You sure use some extreme examples to try to make your point. Most would agree that Mopars are among the more expensive muscle cars to build. And after all these years, even more common pieces like B body 8 3/4s are getting harder to find.

I wish the OP luck in building one of the more expensive project cars on a very limited budget. And given the controlling aspect of that limited budget, I hope that he is happy with the completed set of compromises that will be his car.

P.S. The 8.8 limited slip was never meant to hold any kind of sticky tires and rear disc brakes are a completely non essential item.

Might look for 9 1/4 rear, They where made from around 1970 to into the 2000's and will hold up to most anything you throw at it.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/chrysler-9-1-4-inch-differentials

When a complete disc to disc 8.8 is less than half the cost of a new 10" drum setup on a mopar axle it's a no brainer

Now if any of you purists out there want to cough up the coin or the appropriate mopar axle step up.

Comparing used to new to make your point?

It's not a matter of purity. It's a matter of will the OP be happy with his Mopar if he always has to take the cheapest, easiest route due to budgetary constraints. We all know that Mopars are notoriously expensive to build. Still, there are Mopar rears out there that don't cost as much coin as being quoted here.

And as I said before, It's the OP's project. If saving every last hundred is the only way he can do it, I hope he is happy with the results.

You should probably check on exactly what rear ends are available and how much they really cost for Mopars with the 5 on 4 1/2" bolt pattern before you make the statements you make. Around here, there simply is not much around, and those that are, the people think are worth gold. Price out a 3:55 or 3:91 sure grip 8 3/4 or a 3:455 or 4:10 Dana with a sure grip, or a 3:55 or 3:91 geared limited slip 9 1/4 with the 4 1/2" bolt pattern, and get back to me. We will see how it compares with an 8.8 with 3:55 limited slip or a 3:73 limited slip by price, once either is in the car, rolling down the street. While you are looking, find a used Mopar rear disc brake setup for the 8 3/4, the 9 1/4 or the 9 3/4. An 8.8 is not a compromise until you compare it to a 9 3/4 at 10x the price.

As far as the money is concerned, you can save up your money to buy the old used up Mopar part, and you can go out into your garage and pet you car sitting on the jack stands, I'll be out driving mine, and having fun. After a day of driving and having fun with my car, I'm betting I will be a lot more happy then you will be that same day, looking at your car sitting on the jack stands. Maybe by the time you save up enough to buy your coveted rear end, you will still be able to buy gas and drive your car.

If it's the OP's project why do you feel the need to crap on his question? You offer nothing useful with your nonsense.

In most cases, sure.
For spirited street driving or road course action, Rear discs are a huge improvement.
Let me guess....You also prefer 15" wheels.....

Other than being a purist, what is the problem with the 8.8?

The 5.0 fox guys have them pretty well sorted out. I can buy the whole explorer for less than an 8.75 in my area. They're comparable to the 8.75 in stock form.

.

P.S. The 8.8 limited slip was never meant to hold any kind of sticky tires [/quote]






i strongly disagree with this statement.

i have a supercharged 08 Bullitt Mustang that makes 650 rwhp and runs 10's all day long while being daily driven in nice weather. gets 20+ mpg on the highway.

i bought a USED rear end from a 08 GT500 for $500. it has stock parts inside it other than a gear change with ford gears, solid pinion spacer and axles. the internal limited slip is 100% stock ford parts along with the axle housing.
i launch at 4K rpm with bias tire slicks. probably have done this 100 times without problems.
i did blow out the control arm bushings doing this so i upgraded to solid bushing control arms for the track. i have poly bushing control arms for the street.


if you want to nitpick about the modified solid spacer over the stock crush sleeve the 8 3/4 uses the same type of part internally also and need the same mod. STOCK 8 3/4 axles won't hold up to this much hp and launch at 4K either.


i know of several GT500 owners running the exact same rear pushing 1000 rwhp that drive at the track just like me.

