Rear end selection

89coltgt · Post by **89coltgt** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:31 am

Trying to decide what rear to run in the mighty max. I was looking at a ford 8.8 or 9 inch, the 8.8 is attractive due to it's availability and price but it may be nice to run a narrower rear as well. Discuss.

4g63mightymax · Post by **4g63mightymax** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:20 am

You could always narrow the 8.8, similar to what RICKDEES did on mightyd50.com. It looked fairly easy to do as long as you measure everything properly. Not to mention you get disc brakes with it,

For what its worth, I am 100% happy with my stock mightymax rear end, with a Montero LSD. The only thing I would consider changing is the gear ratio. I have 3:55's and first gear is somewhat wasted with excessive tire spin. So whatever differential you do end up with, I would recommend a lower than 3:55 gear ratio if you are using a D50 transmission.

-Jeremy

Gentleman Rogue · Post by **Gentleman Rogue** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:00 pm

i have been doing some research on this as well, and i believe even an Explorer rear will fit under the Ram 50. 95-up had discs standard, and some even came with 4.10 gears, 31 spline axles and limited slip. there is a small metal tag on one of the rear cover bolts that explains what the rear end was built with:

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html

89coltgt · Post by **89coltgt** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:36 pm

mainstream wrote:Go with the Monetero SR rear end, 9-inch indesctructable with disk brakes and some even came with an air locker.

What year had these with disk brakes?

Gentleman Rogue · Post by **Gentleman Rogue** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:36 pm

any reason why everyone seems so eager to go with the Montero rear? 8.8's are a lot easier to find, probably cheaper when all is said and done, the aftermarket is a lot better for them, and there are 9 second drag cars that heavier than most of our cars and run on 8.8's with no problems.

just my .02.

89coltgt · Post by **89coltgt** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:40 pm

After measuring the truck, I think I will have to go with a narrower rear than the 8.8 in the explorer. The montero rear is an option, but they are harder to get around here and like Rogue stated, the aftermarket is there for the 8.8 rear. Does anyone know how wide the rear is in the newer Montero or if the 8.8 can be narrowed?

Gentleman Rogue · Post by **Gentleman Rogue** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Ranger 8.8's are 1.5"-2" narrower, if you can find one. i still have to do some more measuring, but i am fairly certain an Explorer rear will fit.

as far as them breaking, the Explorer had a lot of problems, and its a gamble you take with stock parts. what year was the explorer that you blew the rear out of?

89coltgt · Post by **89coltgt** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:46 pm

Fwiw, I did do some searching around and found e few twin turbo mustangs running a narrowed rear, so I would think with the right parts, the 8.8 will hold up ok. The question is, how much does it cost to build and what rear axles is best to start with?

Gentleman Rogue · Post by **Gentleman Rogue** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:41 pm

some of the 8.8's came with 31 spline axles(my 11 second nitrous'd Duster has an 8 3/4" with 30 spline axles). get a decent differential in there, and you should be good to go...

Gentleman Rogue · Post by **Gentleman Rogue** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 5:30 pm

ok, so i had my facts a bit mixed up. the explorer rear is 59.75" wheel mounting serface to serface. the rear in my '88 Ram 50 is 58". the cool thing is that the sources i have been reading say Ranger 8.8's are 1.5" narrower. i will head out to my local salvage yard to confirm all of this, and i'll get back to you guys.