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| In 2000 I bought a pickup with manual transmission and 3.08 gears. I knew it wouldn't pull a hat off my head. I drove it 6 months and then went to a local hot rod shop and had them change the gears to 4.10. Now it pulls. Cost about $500 including the gears for a Ford 8.8" rear end. I studied doing it and I did a 1954 Ford 9" rear end in about 1962 so I understand the procedures. Trouble with the 8.8 is the carrier position and the bearing preload are set by shims, not adjusters like the 9" axle. The book requires shifting the carrier sideways with shims, then when the gear mesh is correct to increase the bearing preload by adding some amount to the shim pack. So at least there needs to be a wide assortment of shims on hand and probably a case spreading tool to get the shims in place. Things I didn't have, so I paid something like $220 for the gears and about $300 for the labor. Its still running fine 100K miles later. This particular hot rod shop does many axles for police cars as well as race cars and custom. They kept housings on hand, changed the lengths and put in custom selected gears on order.
Gerald J. | |
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Rebuiding pickup rear axle?
