Rear End! From 7.5 to 8.8 HELP!

[Papa Georgio]

I want to change my 7.5 rear end to an 8.8 rear end. How many people have done this swap? Is it worthwhile? What does it do? I know almost completely nothing about this swap. I am not a novice mechanic but I am not a pro either. I feel that I would be able to do it without much problem but I would like any information available to help me do this. Also what cars do they come off of?

Would it be alright to have 5 bolts on the back and only 4 bolts in the back? Also should i do anything with my front brakes if I change to a bigger rear end with bigger back brakes? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Dan P.]

Try this, it will give ya lots of info.

http://projecthp.ford23.com/rearswap.html

 

[G-90]

I will be doing it on my project Notch, but I have the parts car to snag it from.
Worthwhile?
This could be more of a personal preference but what it does besides give you a beefier rear end is more gear options and availability, better selection and price on parts and kits, and bigger clutch packs = stronger trac-lock.

You can have as many bolts on the front or back as you like but just remember you have to carry 2 spares then.
I would keep the same size brakes on the back for now, just upgrade the front.

 

[chaka]

The hard brake-line will need to be extended for the 8.8. The T is located just to the left of the diffy while the 7.5 has it midaxle on the passenger side.

It is an unbolt bolt in swap besides the the brake-line.

 

[Papa Georgio]

so how do I extend the hard brake-line? Do I need a welder to do that for me or can I buy a part for it.. could I get the peice that is extended from the donor car and just put that on or is that too much work? Thanks to everyone that replied.

 

[muh'stang]

once you are about to bolt the 8.8" in, make sure you do things in this order:
1) bolt driveshaft onto 8.8 while its lying on the ground still
2) Jack one side of the rear end only, with the shocks bolted to the rear so you can bolt the top of the shock up while the jack supports the axle.
3) release the jack and let the rear hang by the shock, place the jack under the diff and lift untill you can manouvre the other shock in and bolt it up.
3) Bolt in upper control arms next
4) place spring on lower control arm, lift the control arm lightly so the spring hits the frame.
5) Lower rear end onto the lower control arm and put a bolt through and a nut on
6) Jack up the rear again and repeat steps 4 and 5.
I did everything the hard way, no jack, bolted shocks, uppers, lowers, then the driveshaft. If you bolt the driveshaft up first it will keep the rear from rotating, and thats a major PITA saver!
The driveshaft bolts requie the box end of a 12mm wrench, and the rest require an 18mm sized wrench/socket. Good luck

 

[chaka]

so how do I extend the hard brake-line? Do I need a welder to do that for me or can I buy a part for it.. could I get the peice that is extended from the donor car and just put that on or is that too much work? Thanks to everyone that replied.

I went from a 79 to 96 and the fittings were slightly different, but I used a 3/16" brake line union from lappen's and a 3/16" x 20" (double check the length) from autozone. Just unhook the hardline from the existing rubber line. And install the union in its place. Then route the new line from there against the underside out of the way over to a place where the new rubber line will reach.

Once you see it it will make more sense. Check on the 3/16" size as well. It should be right but I am not sure of the exact changes that made over the years.

 

[Papa Georgio]

Ok, thanks alot guys. Now another question... How long do you think it would take me to do this at a pick-a-part? And what gearing is the 2.3L compared to the 5L ones? I just want to make sure that I am going to do this right before I start on it at all. THanks to everyone that replied, Pg

 

[chaka]

Check the tag to figure out gearing or count how many times the pinion spins to one rev of the rear wheel.

Bring some wd-40, breaker bar, piece of pipe to slip over the breaker bar, some sort of punch and hammer to remove old bolts after removing nuts. Your guess is as good as mine on the time it will take

anything else besides the obvious.....

 

[muh'stang]

took a 7.5 outta a bird, unbolting it took me half an hour. Getting it out took me another 45 minutes. The stupid bolts were rusted in. Bring a torch as well as everything chaka mentioned.

 

[ka0tyk]

carefull... most 5.0's were 3.08 and 3.27's in the back... your 2.3 will have a HARD time getting rolling with those. you need to find an 8.8" with like a 3:55 or 3:73's...

 

[Dan'l]

Pull it out of an 87 or 88 turbo coupe and you'll get rear disc brakes to boot!