Ideas for built 8.8" rear this time!

Hey guys! I appreciate all the feedback from my other threas that helped me build the tranny end of my driveline. Before moving on to suspension, I'm going to go overkill on the rear end.

The car will rarely be tracked, but will see lots of spirited driving around the 600-700hp range for now. I don't expect to go higher. Longevity, streetability, and lightweight are the main concerns. I know this means $$$ but that's fine!

What I've settled on so far:

33 Spline Wavetrac Differential
http://www.moserengineering.com/differentials/wavetrac/88-ford-33-spline-wavetrac-56-309-183wk.html


Thank you so much gents!

I think you should go with an Eaton TrueTrac.

Here's your fully-built 8.8" rear:

http://www.jpcracing.com/moser-2005-2014-mustang-m9-conversion/

Oh, what's that you say? It's a 9"? Yep, there's a reason for that.

I forgot who but someone has a very nice built 8.8 rear for sale here on the forum, it's even narrowed to run wider wheels.

Sky Render said:

I think you should go with an Eaton TrueTrac.

Here's your fully-built 8.8" rear:

http://www.jpcracing.com/moser-2005-2014-mustang-m9-conversion/

Oh, what's that you say? It's a 9"? Yep, there's a reason for that.

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I appreciate that link, thank you! I'm reading fantastic things about JPC as well. I'd rather be ignorant than willfully obtuse. I'm just confused since the consensus seems to be that new gen Wavetracs are bad none the best. This is also what the rep at Moser led me to believe. May I ask why you see the TrueTrac as superior?

skwerl said:

I forgot who but someone has a very nice built 8.8 rear for sale here on the forum, it's even narrowed to run wider wheels.

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Hunting for it now.

I should probably state that some forum hunting has given me the impression that Well built 8.8" Rear ends can be far lighter than a 9" and easily hold +800rwhp with fantastic longevity. This is even with gun drilling/back cut gears etc.

Am I missing something here?

Thanks for your help guys!

skwerl said:

I forgot who but someone has a very nice built 8.8 rear for sale here on the forum, it's even narrowed to run wider wheels.

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Legend Shaker!
http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130728

Is the stock 8.8 really not living on 6-700 Hp on the street??

May I ask why you see the TrueTrac as superior?

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This is just my opinion, but the Tru-trac is not a "clutch style" posi, and therefore the biasing part doesn't wear out. Clutch style limited slip can work great too, but it only takes a time or two of (one tire frys) and your clutches are done. Although they aren't very expensive or hard to replace.

One of the water boxes at the track I go to has an uneven lean to it, and it's really easy to only get one tire wet, and in turn only spin 1 tire through a burnout. When 1 tire's going 80mph, and the other one's not moving, guess what's happening to the clutches. Then I see the same car spinning only one tire the rest of the day.

Also there's the horrible friction modifier you have to smell, pay for, and sometimes it's hard to find. I always try to use the Ford stuff, and my local deal hasn't had it yet for me and I've had to order it.

Long story short, I've had several clutch style posi units, and will replace my existing one with a tru-trac when the time comes.

OX1 said:

Is the stock 8.8 really not living on 6-700 Hp on the street??

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I don't know where this 9" kick is coming from but there are 9 and 10 second cars on this board using an 8.8".

46addict said:

I don't know where this 9" kick is coming from but there are 9 and 10 second cars on this board using an 8.8".

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I agree, strong diff. upgraded axles, maybe a girdle, and you should be good to go imo. Unless you'd be swapping gears often, Stick with the 8.8. Mine's running pretty strong running factory gears, diff, and axles. I can imagine my drive-shaft flopping around like a dry Salmon long before rear breakage.

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Some ideas for a strong 8.8 build, at least what I did with mine. Full details are in my build thread except for pictures, thank you very much Photobucket!
- Shortened the housing 1” per side
- Welded the axle tubes
- Strange Engineering 35 Spline Spool and Axles with C-Clip Eliminators (retained 8.8 housing ends)
- ARP Ring Gear bolts
- Moser Engineering 8.8 Main Cap Stud Kit
- Ratech Solid Pinion Spacer and Shim Pack
- Lube Locker 8.8 Reusable Differential Gasket
- Ford Racing Axle Girdle Cover Kit

Adam Arndt was running an 8.8 in his car up until last year when he finally switched to a 9". He was running 7.xx quarter mile times in NMRA Renegade trim. I know this since I bought some 8.8 parts from him when he switched to the 9". Needless to say I'm running an 8.8 in my car and have no plans to change anything with it anytime soon. It has Strange 35 spline axles, chromoly spool, Strange c-clip elims (same kit as Scott), welded tubes, arp ring gear bolts, a girdle, solid pinion spacer, and 3.73 FRPP gears.

I agree, there are no plans to switch from the 8.8 here either.

Thank you so much gentlemen! You have given me so much insight and quite a few options to think about. I have been doing lots of research on the variations of each type of upgrade you have all mentioned.

Im going to call a few a shops. I'll update the thread when I decide on the build path! My car is going to be in the shop for a few while the new transmission/accessories get installed!

The S197 platform is 12 years old now. Any mods you're thinking about have been done many hundreds of times already. There's quite a large pool of information to draw from, no need to forge an uncharted path.

Well, I have been talking to Brian at Moser and just got off the phone with Bruce at Griggs Racing. Both gentleman are stand up guys who talked me through every detail and lent all kinds of advice to me.

For my goals and application it was recommended I go with a built 33 spline 8.8" mated to a wavetrac. I guess The 8.8" can be built to handle quite a bit, be light as heck, and the inherent design (other than for gear changes) proves to have quite a bit less friction than The 9". The axles will be gun drilled but the flanges left untouched.

Some cool stuff is that we are going to use grade 5 ceramic bearings from wheel to wheel, except for the internal carrier bearings (due to preload issues) - those will instead be hybrid ceramic/steel.

The suspension I went with is the Griggs GR40TT with GRV double adjustable coil overs.

I'll update the thread with all of the details once Bruce calls Moser since a bit of fabrication needs to be done on a couple of brackets.

The car is not going to see any high rpm launches by the way, and I've never found drag racing to be fun.

Scott said:

Some ideas for a strong 8.8 build, at least what I did with mine. Full details are in my build thread except for pictures, thank you very much Photobucket!
- Shortened the housing 1” per side
- Welded the axle tubes
- Strange Engineering 35 Spline Spool and Axles with C-Clip Eliminators (retained 8.8 housing ends)
- ARP Ring Gear bolts
- Moser Engineering 8.8 Main Cap Stud Kit
- Ratech Solid Pinion Spacer and Shim Pack
- Lube Locker 8.8 Reusable Differential Gasket
- Ford Racing Axle Girdle Cover Kit

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Out of curiosity, what kind reinforcing results will you gain with that combination of changes/additions in the rear? As far as hp and tq handling.
I’m toying with the idea of going a similar path.

Keith Zechman said:

Out of curiosity, what kind reinforcing results will you gain with that combination of changes/additions in the rear? As far as hp and tq handling.
I’m toying with the idea of going a similar path.

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Sorry for the delayed response. I don't have a specific answer, my auto 3V is 606 to the wheels. Should be lots of threads/post on here about how important it is to weld the axle tubes, specifically on a standard.