TFS: How to Narrow a Ford 8.8 Part 1 - Strip Down 

Followed your instructions and tips. Narrowed my 8.8 and now it's part of a tri-angulated 4 link in my 55 Nomad. Thanks man...

Just a tip for welding cast iron, or any weldable cast metal for that matter. Pre heat the piece with a torch. Get er good n hot. It will help the weld cool slower which reduces the chance of cracks

the old ford van 9 inch was a beauty as well. It was sooo offset that you could easily shorten it and use it in a pinto or vega. A perfect fit. We were doing this when i was 15 years old

I used two hose clamps instead of the tape because it gives a better edge to cut to. It works very well.

Thank you, great video. One small suggestion I learned in my hobby shop, please do not take my suggestion as any hit on your talent, this video taught me plenty! So here it is, you like me have a nice collection of welders behind you likely $1000s worth... My point is for time management in my shop I now sport 3 angle grinders. $50 each, one for cut off wheel, one for grinding, one for a wire wheel. Have all three saves me time, which in-turn money. Just a thought. YOU have made skill MAN. thank you again.

Filler 309 contains nickle which is ductile and thus prevents cracking. You can use even higher content and nickle base fillers when welding cast iron. If you're going to weld something like a bracket to a cast housing you can prep the surface with a layer of nickle base filler and then weld the bracket onto that.

309 filler rod works absolutely great for just about anything disimalar especially structural. Aluminum bronze works great when not. What a great video thanks Justin ... Jason

For marking a cut line I like to use my big tube cutter and just run it around the axle a few times. It puts a perfect score line every time and it will always be square. We all have our own little tricks and that's just one of mine.

A wrap-a-round will make your life a lot easier when cutting pipe.

No matter what I do this magical man has it all laid out

This dude ROCKS! Knows his stuff, very articulate, and fun to watch! Not to mention those rows of dimes he's laying with the welding tips! Nice work Justin!! Happy New Year 2019 :)

*Takes off gloves and helmet... "Welding break" not long enough... *lays arms on "freshly welded" tube section* hahahaha! Production value!

8.8

To clean the tube, axle housings, I took a few washers, a 5/8ths wooden dowell rod, and a screw, screwed the washers to the end of the rod and wrapped a few paper towels around it. Then, utilizing the square edge of the washer, raked the inside of the tube. Got it pretty clean. Sure beat trying to stick an arm down in there.

pipe cutter works great and the cut is perfectly straight. Do that for my driveshafts too

fun fact. the 8.8 has different length axle tubes because ford actually made an 8.8 the same width as what you cut. thy put it in rangers and explorers. they just put two of the shorter tubes in for the skinny version. if anyones looking for them any explorer will have them or any ranger with a 4.0

I have done a few rear diff mods. I like to drill the welds remove the tube from housing shorten then press in realine tube and rewelded back up.

I used to do a lot of 9 inch Ford rears , both to narrow and to install Grand National spindles when a full - floating rear was needed. I have the luxury of owning a full machine shop ( including a lathe big enough to handle a full sized rear and tubes ) but most of the time I found it faster and easier to just cut the tubes with a pipe cutter. With a good pipe cutter you get square cuts and a bevel. Because I was doing this kind of work for some of the local racers as well as myself I built an alignment / welding fixture that was a real time saver. It was made from cold rolled round stock , the first part was clamped in the carrier saddles and was a reducer for a round bar just slightly smaller than the id of the tubes. The ends of the shaft were bored and tapped for different ends for however the tubes were to be finished. This setup even was center drilled so the whole thing could be put in the lathe and checked with a dial indicator.

At 14:12 did anyone else have flashbacks of Grasshopper branding himself to become Caine? I could almost hear the skin sizzling - lol. You got me.

I've never owned a Ford 8.8 or intend to or intend to cut the tubes, but this was cool/informative to watch.

Maybe a bit unnecessary but I have the axles shot blasted clean before cutting and welding but oh so much nicer to work on super clean and rust free axles. It takes about an hour and a few bucks worth of media but makes everything that much easier to do. The secret to good welds is the prep. Welding needs spotless clean joints. Blasting gets muck out of the metal pores and gaps.