The problem is future maintenance as well as resell value. Once you start mixing and matching parts on a car things become a pain to maintain, especially if the person doesn't keep good records and/or if the original install is hacked. I've built and worked on hot rods for 50 years and the worst ones to work on are the ones where the guy did everything on a budget. Just worked on a '56 Ford F100 the other day with a Pacer front suspension. Someone thought that was a good thing to do 40 years ago but these days it seems kind of dumb. Just saw a Volare suspension cut out from under a '48 Merc pickup because it was a worthless pile of crap. Someone 30 years ago thought they would save some money by using a Volare suspension rather than buy a Jim Meyer kit. Now the job has to be done over because it was a stupid idea.

Personally I wouldn't use a 8.8 under a B body Mopar because it seems like a cheap solution. Cheap solutions cheapen the car. If it is just a RoadKill type of hack job then who cares. If the OP is trying to build a nice car then he should stick with a nice solution. There are lots on the market. Hacking a car together can be fun and a good experience, but in the end it is a waste of money. Of course, nobody wants to be told that, they would rather do it and find out the hard way. That is just how it works.

Kinda contradicting yourself here. Volare parts are still readily available even 30 years after the swap. How are you going to find replacement parts for an aftermarket setup in 30 years?

And if mixing parts is such a hassle, why not keep the original axle and springs? Parts are still available for those too! And no guessing what you need because it's all in a parts catalog.

Just because someone spent more money doesn't make it a better decision. Folks buy Hellcats but they're not really good in Ohio winters. A 20 year old Dakota is better at a 10th the cost.

Putting in a rear axle, 8.8 or otherwise, is a fairly straight forward job and if one can't manage to install an 8.8 without hacking then they are going to hack any axle they install.

The future maintenance claim is specious. Anyone buying this stuff is either a gear head who knows what an 8.8 looks like or they are going to farm out maintenance to someone that should be competent to sort that out as well. As for resale value, who cares, I don't build my stuff to flip and I will never get what I put into my stuff when I sell it. My philosophy is that if someone wants to ding me for what I did in an effort to undercut my price, they can leave with a full wallet and on foot.

40 years ago, heck even today, the Pacer front end was a vast improvement on the stock 56 Ford truck stuff. Same with your Merc example. 30-40 years ago your choices were damn slim in aftermarket stuff and most of that still required you to make it work properly. Not to mention most of it was based on using stock MII stuff, which is a crappy suspension as well.

As for Jim Meyers, you really think he was offering his stuff back then? I don't recall seeing his name in the 80's or 90's in the street rod world, but CRS sets in these days. I suppose I could go to the archives and dig out my Street Rodder magazines and look for his name, but I won't.

You think his stuff would prevent a hack install? hacks are hacks regardless, they will mess up a wet dream much less something that requires a modicum of ability and that has zero to do with budget.and everything to do with competency.

How would his stuff address your "future maintenance" issues? How would running an AR Engineering brake kit address those maintenance issue? You do nice work but it's still a matter of documentation regardless and I'd bet it would be easier for someone to figure out what maintenance items were needed on an 8.8 swap than one of your brake kits.

For myself, I pass over cars that advertise billet this, and chrome that, with all the buzzwords you read in those thinly veiled magazine articles that are more an advertisement for their donors, I mean suppliers. What I get from those cars is that someone read a magazine and it trying to over inflate the asking price. Kinda like the days when every SBC had double hump heads and a 3/4 race cam.

Just the opinion of someone who's spent a long time fitting updated OEM stuff into old crap.

I’ve recently come to learn that Ford 8.8’s have become the value differential for hotrodders that are fabricating a ride. They are pretty strong (not 9” or Dana 60, but pretty strong) easily available, and cheap. I run one in Factory Five cobra with 600 hp, but it’s a light car of course.

They are a dam good rear for the money.

i strongly disagree with this statement.

i have a supercharged 08 Bullitt Mustang that makes 650 rwhp and runs 10's all day long while being daily driven in nice weather. gets 20+ mpg on the highway.

i bought a USED rear end from a 08 GT500 for $500. it has stock parts inside it other than a gear change with ford gears, solid pinion spacer and axles. the internal limited slip is 100% stock ford parts along with the axle housing.
i launch at 4K rpm with bias tire slicks. probably have done this 100 times without problems.
i did blow out the control arm bushings doing this so i upgraded to solid bushing control arms for the track. i have poly bushing control arms for the street.


if you want to nitpick about the modified solid spacer over the stock crush sleeve the 8 3/4 uses the same type of part internally also and need the same mod. STOCK 8 3/4 axles won't hold up to this much hp and launch at 4K either.


i know of several GT500 owners running the exact same rear pushing 1000 rwhp that drive at the track just like me. [/quote]

The OP is asking about an 8.8 out of an Exploder, and probably an older, high mileage one at that given the overriding importance of his budget. You are raving about an 8.8 out of a GT500. Are they the same internals? The same limited slip unit? There have been so many apples to oranges comparisons and extreme examples in this thread that it seems prudent to ask.

