Some Tips & Tricks For All Differentials! Tearing down a Ford 8.8 

Hey Kenny and Mrs. Wrenching. I'm a 60-something-year-old woman sitting at my kitchen table having a glass of brandy and watching you tear down a rear-end. I wanted my dad to teach me about auto repair for many years. He didn't for various reasons, so I'm watching people like you now. I find it very interesting. I also enjoy watching auto painting videos. I may get froggy one of these days and tear down something and rebuild it just fun. That's how my dad learned back in the 1940s (he was very young). I wish I could remember what the first car was he rebuilt. I'm sure that would be interesting too. And btw, I will never drain a differential without taking the fill plug out first. Oh yeah, and one more thing, I love reading the comments. Signed: Mrs. Grumpy Old Man

It must be the weekend. Mechanics working on their personal projects.

IIRC the 8.8 was the replacement for the 9" rear. Almost the same size ring gear, but the 9" pinion was supported in 3 places, both ends and the middle, which helped prevent deflection under load. If you want the strongest 8.8, get the Super 8.8 from 2015 on, with a larger pinion and 34 spline axles. They have 12-bolt covers, so they're easy to spot.

Zip lock bags and long cable ties keep things organized too. Plenty of sharpy markers also.

Those rear ends hurt when they land on your feet! I've shortened a bunch of 9" lockers over the years. I always used A big pipe cutter to mark the tube to be cut but finished the cuts with a grinder! A hefty piece of angle iron and a few large hose clamps help in getting the tubes lined up! Have fun!

I've found the trick with those seal pullers is to make sure the point is captured in the rubber part of the seal a little bit away from the housing edge. Depends on the specific seal of course. For those folks who have a welder, another trick for a stuck bearing race is to run a weld bead around the inside of the race. When the weld cools, it contracts and shrinks the race.

Years ago my buddy and I put 3:73 gears in my foxbody and yes we changed the crush collar. I remember hanging off a 3ft. breaker bar to get that thing to crush lol.

Saw a tech in our shop once throw the short shaft in the log tube side, bolt everything up wheel and all, and then go over to the other side and discovered his error. Then lots of talk about sunny beaches and ice holes. 🤣🤣

I've been waiting on this lol, the hornet im kinda impressed with if you know what I mean. Mr Kenny hope y'all are having a great weekend

I’m glad that’s your own rear end, hitting the sealing surface like that is hack.

Probably hands down your best video...Ty Kenny 😊

Dave again 😂GOOD Teacher😮.

Very informative Kenny. You have me like a kid at Christmas, I can't wait to see what you do to it, and the end result. You obviously know what you want. Working on the diff, so what transmission and engine and everything must all be on your mind. You keep wrenching and we'll keep watching.

Oh, Mr Kenny sorry I forgot,Thank you for the video sir

Lots of jeep people use the 8.8 to replace the Dana 35 axle

Easiest way to get carrier out is to put a box wrench on one of the ring gear bolts and use a ratchet/socket on pinion nut to turn the carrier until wrench contacts top of case (place a folded rag to protect case). As you turn socket, will push out the carrier in a controlled manner, one hand on ratchet, one on carrier. Don't have to hassle with prybars, don't risk dropping the carrier if working under the car.

I have an 8.8 with 3.55 gears and a locker ready to replace the original 7.5 under my V-8 Ranger swap project. It's from another Ranger that was sitting next to the F-150 I pulled the engine from so it'll just be a bolt in for my truck. If I'd taken it from an Explorer, I'd have to relocate spring perches. I'm still on the hunt for a C4 transmission though. I'd love to run a stick since the truck had a 5 speed originally but, my arthritic left knee says go automatic!

Well done little brother. I enjoyed watching but it is something I hope to never do.