I narrowed an 8.8 differential for my ‘66 Mustang. Bought custom axles from Moser. I took out 2 1/8” per side. Tip: Rent a pipe cutter. It’s fast and accurate. BTW, I used INNER pipes to align it. Pictures upon request.

I think I would have used a horizontal band saw to cut the axle tube. It would have saved marking all around the tube. I can cut square or rectangle tube with an angle grinder (had to cut 42 pieces of 2"x3" 11 ga tube for the CNC plasma table before we got a decent horizontal band saw) but round stock sucks for marking and cutting. We had to cut some 6" sch 40 pipe a while back. We had some scrap left over and , just screwing around, we rotated a cutt 180 degrees and cut a thin slice off. The thin part was .015" and the thick part was .031". About 0.001" per 1 inch is closer than you can cut with a angle grinder on round stock.

If the axle housing was originally built with the pinion off center, the way you just modified it, it is not on center any more. (That is why one axle was longer in the first place.) If your new axle goes into a truck, you are golden, but if it is going into a car, the driveshaft will hit the side of the tunnel.....especially with 2 or more in the car.

once again, you are a brilliant man. Donnie

Great video Justin, exactly what I've been looking for too! You do an excellent job of explaining and teaching, Thank You!

Just changed my alarm from 4am to 4.25am so I could watch an old Fabricator video.

Hi from New Zealand, Another tip when using grinders uses ear protection and respiration protection. I'm a nurse have cared for truck and trailer loads of mechanics, engineers, carpenters, and builders. One thing they all have in common they are deaf and have chronic respiration problems.

I cringed when you put your welding helmet down and placed your wrist right where you welded. Must have had some time go by before recording that take.haha

All you need to do is get a Wrap around. It is a pipe fitting tool used for marking cut lines on pipe. Then you only need to measure at one point then make your mark. You can then measure a a few spots to verify your mark is straight. It is not accurate to make multiple marks around a tube for a cut line. You should also use a sharp soap stone marker not a paint marker. your line should not be an eight of an inch or more wide. You lose accuracy that way. Your line needs to be as thin as possible.

You are a Master of measuring man

Excellent choise of the 309 filler! I can't TIG weld but I know this stuff very well from MIG welding. Ofcourse it's originally intended to weld steel to stainless steel but it has many more uses. The shop were I used to work used a lot of 309 Mig welding to create a hardened surface area when we ran out of the special electrodes.. Bit of a backyard solution but it did the trick. This was mostly done for a lot of wear plates where abrasive stuff went through pipes 24-7.

Underrated bro your work here is very awesome

Get a jig, the aluminum bushings, ground an polished shaft and new housing ends then narrow it where u want it. That's what I did. I put 9 inch housing ends on mime that way no more c clips.

The best way to determine how much the axle tube needs shortening is to measure the difference between the long drive shaft and the short drive shaft, this difference is how much the axle tube needs shortening. The best way to mark two parallel lines around the axle tube is to cut a strip of thin sheet metal to the exact width needed wrap it tight around the axle hold in place with a jubilee clip then scribe a line around both sides. Then cut the tube off against the inside edge of both scribe lines, the axle will now be cut square and at the correct length needed.

Great idea to use the other axele It makes the centre in the centre now it might launch straight down the strip with even axles if you only need few more inches if not just need to get axles made up to fit great job I have a spare one at home with a lsd centre I could use the late model wheels if I did it to my car no spacers just put the late model plate to mount the rear brakes and deeep dish wheels will fit nicely thanks mate 👍

I was sceptical til he pulled out the 309's. It's a happy medium between the two parent metals carbon content, roughly that is.

Great video. Make great videos about TIG welding! Have smiled where you have marked the dimensions. It's true that you can do it with a ruler. On our work we make it easier, we have a plastic strip (long: 100 cm, wide: 3-5cm, thick: 1-1.5mm). As you take the measure and marks the spot, then the plastic strip is wrapped around it and if the stripes are exactly on top of each other. you can draw with a pen along the edge. Then the other measure is drawn and that's the same way. so you have the quick measure to raustrennen what you need. Greetings from Germany

I've used a tubing cutter to make a witness line when I need to cut tubing square. Just a few twists makes a great line!

