School me on rear ends

66nightMARE · Oct 5, 2006

Ok, well as I stand, I have an almost stock 289 with a c4 tranny and 8" rear. I figured gears would be a good place to start. Right now Im just a one wheel wonder. I have heard from many people say that 3.55 gears are the way to go. Well, when swapping out to a 3.55, do I have to swap out the entire rear end? What about if I wanted to a posi rear? Im a newb when it comes to this stuff so bare with me. If yall could post links to products also, that would help a lot. Thanks fellas!

:SNSign:

bad68coupe · Oct 5, 2006

66nightMARE said:
Ok, well as I stand, I have an almost stock 289 with a c4 tranny and 8" rear. I figured gears would be a good place to start. Right now Im just a one wheel wonder. I have heard from many people say that 3.55 gears are the way to go. Well, when swapping out to a 3.55, do I have to swap out the entire rear end? What about if I wanted to a posi rear? Im a newb when it comes to this stuff so bare with me. If yall could post links to products also, that would help a lot. Thanks fellas!

:SNSign:

i can't give you any good links right now, but if you switch gears or put in a posi rear end, you don't have to switch the entire rear end out, just the gears

BullittStangV8 · Oct 5, 2006

some companies to look for for some info/examples of rears would be currie, and moser.

You do not need to switch out the whole rear for a gear change.

SoCalCruising · Oct 5, 2006

www.currieenterprises.com
They have all the stuff you need. Get a catalog.

LMan · Oct 5, 2006

http://www.ultrastang.com/Rearinfo.asp?Page_ID=1

8" and 9" centersections work the same (removable carrier)

BullittStangV8 · Oct 5, 2006

shopping at currie just not got me a little depressed. 9 inch rear with a spool (cheapest option), with explorer disk breaks comes in at a smooooth $2184.00. Cheaper options anyone?

red65 · Oct 5, 2006

BullittStangV8 said:
shopping at currie just not got me a little depressed. 9 inch rear with a spool (cheapest option), with explorer disk breaks comes in at a smooooth $2184.00. Cheaper options anyone?

Junkyard '57-9 Galaxie 9" rear end, good used trac-loc center member in a wide range of ratios from many possible donor candidates (Ford light trucks, full-size cars, etc), Mark VII rear disk brake conversion (www.ultrastang.com). Won't be as pretty as a new Currie unit, but it'll be strong and should work well...

danny clemens · Oct 5, 2006

If you get a 57-59 Ford rear make sure you get the spring plates with it. I didn't and had to mod my old ones. It would've been easier if I had got the ones off of the car along with the rearend and probably won't cost you any more.

forplay · Oct 5, 2006

this is a good site too,

http://www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm

You should look into a traclok unit,the cheapest way would be from a junk yard,then maybe EBAY which can cost you more then new if your not careful.
The the 3.55 gears are a all around gear,and you'll love the added traction with the 2nd wheel do alittle pushing too.

ultrastang · Oct 5, 2006

red65 said:
"...Mark VII rear disk brake conversion (www.ultrastang.com). Won't be as pretty as a new Currie unit, but it'll be strong and should work well...

I guess "not as pretty" could be debatable...

This is a link to one of my customers (James W) that purchased a Mk VII conversion kit from me. He devoted two pages of his own website to show its installation on an 8-inch rear for his '65 fastback. I think it turned out pretty nice;
http://www.midnightdsigns.com/Mustang/Rear_Brakes.htm

There's also the option of this rear disc conversion I designed the adapter brackets for. It enables you to adapt '94-'04 SN-95 Mustang V6/GT 10½", solid rear discs to the '65-'73 Mustang and related Ford rear ends;
http://www.ultrastang.com/Ultrainfo.asp?Page_ID=17

If that's not big enough or flashy enough, I also designed another adapter bracket to adapt the '94-'04 Cobra 11.65", ventillated discs onto the '65-'73 and related Ford rear ends. Curries has nice stuff, but I haven't seen anything that they have that looks any nicer than what I put together in the following link. This setup shown features an '80 model Mercury Monarch 9-inch (formerly drum brake rear end), '01 Bullitt calipers and cross-drilled & slotted rotors, the factory SN-95 splash shields, & Anti-moan caliper support brackets;
http://www.ultrastang.com/Ultrainfo.asp?Page_ID=18

It cost me ~$1060 to put this rear end together for my own '68 Mustang.

