Rear end idea

I did this swap successfully and am pleased with the results. I used a '98 Mountaineer rear end with 3.73 tracloc and disc brakes. To have the rearend cut to fit, new axles, new bearings, and powder coated i paid $900. New rotors (slotted and drilled), calipers, brake hoses, steel brake line, gear oil, and other misc stuff came to about $500.

Here's my notes on the swap:
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8.8 Rearend Swap Info

The Explorer/Mountaineer rearend is a nice swap because it comes with 31 spline axles and disk brakes. The 8.8 Fox rearends use 28 spline axles and drum brakes.

Here's a few helpful notes for anyone considering doing the same:

- Pinion comes offset from center, so you'll need replace the short axle tube with a long one and then have it cut to fit. Measure your old rearend from wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface and use that measurement as the overall width you want to achieve. Make sure you have the discs in place on the new rearend so that you can get it cut to the proper length.

- You'll need new custom length axles as well to fit the custom length axle tubes

- You'll need new u-bolts, 3.25" diameter and at least an inch longer than stock. I had a local 4x4 shop make me new u-bolts for $6 apiece.

- The stock u-bolt spring plates aren't big enough to slot. The 8.8 axle tube is 3.25" diameter, so your u-bolt spring plates need to have holes far enough apart to accommodate the wider u-bolt configuration. You can either fabricate new ones or buy some. I found a set at Currie Enterprises for $80.

- You’ll have to remove the old control arm and shock mounting brackets, and weld on new spring perches, 43" apart measured from the center of each spring perch and centered on the rearend. It’s important to have the spring perches welded on at the proper pinion angle…that’s a whole other discussion! Just be sure to find out the proper pinion for your application and have the perches welded on at that angle.

- You'll need to get some steel brake line and bend it to fit the rear end. It's pretty easy to do, I bent mine by hand but it’s wise to use a tube bender if you’ve never done it before. You'll need a double flaring tool and some fittings, including a T block.

- You can get rotors and calipers from the auto parts store or ebay.

- You may need to get some pinion angle shims. I ended up using 3* shims. You can get them at offroad suspension shops.

- I had the yoke from a 9” fitted to the Explorer rearend. This required a conversion U-joint to fit the smaller driveshaft yoke to the bigger pinion yoke. This part cost $25.

- You may need to get your drive shaft cut and rebalanced. I had to cut mine by about 1.5”, but be sure to measure from the seal on your transmission output shaft to the yoke of the rearend and give this measurement to your driveshaft shop.

- The brake hoses that are standard on the rearend may not work for you. They didn’t for me. Instead, I used Wagner BH98912 for both sides.
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