Blew the rear in my 55 and want to change it

[Franko527]

I have a '55 daily driver that I blew the rear end in the other day. I have a chance to buy a (hate to say it a Ford) 8.8 that came out of a 1996 Ford Explorer that is a 3:73 posi. I guess my question is will it pretty much bolt in to my 55 with some modifications and what needs to be done to it to get it to be street worthy. I am open to other suggestions on what other options are available to me to get my car back on the road. Thanks

after doing some research I think I will just try to buy a new 10 bolt rear center section since the one that blew is in half. Anyone in the Magnolia Tx area know of a place to get one?

[BamaNomad]

Many tri-fivers swear to that rear end, Franko... as being a great and less expensive option to the Ford 9", for a strong rear. I have no experience with it personally, but the 3.73 gear is a good option especially if you have an OD transmission (for highway speeds).

Hopefully someone who has done exactly what you are considering will respond, but you should expect to have to replace the spring pads, and possibly (?) to shorten the drive shaft and replace the rear U-joint...

[Franko527]

I have talked to some differential people who build rears and they said sometimes with a little cutting and adjusting they could get the 8.8 to line up correctly. i don't have that kink of cash t waste if it doesn't. I have reconsidered and decided to just get a new chunk for my rear with 3:55 ratio and make it a posi, much cheaper since my housing is in good shape and i know it will bolt right in.

[Rustaddict]

how did you blow your original rear end ?

[Franko527]

It was making noise and i first thought it was the transmission, i have a 4 speed Muncie. i pulled the trans and sure enough there was a problem with it. I replaced the rans with a Muncie out of a big block corvette and took the car for a ride, still heard the noise. was bearing was going out. i got mad and revved it up and popped the clutch and BANG the rear end exploded i was real close to my house so i went and got my Kawasaki Mule and pushed the 55 home to up on my 4 post lift. I did clean up the oil on the road.

I am leaving this morning to head to Longview to get a rear for my 55. It's like a 3 1/2 hr trip there and another 3 1/2 back home.

[Franko527]

Update. Found out it cost a lot of $$$$$ to put a posi unit in a 10 bolt Chevy rear and all you have is a weak expensive rear end. I did find a Ford 8.8 limited slip diff out of a 2001 explorer with 3:73 gears. Had to take a nice drive to Corsicana to get it but I'm retired so the drive was nice. The Ford rear has disc brakes and is in really good condition. It will take the place of the 10 bolt 3:70 open rear I blew-up in my 55. Most things I have read about this swap are pretty straight forward. Mostly is that the rear will bolt right in with a modification to the spring mounting pad location and getting the e-brake cables to fit and work. People who have done this swap aren't concerned with the offset of the driveshaft. Some cut and fit the unit to be centered and some do not and state they don't have any issues with the driveshaft hitting anything.
Is there anyone out there that has done this swap and could give me some helpful information? Thanks

[markm]

The 55 does not have a 10 bolt, not sure what you call them, 8.2 drop out center. Sorry I run a 58 Olds 9.3 posi in one and a Dana 60 posi in the other.

[TrifiveRichard]

I put a similar 8.8 disc brake rearend (3.23 posi) out of a Lincoln in a 49 Ford pickup. The reared pinion isn’t perfectly centered, but there have been no problems or noises in over 22,000 miles.

[Franko527]

Sorry this reply has taken so long to post but being retired I am more busy now than when I was working. I have the rear cut and pasted to get it near the center so I should not have an issue with the driveshaft hitting anything. What angle should the pinion be when I weld on the new spring brackets? Most items I have read state the pinion angle should be between 2 - 4 degrees, positive. I take that to mean the should be up 2-4 degrees at the yoke. I also read that I should get the new rear in the car and get the car at ride height and set it at 2-4 degrees. I don't know how to do that if the rear is not attached to the springs properly to support the weight of the car. Any suggestions on how to the rear at the proper angle sure would be appreciated. If I don't respond in a timely manner this week it's because I will be in Durant, OK on an RV trip but I will try to keep an eye on this post as much as I can.
Thank you.
If anyone is interested I have a 4:11 posi unit out of a 1966 Corvette for sale and a Holly Sniper Hyper-Spark Distributor for the Holly Sniper EFI unit.

[Franko527]

Came back early from our RV trip. Any suggestions on the how to set the pinion angle on the Ford rear end I am putting in my 55? I was thinking of tack welding the pads in at 2 degrees positive and installing the rear to see what the angle looks like.

[markm]

I alway thought you wanted 2-4 degrees neg. on pinion angle

[Franko527]

I mean that the yoke is up towards the floor board.

[BamaNomad]

If you are using the Same rear leaf springs/mounting plates for the new rear as the original, then I'd suggest measuring the pinion angle relative to the spring mounts on the old rear, and installing the mounts on the new rear at the same angle...That's what I did when I installed a '70's 8.5" 10 bolt in my Nomad...