8.8 IRS 411 thread?

[RXTC]

I guess there is a new player in town, the 07 and up Explorer has a new case, similar to the cobra. I ran across a ebay auction that claimed they had a 8.8 out of a Expedition?!? (I thought this was a 9")

So it got me to thinking, I've never ran across just one thread anywhere with all the info on the 8.8, codes, the cases, axles and so on.

This is just a place holder for now, but if you want to post up the 411 you have gathered in your research, including pics, this should make a good place to reference it.

 

[largeorangefont]

It is 06 and up Explorers that have the dual front mounts. All the 8.8 info has all pretty much all been hashed out many other times on the forum.


Expeditions do not have 8.8s in them.

[RXTC]

It is 06 and up Explorers that have the dual front mounts. All the 8.8 info has all pretty much all been hashed out many other times on the forum.


Expeditions do not have 8.8s in them.

Hashed out in all different threads, a bit here, and hunk there.

The Idea here is to get it all in one thread. Not how to mount it, but just the info and codes on where and what to get them out of.

[frijolee]

It's already been attempted to get all 8.8 info in one thread.

http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=5480.0

EDIT:  Hmmm, just noticed that all of 3 fingered willies posts have been deleted, yet this other thread had most of the info in it.  I don't suppose one of our long serving moderators wants to clean it up and make a quality sticky?

[RXTC]

Great now that and the gardening threads are gone.

I'm sure Blake can still see what he deleted

[Sabre002]

I give up on you guys why are you trying to do another case when the cobra case is most used out there then anything.  Its just not in a cobra.  Look up a Mark VIII

[digitalsolo]

Great now that and the gardening threads are gone.

I'm sure Blake can still see what he deleted

Nah, he didn't actually delete them, he just edited them.    I can't reverse edits without a lot of database work, and honestly, it's not worth it sifting through 580 worthless posts to find his 20 useful ones.

I'll prune that thread and make as useful one as possible when I get a chance.   FWIW, generally anything he contributed which involved math was wrong anyway.

[RXTC]

I give up on you guys why are you trying to do another case when the cobra case is most used out there then anything.  Its just not in a cobra.  Look up a Mark VIII

I Have a Mark VIII case, but the innards are different, but its a 3.23 limited slip

This Exploder I have on the way should be identical to the Cobra, except the rear cover.

Blake, no need to edit, I'll try and dump all my 411 on them in here, just sticky one of them.

[Sabre002]

I give up on you guys why are you trying to do another case when the cobra case is most used out there then anything.  Its just not in a cobra.  Look up a Mark VIII

I Have a Mark VIII case, but the innards are different, but its a 3.23 limited slip

This Exploder I have on the way should be identical to the Cobra, except the rear cover.

Blake, no need to edit, I'll try and dump all my 411 on them in here, just sticky one of them.

You do know the 8.8 31 spline guts will work in that case right

[RXTC]

Yes, but I got the CV axles with it too, not too sure what I'd do with the 3.23 gears though.  I'll probably get a different gear set from the jy

[largeorangefont]

I give up on you guys why are you trying to do another case when the cobra case is most used out there then anything.  Its just not in a cobra.  Look up a Mark VIII

I Have a Mark VIII case, but the innards are different, but its a 3.23 limited slip

This Exploder I have on the way should be identical to the Cobra, except the rear cover.

Blake, no need to edit, I'll try and dump all my 411 on them in here, just sticky one of them.

The revised dual front mount Explorer housing is NOT a Cobra/Tbird/Mark VIII housing. The front mounts are not in the same place, The mounts themselves are larger and the inner CVs and seals are not interchangable with the Cobra/Tbird/ Mark VIII housings.

You have a Mark VII case already with limited slip... just buy the gearset you want on ebay used. Even new the Ford Racing gears are under $140 shipped.

[RXTC]

The revised dual front mount Explorer housing is NOT a Cobra/Tbird/Mark VIII housing. The front mounts are not in the same place, The mounts themselves are larger and the inner CVs and seals are not interchangable with the Cobra/Tbird/ Mark VIII housings.

Well then I got a cheap set of 3.73's for the Mark VIII case.

It would be nice to have the 411 you use to make your statement in this thread though.

[spacevomit]

So, which ones can you use with a Samberg FD Cobra cradle?

[largeorangefont]

The 411 is  a few lines. I've posted it many times before.

The ONLY cars that use a "Cobra" style 8.8 housing are-
Lincoln Mark VIII - alumnium case, 28 spline,  these will generally have 3.08 or 3.27 gears, possibly LSD
V8 and SC (I believe) IRS Tbirds - iron case, 28 spline, these will generally have 3.08 or 3.27 gears, possibly LSD
99 Cobra - aluminium case, 28 spline, these will generally have 3.27 and LSD (you will need 03 Cobra inner CVs for these)
01 Cobra - aluminium case, 31 spline, these will generally have 3.27 and LSD (you will need 03 Cobra inner CVs for these)
03/04 Cobra - aluminium case, 31 spline, these will generally have 3.55 and carbon clutch LSD

*All of the above diffs can be used for the Samberg FD cradle, or anything requiring a "Cobra" diff.

Rear cover is the same for all "Cobra" style diffs. Inner CVs need to be matched with diff... 28 spline, 31 spline etc. Aside from that inner CVs are interchangable into the diff itself. Actual axle shaft splines for tripod MAY be different between T Bird, Mark VIII and Cobra models. Beware of this when purchasing axle shafts.


Explorer/Aviator/ Mountainer
02-05 - single front mount housing, aluminium, 31 spline, 3.55 or 3.73, possibly LSD
06-10 - dual front mount housing, aluminium, 31 spline, 3.55 or 3.73, possibly LSD *This is NOT a "Cobra" style housing.

*Only the 02-05 single front mount housing can be used with the Ronin FC 8.8 conversion.

All IRS Explorer diffs use same rear cover. All Explorer diffs use unique inner CVs. They are not interchangable with "Cobra" style diffs and vice versa. Explorer axle shaft splines are different from Cobra axle shaft splines. Be aware of this when purchasing axle shafts.

Quick axle decoding -

Most modern 8.8 diffs will have a tag similar to this on it. You can figure out what gear ratio and if it has limited slip.

Looking at the lower line, we see 3L73 8 8 That means 3.73 gear, limited slip, 8.8. If there is no L, you don't have limited slip. The 3 73 is the actual gear ratio, so it may be 3 55, 3 27, 3 08 etc. on the tag. 8 8 means it is an 8.8 axle. That is really only important when looking at Tbirds, as some of them did not have 8.8s

[spacevomit]

Thanks/sorry, I really appreciate it.