Ideas for an 8.8 help me out.

[aaron88]

So I have a 93 ranger with 6 over d35 ttbs puts the front end right at 86 inches outside tire to outside tire at the moment there is a factory width 8.8 with 4.88s lsd 28 spline axles makes the truck look funky and handle weird at speed in ruts. Now I've been trying to find a gear company that offers a 4.88 in a 9in but they all make 4.86 I know it's a small difference but when you are going 50+ through silt in 4x4 that will cause issues a lot of people say run it but I'm not comfortable doing that. My idea is to take my 8.8 drill the plugs for the axle tubes have some 3in .250 wall Dom turned down just enough to be a press fit into the cast center section buy ford 9in big bearing ends from Currie for 3in od tube slide those over weld it all together buy a spool and 35 spline axles and be done. Question is with machining those tubes down and the ends being for 3in od tube that should all line up straight on its on because of the tolerances correct. Reason I ask is there is nobody local to me that can align a rear axle.

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[aaron88]

Plus in doing this I can set my rear axle at any width I want.


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[alwaysFlOoReD]

There is someone on OFN that has a similar question. Here is the thread;
http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11412#post139218

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Also, I used 3" spacers on my rearend, 6" total. They are heavy but I like the wider track.

 

[Hagan]

Couldn't you just use an 8.8 out a fullsize Bronco/F150 and be done with it? Although the lug pattern would be different. I'm using one on my Ranger.

 

[dzrt_ranger]

If you're spending that much money on a 8.8 why not just do a 9" from an ecoline van. It will be wider than a full size 8.8 anda stronger.

 

[aaron88]

9 inch has a different gear set its 4.86 not 4.88 and I use 4x4 at pretty high speeds where that would become an issue. I've had terrible luck with wheel spacers they cause more trouble then it's worth and a full size 8.8 still won't get me to the same track width I'm 86 inches up front also I like the idea of the 9in ends. Back to the original question being that all of those items are such a close tolerance it should just line out straight should it not.


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[4x4junkie]

I see nothing that stops you from being able to do what you want to do, however I think you should have some way to verify that the tubes are aligned in the centersection before you finish welding anything up (they may go in pretty straight, but you can't know for sure how straight).
Maybe something fabbed from a large piece of drill rod (or other very straight rod) that fits into the carrier bearing bores can be used to check the tube alignment?

 

[Hagan]

I guess I'm not understanding what you are trying to do. When I look at the pic it looks like the rear tire is very close to being inline with the front like an inch or so narrower.

If you have 86" width on the front but have stock axle in the back how are you so close?

Maybe it's just my old age and my eyes are bad.

 

[aaron88]

Camera angle makes it look a lot closer. I was thinking about buying a piece of straight mcmastercarr and some bearing pucks that are used for checking rear axle alignments. Just pricey for a tool that I'm only going to use once be about 200$


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[pjtoledo]

what is the front to rear weight difference? and tire pressures.

using an unloaded street truck as an example:
the front is heavier, so the tires squish down more than the rear.
that means the effective height is different front to rear, which means the effective revolutions per mile is also different front to rear.
under "normal" conditions it would be easy to argue that a 4.88 gear up front with short tires would match the rear 4.86 gear with taller tires.


with the gear difference only 4 tenths of 1 percent, that would translate to tires that are 33" vs 33.132"

 

[aaron88]

I see what you are saying and lots of people have made the very same statement. I just don't want to run a different gear ratio front and rear even if it is such a small difference. Also the truck is actually heavier out back when fueled up 44 gal cel, 2 batteries, jack , tools 2 35in tires and whatever else I have back on that particular trip. Weight with a basic trip actually puts the truck at 48/52 give or take a bit side to side weight proven by a 4 corner scale system.


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[griz700rocket]

What about running different offset wheels in the back to make up the difference?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

That's an idea that I had but didn't pursue. There are sites that you can buy the outer and inner rim parts and weld them to the offset that you want. Try some oval track parts sites, maybe speedway motors. I have some sites saved on my home computer, pm if you want.

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