Easy trick to taking off the spring pads that is much easier than what you did. Cut them right down the middle fore to aft, then take a pry par and pry one side up from the cut you just made. Then take the biggest adjustable wrench you have, and use that the work the piece back and forth until it breaks off. Do the same for the other side. You will be left with just the weld to grind down. Works on everything but GM multileaf spring seats. They have a spot weld in the center you have to grind off before you can work the seat until it breaks off.

IMHO=Call Currie, Strange, or Moser etc., and buy a 9" housing (Dana, 12 Bolt GM whatever) to your spec ( length, pinion centered, or where you need it). No C clips, and saves a ton of work. It has stronger axles, it's straight. With a 9" Ford, you can set up center sections with different ratios, and change them in a about 1/2 hour. Cheaper in the long run. Everything this guy shows is true. He knows his business. I am not criticizing. I did this with a Dana 44, but, they don't have C clips.

When marking where to cut, mark one side and then cut a piece of posterboard or heavy paper, in your case, 2 7/8" wide x 8-10 inches long and wrap it around the axle. Align the ends and mark along sides of paper.

i welded my tubes to my housing with ni-55 stick rod with the flux knocked off, worked a treat and wetted into the housing/tube like butter, excellent stuff to work with.

Realized this guy is cool as heck within the first 20sec

I put one of these 8.8 under my jeep trussed with the Artec kit and 4.88 gears. Huge improvement over the stock Dana 35 and an upgrade over a Dana 44

I had no idea you didn't own a torch or plasma cutter but you have 15 welders lol

@2:14 - Yup, easy as pie you say - on the bench. I had to do mine in the dark, on my back, in the snow, in negative 23 degrees, lol. Damn thing shit a bearing seal. :)

Cool video in the 1970s my Dad had a 1967 Mustang Fastback 289 he was always going to junkyards to buy Ford rearends to swap in and out of that Mustang eventually he got the correct gearing he wanted which I believe came out of a LTD my Dad wasn’t a professional trained drag racer but he did time his speeds and times getting onto the same highway on ramps which he timed to get a better speed at keep in mind the Mustang was our family car and as a young boy I thought it was cool to feel him “punch” the accelerator he had also grown up in a very rural area of Upstate New York so when we went to visit my Grandparents the old Man love racing on the rural roads he grew up driving on and knew pretty well he loved that Mustang for those rides and often borrowed a Chevy 2 with a SBC in it my Grandfather used as his daily driver that one had a 3 on the Floor and could leave rubber in all 3 gears my Dad would say put on your seat belt and we go out and haul ass for a while the coolest Ford rear modification I know of was a guy I know took one and put it into a old Ferrari he bought with a blown engine and installed all Ford running gear he wanted to keep the Ferrari rims on the car so he machined the two axles to fit into the Ford rear ironically over 35 years later the car was trying to be put back to factory specs under its newest ownership and that guy was tracked down for any input on original parts many of which he did know of the whereabouts or who he sold them to apparently that specific car had some historical significance to Ferrari collectors and he was dibbed the guy that tried to ruin the car his take was completely different as he bought a non running car , made it run ,and drove it for years without the high maintenance costs associated with the brand BTW the guy is my Uncle and he is a West Point graduate and retired Aerospace Engineer u,u.S. retired AirForce and Commercial Pilot he did the machining himself on his Lathe in his home

Good details. It's a big amount of work for a small job!

Just a couple suggestions from one welder fabricator to another, cutting the brackets off the tubes, Its much easier to use an actual grinding wheel, probably a 4inch in your case to gouge most of the weld out. The ginding wheel is obviously much stronger and you can make a few light passes over it following the high side of the weld then as it gets deeper you can buzz the top lip off to either use the cutting wheel to finish, or sometimes your lucky enough to just wack it off with min effort. Also, welding any cast iron its best to heat it with a torch first, even out past the main area but concentrated mostly on the welding area. If its somthing thats going to be structual and really need to be rugged, after your finished welding depending on what it is, give it a min to cool so it isnt red anymore and pack as much sand on it and around the area as possible. It'll make it cool slower and less prone to cracking.

You scared the absolute crap out of me at 14:15 when you set you bare arms on the spots you just welded. Time MUST have passed for the metal to cool down and not absolutely fry your arms!

