The Ford 8.8 has become a common swap into the rear of some jeeps lately, and a lot of people may not no why. Well first it is said to be 120% stronger than a Dana 35. It has 31 spline axles and 3 1/4 inch axle tubes. It has disk brakes, and most 8.8's out of 95 and up explorers have 3.73 gears, the same as the cherokee.That to me sounds like a impressive axle. since I Blew up my Dana 35 I decided to give the 8.8 a try.
We found 2 ford 8.8's at a junk yard for $ 300 a piece . This is almost half of what everyone else wanted for them so we snached them up. One was complete and the other was missing one caliper. Steve got the complete one and I paid $275 for the one w/o the caliper. About on hundred dollers later I had a complete axle. To put the axle in M.O.R.E. sells a kit with spring purches, U-bolts, U- bolt plates, and shock mounts. You will also need the spicer style u-joint adapter and e-brake cables, Also available from M.O.R.E. The kit costs about $180 and the adapter $40. Which brings the total to $520 for a complete axle with rear disk brakes. This is about 1/3 of what you would be paying for a Dana 44 with drums. I opted to stuff the axle with 4.56's and a detroit locker, which brought my total to around $1200.
Here are some picture of My 8.8
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