas as to what is the best axles available. What else should I do to make it tough, or should I change rearends all together?
I am wanting to buy a set of draglites with skinnies on front and wide as possible on back.
Any ideas if I can run a 10 inch wheel on back and still keep the tire inside the fender? Will I have to change rearends to do this or have one cut down and shortened?
Overall just wanting to run as wide a tire as possible and have a rearend that is TOUGH!!! All ideas please. And any pics of anybodies setup would be appreciated to show how the stance is with the tires

 

[Fox_84]

O yeah, and where is the best place to buy a set of draglites??

 

[bcd]

i like the motorsport kit. never had a problem. you'll break the tranmission or the axle before you mess up the gears. i'm running a sn95 rear stance looks good with stock 17x8's on it. i dont think you can get 10's under the rear but i might be wrong

 

[Mike92GT]

The Motorsport gears are fine. If you plan on doing much drag racing, you really should upgrade to a 31 spline axle. The stock 28 spline axles are notorious for breaking during hard launces, even if your not making a ton of power. You would also need a new differential to go with the axles. The Auburn and Eaton units are pretty popular. Finally a good rear end girdle / cover, Trick Flow and Ford Racing, and T/A all make one. I'm not sure about the 10 inch wheel either. I have 8" on mine. A lot of it depends on the backspace of the wheel. At the very least you would probably have to ditch your quad shocks and roll the fender lip for clearance.

 

[Fox_84]

So there is nothing at all wrong with the 8.8 factory rearend housing, just need 31 spline gear setup and axles? What is a good brand of axles to go with? And will I be able to get good enough traction with 8 inch wide wheels? Or does anyone know what it would take to get 10 inch to clear and fit in the fenders still?

 

[352Ford2]

I get factory ones at the junk yard. Explorers, trucks, broncos, thunderbirds etc, all have gear ranging from 2.73 to 4.10.

at 15 bucks, you can't beat it.

 

[Mike92GT]

Moser, Strange, and Superior all make pretty nice axles. The stock 8.8 housing should be fine. How much power are you going to be making, and how much street driving are you going to be doing? You might also want to look into c-clip eliminators as well.

 

[Mike92GT]

Here's a link to a thread about putting 10" Welds on a Fox


http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=543061

 

[Fox_84]

Hey, Mike92GT.......thanks alot.......I am looking to be running 500-550 horses in the near future from a 351W. Do you have any more good advice of any kind as to a drivetrain setup that I need to be looking into. Right now I just plan to run a TKO 600, McLeod dual performance clutch, aluminum driveshaft, 5 lug conversion axles, 373 or 410? 31 spline diff., and??? all comments, and dont hold back.

 

[Beasly B]

I had a 88 gt with 10 inch weld draglites on it. It had a small wheel spacer on it and i'm not sure of the backspacing because they were on it when I bought it. But it definatly looked better than an 8 inch wheel with a 295 on it. I had 265/50s on it and it probably would have held a 275 tire. I would do some more research and go with the 10 inch wheel.

 

[Mike92GT]

Hey, Mike92GT.......thanks alot.......I am looking to be running 500-550 horses in the near future from a 351W. Do you have any more good advice of any kind as to a drivetrain setup that I need to be looking into. Right now I just plan to run a TKO 600, McLeod dual performance clutch, aluminum driveshaft, 5 lug conversion axles, 373 or 410? 31 spline diff., and??? all comments, and dont hold back.

A 351W, TKO 600, and a built 8.8 rear, sounds like your on the right track w/ the drivetrain. Some suspension upgrades would be a good idea to get the power to the ground. I'm not sure what you have on the car already. Subframe connectors, rear control arms, maybe some drag springs and struts, some sort of torque box reinforcement would be a smart move too