Swapping 8.8 with 3.73s frmo my 87 to my '04?

[astronut1885]

Hey guys. I just bought a 2004 GT, and I'm stripping out my 87 GT and selling off most of it. One thing I want to keep is my rear end. It's got maybe 30k miles on it with FRPP 3.73s installed. It currently has 99 axles and brackets on it because I did a 5 lug swap with SN95 parts on my 87. What I need to know is if the rear end housing is the same from 87-04 stangs. I know track width is different from the factory on the cars, but with SN95 axles in my old one, I'm pretty sure it is the same width on both of my 8.8s. I'm not sure if all my control arm points and such are the same though. If they are, I'm going to pull my old rear, freshen it up, put on a trickflow girdle/ cover, paint the housing, and bolt it up. Any info would help before I start pulling rear ends and having them not match up.
Rob

 

[Stang|ess]

what year axles do you have? 96-98 is shorter than 99-04.

 

[astronut1885]

I have '99 axles, as stated above, but I am tempted to steal the caliper brackets and axles from my new car's rear end just because I know exactly what shape they're in. The old ones came from a salvage yard. Also, the brackets on the old axle might have issues as far as the ABS stuff goes, I think I just hacked it off because my 87 couldn't use it. The new car is set up for that stock, so I could just unbolt the new housing's cover, yank the axles, unbolt but leave the brakes and brackets in position on the car, and swap the housing with the 3.73 diff into place and re-bolt up the brake hardware, reinstall the newer axles, put on a nice trickflow or summit girdle cover, lubricate, and go. Of course, a nice predator tuner is in order which will eventually straighten my speedo out, seeing as I'll have 3.73s and 18" rims...

 

[Chris00GT]

Your better off the take the gears out of your old rear end and install it into your newer rear end. Save youself alot of time and hassle, but you can do it.

BTW when you do the rear disk brake swap on a fox you use 94-98 axles or SVO axles. If you use 99+ axles on a fox or even a 94-98 you'd have to have big spacers and long bolts on the brake caliper brakets to make up for the extra lenght of the axles. It would also kick your rear wheels out wide and look weird.

 

[astronut1885]

I did have a very wide track on the 87 with the axles, but it actually looked like I had DD rims on the back. I really don't want to have another rear end built. Will or won't the rear end housing swap?

 

[Chris00GT]

Yes they will swap, and if you do have the 99 axles it will look the same.

 

[astronut1885]

Ok. I was at the dealership where I bought the car, and the parts manager said they won't, but I don't think he understood that I have the 99 axles in it. As long as the housing is the same, with the same control arm and shock mounts, then I should be set. I'm just going to clean it up a little, paint it, change the fluid, put the girdle on, and reinstall all the brakes, axles, and brackets from the new car on it. The housing and diff are the only things being swapped. Also, is a stock 8.8 a 28 or 31 spline setup? I'm thinking that since I'm getting in there anyway, a nice set of Mosers wouldn't hurt...

 

[astronut1885]

bump, anyone else with info, it's most appreciated!