The rear end consists of: '80 Monarch 9-inch rear end, '75 model Ford N-case 3rd member, 3.89:1 gears, 4-pinion Traction-Lok differential, 11.65" slotted/drilled rotors, Bullitt calipers, SN-95 splash shields, Cobra Anti-moan caliper support brackets, SN-95 brake hoses, SN-95 brake cables, and the 3/16" hard line running between the caliper hoses I formed from what started out as a straight 60" length of brake tubing.

The rear end I built for my '68 comes in at ~ $1,124 dollars cheaper than the Curries offerings. If you search around, you can find parts and good deals that will save you a lot of loot that you could use to spend somewhere else on your toy.

www.ultrastang.com

red65 · Oct 6, 2006

ultrastang said:
I guess "not as pretty" could be debatable...

OK, OK it's pretty!

Actually I was referring to the appearance of the 57-9 Ford rear end itself which, depending on how deep the mud puddle is where it's been living for the last xx years, is bound to be carrying some corrosion and other nastiness... A new Currie unit is just bound to be prettier.

I actually took much of my knowledge on this transplant (which I did on my own '65) from your site. So, Many Thanks for all the research and compiled information on your site!

302 coupe · Oct 6, 2006

66nightMARE said:
Ok, well as I stand, I have an almost stock 289 with a c4 tranny and 8" rear. I figured gears would be a good place to start. Right now Im just a one wheel wonder. I have heard from many people say that 3.55 gears are the way to go. Well, when swapping out to a 3.55, do I have to swap out the entire rear end? What about if I wanted to a posi rear? Im a newb when it comes to this stuff so bare with me. If yall could post links to products also, that would help a lot. Thanks fellas!

:SNSign:

You can purchase a rebuilt 8" differential with a trac-lok and gear ratio of your choice for around $600. Check Ebay, just avoid MAERacing, lol....

72mach1 · Oct 6, 2006

I had a 98 v6 with a 8" rear end, dont know the differance between that and the older ones, but I just took it to a 4x4 shop and told tham to throw in 3.73's and a trac-loc. Took 2 days and about 1000$ (needed LOTS of stuff..axles, bearings, etc.)

302 coupe · Oct 6, 2006

ford quit making 8" rears in the late 70's. you had an 8.8, maybe even a 7.5 since it was a V6, whole different animal.

57fairlane · Oct 6, 2006

mini spool . . do it.

ultrastang · Oct 7, 2006

57fairlane said:
mini spool . . do it.

If the vehicle is being used on the strip only, then a spool or mini-spool will work fine. If the vehicle is primarily being used on the street, it's going to be very rough on the tires and axles since there's no differential action between the axles with a spool.

BullittStangV8 · Oct 7, 2006

The idea of a mini-spool is growing on me. My car is going to be a drag car, that is driven to and from the track, and occationally locally for shows. (meaning 20 mile round trips.) Since track performance is more important to me in this car then comfort...it seems like a good choice. That and the car wont be driven enough to go through a ton of tires per year, so wear isnt an issue.

72mach1 · Oct 7, 2006

Safe handling might, with a spool things going to slide like a mofo in the rain, my buddy had a spool in his T/A, and it was scary to drive behind him in the rain, my cars bad enough with a trac-loc. Maybe an agressive locker, or electric locker if your going to drive it on the road, drive to the track, push a button bam, locked up tight, get on the road, no worries...

School me on rear ends

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