Im pretty new to the jeep game so im completely flying blind. So long story short i was having my rear end re bearing and got a call that the carrier was bad. Looks like the person before me took a grinder just a bit too far on a bearing and messed it up pretty good. From what i was told its a Ford 8.8 from a 95 explorer. its has 4.88 gears . what kind of issues am i gonna run into putting a open carrier in it and using all my existing gears? any recommendations?
How do i go about fixing a bad Ford 8.8
- Thread starter dan moreland
- Start date
That's kinda what I thought I just was hoping that wasn't the case. Now I just need to figure out what to put back in it. Thanks
Theres plenty of exploders in the junk yards to take parts off. Pretty much jeepism, empty them pockets and bank account. At any rate that 8.8 is a bunch better than a D35 POS.
You can change the carrier, but you will need to match the backlash that the diff had before you took it apart. You wouldn't need to deal with pinion depth which makes this job significantly easier than installing an entirely new ring and pinion set.
New carrier, install the ring gear to it, press on the bearings, then shim it left and right until the preload is right and the measured backlash is where it needs to be. The kicker is that you need to know where it was before you did the disassembly, so you can match that backlash. Otherwise the ring and pinion mesh won't be the same as it was, which might not matter but certainly could for the life of the gears.
New carrier, install the ring gear to it, press on the bearings, then shim it left and right until the preload is right and the measured backlash is where it needs to be. The kicker is that you need to know where it was before you did the disassembly, so you can match that backlash. Otherwise the ring and pinion mesh won't be the same as it was, which might not matter but certainly could for the life of the gears.
So
For the being I just put it back together that way I could move it around I figured it hasn't broke yet and can make it until I get a new carrier. So everything is back in better than before. When it was takin apart aside from the bad carrier the pinion was missing the crush sleeve and the carrier wasn't shimmed correctly at all. Almost 1/4 of play side to side. I don't plan on driving it like that but I needed to be able to move it around the driveway until a new carrier is bought. I just don't know what kind of diff to get now.
If I was replacing the carrier I would look real hard at a selectable locker. It will be more expensive, but if you can afford it, I believe personally that it’s worth it.
How much more expensive? And is there any brands to stay away from? And how much does it effect road driving? I know it'll be mostly road driven with the occasional trail here and there. I've mostly been looking at putting posi back in it. But I'm always open to suggestions.
A selectable locker won’t effect it on the road at all. Brands are Ox, Eaton, arb, Grizzly, etc. A posi is good too. If I were going posi I would use an Eaton TruTrac.
Anything that Yukon makes is top notch in my opinion anyway. The Duragrip is a clutch type limited slip, so it works like any other of that style. Meaning that over time the clutches will wear and it will either require service or become less efficient as a limited slip. The Eaton TruTrac is a torsen type limited slip and will not require the maintenance that the clutch type will. Do a little research on the two types and see what you think.