Narrowed my Explorer rear assembly.
Found a great thread on how to do it with just one cut on the tube to be shortened:
http://web.archive.org/web/20120504132810/http://www.stangfix.com/testforum2/index.php/topic,11946.0.html

Drilled out the plug welds (took a 5/8" bit to get it all in my case).
Used a 12 ton hydraulic jack (and some rapping on the tube) to separate the tube from the housing.
I cut exactly 2 15/16" off of my tube to work with the extra passenger side short shaft.  Made my reference mark at 3".
Used the jack, a chain and some misc. items to "press" the tube into the housing. 

Worked like a charm.  Still have to plug weld it and start removing brackets.
second pic is from the linked thread - I forgot to take a pic of this phase

I'm currently running a two speed tbird 4.6 fan, before that it was a single speed mark vii fan.
they take A TON of amps to get going.  my single speed mk vii had an 80 amp surge when it came on.
I can see where that type of draw could mess with your ecm, especially if you don't have a high amp alternator (120 or better) and/or have your fan wired as a single speed/high setup.

this is the relay setup I'm running now (just food for thought):
http://www.hollisterroad.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MarkVIII

..

Just wanted to say hello and thanks for providing this forum! 

Eric