Well, Just got done with probably the largest upgrade my Jeep has seen. With the help of some Friends, I was finally able to swap in the Ford 8.8 rear axle I have had sitting in the garage for about 8 years. I wanted to post this on here because I know I wished I could have had some pictures to see what other people did in certain areas. Luckily swapping a DANA 35 out for a Ford 8.8 is well documented online. Everything turned out great and luckily we had no Major issues which is incredible knowing that we also installed a locker inside the differential. Used an Iron Rock Offroad Ford 8.8 Swap Kit for all the mounting brackets and a Torq Masters Aussie Locker. New disc brake hardware and a bunch of welding and time, and it turned out better then I could have hoped.

In the past few weeks, I have probably 80 hours of work into the Jeep to get ready for my first Trail Ride in about 2 years. When it comes to doing work on Jeeps, nothing spurs motivation like a trail ride. I will be going to the BleepinJeep event on August 29th-31st at Windrock Park in Tennessee and can't wait.

Parts:
-8.8 Axle from 1999 Ford Explorer (31 Spline, 3.55, Open Diff, Disc Brakes)
-Iron Rock Offroad 8.8 Swap Kit
-2x Passanger side 99 Ford Explorer rear passanger Brake Hoses
- Brake Rotors and Pads for 99 Ford Explorer
- Aussie Locker
- 51" 3/16 Brake Like from Napa
- 2 Pints of Gear Oil

Thats about it, thanks Everyone!

 

What led to welding the axle tubes to the center section?

 

Looking good. Just one thing to add for anyone else that comes along. Due to the offset pumpkin, if you have a SYE, on an aftermarket double-carden driveshaft with a sealed slip joint, the rubber boot that seals up the slip joint is too close to the muffler, causing it to eventually fail. A straight-thru, round body muffler fixes that issue, but pulls the tailpipe over towards the center, necessitating removal of some of that flange off the side of the pumpkin (where the ground clamp is in the 3rd image. You can sort of see in the 2nd to last issue how close the muffler is to the driveshaft. Shouldn't be an issue with the non-sealed slip joint option...

And another thing, the OEM label that wraps around the tube is the devil, trapping water and causing corrosion you can't see until you're into it.

 

Why did you only do 3.55 gears?

 

Because that's what is currently in my front axle and I had to allocate money where I could to get it in. 4.56 gears are the next major upgrade

 

From start to finish, how long was the process? I know you said you had 80 hours getting ready for the event, but I was thinking that 80 hours involved other things as well.

 

The tubes on an 8.8 are pressed in and just held by small Plug Welds. Tubes on an 8.8 are known to spin under High traction situations so the solution is to weld the tubs to the diff. To do that, being that they are dissimilar metals, you have to heat the center section to about 425. It is very well documented and even stated to do so in the Iron Rock Offroad Swap Kit instructions.

 

Awesome, thank you for the insight. I did make sure to remove the OEM Label when I cleaned the tube. I got lucky that this axle was really clean..(like in some situations, scary clean) time will tell.

 

yup, If I had to guess, we had probably 30 hours with 2 (Sometimes 3) guys. Did it in a weekend. Started Friday night by stripping the axle and cleaning it. Then Saturday was welding perches, Installing the locker, and getting brakes taken care of. Then Sunday we took our time with fitment and install. 4 NAPA trips for little things here and there, and 1 trip out to a specialty bolt shop for new Leaf Spring bolts as mine were totally stripped out allowing the axle to move all around on the Shackle side. Nothing to bad at all.