Even tho i dont work in rear ends every time i watch your videos i feel the absolute need to go out and buy new tools. But you make them look easy and fun to use. Best show yet in my opinion

Great to watch Kenny 😊

Hey Kenny, just did a rear fluid change on my F 150 . The drain plug was a bear to get out, so I decided to replace the rear cover with one with a drain and fill plugs in the cover. When putting the new cover on I used two bolts 21/4 inch longer than the originals with the heads cut off and screwed in the two upper right and left corners of the pumpkin so when I put the new cover back on I just slid the cover down on the bolts aligning the rest of the bolt holes without having to hold the cover as you try to find the bolt holes. P.S. I used "Right Stuff " as a gasket seal.

Excellent!!

I have found aftermarket crush collars crush like crap. I will buy factory collars. If not I anneal the aftermarket collars. Solid collars are the best. A little more work.

Thanks Kenny, learned a lot today!😊

My favorite video yet.

Thanks Kenny. Nice rear end. lol 😂

I have had trouble getting the right preload on the diff pinion nut after replacing the pinion seal so I just tightened it up to manufacturers specifications of 200 Newton metres. I replaced the bearings in my Holden Commodore almost 10 years ago now & it was humming prior to the bearing replacement so I thought that it was going to whine a little bit after I reassembled the diff. I replaced the pinion & side bearings in the Dana M80 IRS limited slip diff which was fitted into the locally built Holden Commodore & Ford Falcon in Australia albeit the casing in the Ford Falcon is different but the internals are pretty much the same. I checked the diff backlash which was 0.12mm or 0.0047" & I set the pinion preload to 2 Newton metres or 17.7 in lbs then I worked out that by using the diff ratio of 3.91:1 that I could set the side bearing preload by dividing the side bearing torque of 1.5 Newton metres by 3.91 to give me a torque of 0.4 Newton metres. The total torque figure was 2.4 Newton metres (21.23 in lbs) which was measured at the pinion nut. The diff did whine at 60 km/h or 40 mph which is what I expected because it hummed at that speed prior to the bearing replacement & I couldn't afford to buy a new set of gears a decade ago. This year however,I have a spare Holden Commodore Dana M80 differential although it's a single Spinner & it's fitted with 3.07:1 ratio gears. My goal is to get some money together then buy a reconditioned Dana M80 IRS diff centre from a Ford FG Falcon, new bearings & a new 3.91:1 Spicer or something gear set for that diff. The reason for going for a reconditioned Dana M80 LSD centre is because I don't trust the cheap generic diff centres which are brand new & a you beaut Eaton Truetrac IRS diff centre while they're excellent & even better than the original Dana M80 diff centre they're very expensive !

I made my own bearing puller:D bolt, big socket and small u-channel.

My Grandpa always put.Bananna peels in his differentials.

I replaced my traction lock with a torrent unit if I remember right with trying to look it up backlash is .006 to .012 got mine set to.008 to reshim side shims for new bearings and torsen unit works great reused stock gears disc brake rotors will keep the axel in on c clip rear-end drum brakes won't

It must be 5PM by now :). time to go to supper.

Really enjoy all your videos. Why not show how to get the pinion race out of the housing??

i bought a posi spool for my 2wd f150 weather gets better i'll drop it in. was wondering if theres a case stretcher like the dana's use

👍

You ever broke that bolt that holds the center point in place ? it is a night mare.lol

New glasses? And you said this rear is for the Hornet? You asked for opinions on automatics trans, what is the automatic for?

Hey Kenny I couldn't help myself, what time is it?

Hey man what car you putting this into

Gear oil used or fresh does not bother me, it never has. I know some people hate the smell.

What am i working on now lol!!

Hi where did you get the 6 point spanner? 😊

What is a Hornet? Old AMC?

You need to do jump cuts when you are moving camera! It’s so annoying to hear all that noise while move to and from tripod!

Very little smells as bad as gear oil. Burned transmission fluid is a close second.

Hey Kenny, saw your plasma cutter on Facebook, NICE! I asked in the comments section if you bought your lovely wife a gift? Facebook banned me for 5 days , said my comment was inappropriate. I was trying to be nice and a lil funny at the same time, facebook has no sense of humor, keep wrenching brother, love the you tube videos