And it is no surprise to anyone that phord or shivvy parts win the price and availability wars. No real need to keep making that particular point.

I will say again, if the OP wants to build his Mopar using the cheapest and most readily available pieces, it is his to do as he wishes and I wish him luck.

a 8.8 rear end housing design is basically the same between all models. the only difference between them is the tube length. just like a 8 3/4 rear end.

the biggest difference in a 08 8.8 in a GT500 and a GT is the GT500 one is designed for better turning capabilities not strength at the drag strip. the stock GT uses the same limited slip as the explorer. ford didn't upgrade the limited slip part in the GT500 with carbon fiber clutches until 2010 and.all 3 in this conversation use 31 spline axles stock. { he didn't say what year but in 08 and up they do}

yes the sure grip design is slightly different internally in a few specialty models. i will state with confidence the 8.8 in a explorer is plenty strong to hold up to your basic budget build 500 HP mopar build and sticky tires. if going to the track often i would recommend upgrading the axles and a solid crush sleeve to keep the gears quiet. but i would give the same argument for most of the 83/4 except for the ones that don't use a crush sleeve, the 489 case?
the biggest advantage is the 8 3/4 will use a little less HP to turn over the 8.8 and that really isn't a consideration in this conversation.

Honestly owning two mustangs with 8.8s (one a foxbody with a solid axle, the other an 04 cobra with an IRS) I have to say the 8.8 is a confusingly popular diff and I'm not a fan for 1 reason in particular. The reason being that despite it being one of the most popular and abundant diffs out there and having many aftermarket parts available, the choices for carriers is pretty pathetic. There are 3 or so styles of options.

1. Stock 2 spider clutch style carrier - absolute trash carrier IMO, clutches wear out fast (and don't have much grip to start with) and the 2 spider setup will start cracking spiders/side gear teeth around 500 wheel hp in a 3750 pound car

2. Torsen style diff - if you're below 500hp and not drag racing the "Torsen" brand diffs are fine, if you're north of that though they specifically say in their manuals that the carrier won't live (and won't be warrantied). You can get an Eaton tru-trac which is the same design but beefier HOWEVER.... it is utter trash, I have one in my 04 cobra and I absolutely hate it, the slop in the gears is horrible, makes it feel like you have .100" of backlash even tho my gears are at .008"

3. Detroit locker - fine if you want that

4. Wavetrac - haven't tried one, it's like twice as expensive as the Tru-trac and it's also made by Eaton... considering my experience with the Tru-trac I'm not confident on this being any good (and probably made in Taiwan like my Tru-trac is).

So if you're making decent power and you want a street able smooth limited slip carrier... good luck. I don't understand why someone doesn't make a good 4 spider clutch type for this diff like the 8-3/4 and Dana 60...

If I had a mopar I'd spend the extra time and money to find a Dana or an 8-3/4... or even a ford 9... anything but an 8.8.

So it sounds like if you put this rear end in you can NEVER replace it should you change your mind or direction. I think its a great idea. Have fun with YOUR car!

Can’t not agree with you. If I was building a high powered drag car definitely a Dana 60 or a 9 inch. But for a 300 hp street rod built for cruising the 8.8 fits the bill just fine.

Sure if he keeps the power low it's fine... but today 500+ is not a high powered drag car, it's a mild street car.

Even at 500hp mild street car...if he just runs street tires and not sticky slicks or drag radials....I'll guess it'll live fine. I have a 470" stroker in my B'cuda that's north of 500hp. I run a "gasp".....8 1/4...3:73 sure grip, 4spd. It's been fine for years. The street tires give up LONG before the rear end will.