rear suspension woes! i need assistance!!

i have a 1997 mustang (modified 3.8L/5sp) that i recently swapped out my 7.5" for an 8.8". i installed new shocks when i installed the rear. the car rode like a sherman tank. the gabriel ultra shocks i put on were the roughest ride id ever had.

(car has original v6 springs too)

so, thinking that i needed the axle dampers (quad shocks) to soften the ride, i installed a pair of brackets from a 95 GT and then i bolted up a new pair of quad shocks and it raised the rear of the car about four inches. they seem to be bottomed out upon installation and i had to jack the car up and lower the rear a lot in order to get them on.

it rides like crap and it blew the river side gabriel shock. im now running sach sport touring shocks in the rear and its still all jacked up.

if the quad shocks are correct, which they are, and the brackets are correct, which they are, and everything is new..... why does the car sit high and ride rough.

my 275/40/17 rear tires look like donuts with the 6 1/2" gap between them and the fenders.

I dont know what to do to remedy this. everything is installed per chiltons, haynes, and ford perfectly.
 
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The axle dampers are only there to control axle wrap and wheel-hop on hard launches. Since that's not an issue with the V6, the 7.5" doesn't have them. leaving them off on a 8.8" swap shouldn't be an issue.

Are you sure you have the right shocks on the car? It almost sounds like you have the wrong rate shock on the car if it rides as hard as it does. Keep in mind that with 40 series rubber you're going to have to spend quite a bit of money to get a really supple ride. Low-profile tires always ride a lot harder with the same shocks.
 
One thing you should check is your upper control are bolts. when you bolted the new rear in, if you over tigten the two bolts on the upper control arms where they connect to the rear, they will bind. i swaped a rear into my car and did this. But only on one side. the result was that my car didn't sit level. If i had to guess you tighted the bolts when the car was in the air and now it's binding in the jecked up position. Take a look and let me know if that takes care of your problem.