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At first the thought of swapping out my rear diff wasn't really a priority. I had originally planned on
going with a Super 35, or full floater kit. A TJ D44 wasn't really an option because of cost and availability ( 1500-2000
CDN and up to 6 month wait) and the fact that I still had to put disc brakes on it. I came across a 2000 Ford Exploder
8.8 with 60,000 kms minus calipers for about 350 CDN. The fact that there was no calipers didn't really bother me since
the wrecker wanted more for them then new ones.
Next I had to get the brackets and for that I went to North Shore Off Road in B.C. and got some Rubicon Express
brackets. There required a little trimming to fit but the quality of the parts was well worth it.
I stripped down the rear end to make moving the 8.8 a little easier. All the stock brackets had to be removed
as well as brake lines, hoses etc. I also opted to remove the ABS sensor and shave down the casting and weld a
plate over the hole. Around the same time I removed the backing plates to clean up the e-brake shoes and free every
thing up.
For the set-up part, I found it easiest to set the spring pads up first. My original pinion angle
was about 13.5 degrees with the rear end that was in the Jeep. With that angle I had minor vibes so I figured 15 would
be a little better considering the difference in size of the 8.8 and that I was going to be installing an Advance Adapters
SYE and removing my T-case drop. In the pic you can see another D35 which I had bought off a buddy for spare parts.
It came in handy for setting up the new rear end, since I could have both side-by-side to compare measurments.
After the spring pads are on the rest was fairly easy. To mount the upper arms, sway bar, and
trac bar it's just a matter of locating the sway bar mounts. To find center I kinda cheated a little and remove the
diff cover and replaced it with oil board. I then measured out the diff and found centre and marked it out on the card
board. Once the sway bars are tacked in place the upper arms and trac bar mount just fit over top. The only thing
to measure is the angle whick is 0 degrees to the spring pads. The sway bar is at 90 degrees to the spring pads.
The hardest part I think was the lower mounts. Finding centre was a bit of a pain and according to some
other articles I read on the net they were to be positioned at 90 degrees. Since I don't have adjustable arms right
now having the lower arms at 90 was a problem. It caused my pinion angle to be wayyyyy out. Thank god I only tacked
everything in place and did a test fit in the Jeep before welding everything.
Aside from the problems with the lower arm mounts everything else was pretty much straight forward. I waited
until I had the diff in for it's test fit before I did the shock mounts. I had some clearence problems before with my
shocks so I adjusted the new brackets so it shouldn't be a problem any more. Once that was all done, we pulled it back
out and welded everything in place.
Once all the brackets were in place I through on a coat of paint and started on the t-case. I'm not going to do
a write up on the Advance Adapters kit since the instruction were so easy to follow. Assembling the brakes was pretty
straight forward and all the parts were easy to get from my local NAPA. I didn't bother with the special T-fitting either,
I just re-used the stock D35 breather and kept my stainless brake line. I just had to get 2 right hand brake hoses to
make it all work.
From the rear you can see that the Ford 8.8 hangs down a lot more than the D35. I think it's a comprimise since
I'm no longer as limited to tire size ( planning on going to 36's ) and I also have disc brakes. I didn't bother with
the proportioning valve swap since at the time I couldn't get one but the brakes still feel 100% better.
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