Freakin love the videos. I just applied for my first LLC. The info you provide has been priceless. Thank you sir

Try big hose clamps instead of tape. You can get them right on the mark it's much faster and they won't melt when you make the cut

Great directions. Great video. You have a good way with words, too.

I use a Ridged Pipe cutter that gets the cut square and perfect easy peazy!

I narrowed an 8.8 Ford. Special ordered new axles from Moser. Came out great.

The carrier ’is’ cast steel, prior to pressing tubes into the carrier, the tubes are given a sealer coating that looked like red loctite, all this did was keep the dope from seeping beyond the press fit of the tubes. Btw, I worked where these were made!

That's was smart. Cutting and grinding right beside your flat screen tv.

Awesome finally someone with a proper video!! If you can do a video on how to narrow a ford 9” that would be awesome 😎👌🏻

There is a lot of wasted time involved in all that measuring to get the cut lines. As far as measuring is concerned, take a piece of wood or steel and place it against the rear end housing lip. Put a scratch mark on it where it meets the outside of the wheel bearing flange and then run it around to check for parallel. Once you're done then measure from the end to your scratch mark and that gives you what you need to know. All that tape work is inaccurate as hell as your tape will flex and the end will move in and out. To mark your cut lines go to any welding supply and ask for a wrap around. You wrap it around the tube and make sure the edges stay inline, make your line and you are done. You can also use a strip of gasket paper as long as one side is a factory edge (wrap around's are made out of thick gasket paper). The other method would be to get a wheeled pipe cutter for 4" pipe. Most rental outfits have these for daily rent. Their operation is pretty much self explanatory and would cut these tubes in about 1/2 hour and be perfectly square. I have been fabricating for over 40 years and they would laugh me out of the shop if I did things like this this way.

Hose clamp for marking the cut works well

Very good video And I must say I'm the best fabricator in the business is what I tell myself lol you do make it look easy sir

Because I'm lazy, when I cut big tubing I use a Rigid 4" tubing cutter. Minimal finishing work and cut is nice and square IF and only if the tube is cleaned of rust in such a way that it won't make the cutter wander. Only better way to it cut is with a very large lathe.

I like to use some steel angle scribe an index line along the tube before i cut, makes it real easy to line up the tube when its time to weld it up

Quick tip...you can use a hose clip instead of masking tape that gives you a had edge to cut against, works a treat.

The truck/SUV 8.8's are offset diff. The Mustang ones are centered and shorter but only have 28 spline vs the Truck 31.

Awesome! Just found your page and it’s going to help me so much. Good quality work. Keep it up

Everlast sell sweet TIG/Plasma for a very reasonable price. Also, pre-heating cast helps to mitigate weld cracking. In some circumstances, its absolutely necessary.

I agree with being focused on accuracy but a felt tipped sharpie is like 1/4 thick lol.

308 Stainless? Wow, I was not expecting that... Ford used quite an interesting alloy with that rear end. I will say TIG welding on stainless is a blast! I was just a beginner at it and I was laying down pretty welds. Not sure about corrosion resistance though. But hey, stainless is tougher than mild at least.

Great video, super informative. Your the This Old House informative interesting version of what the car market needs. Small tip for anyone who can’t tape straight for shit like myself, buy a pipe wrap and draw a continuous line around the wrap where you’ll be cutting.

Your calm tone is awesome.. “ you line needs to be exactly the same.. “ no shit” and yes you do neeeeed to mention that.. lol excellent work** you da man!!!

Great video...... Got enough welders back there man? DAMN!

I have an old lincoln G8000 that I have a miller suitcase wirefeeder hooked to, and an antique profax spoolgun for aluminum both of those feeders can push a clean bead with SS wire, 4043 or 5356 alum., with either CC or CV, and I can tig just the same using the CC as well as scratch start my plasma torch....all you need is AMPerage to melt metal and it ultimately doesn't matter to the metal which type of current you use whether AC or DC the metal isnt that picky it will melt practically the same with either it rarely puts up much resistance once you created a contact...

I rebuilt a many of these. I worked at the city garage in Mobile AL. We worked on all of the city's cop cars.

Thanks for this series, I did it and it’s not that bad

Why not use a wrap around? Great video thank you

14:05 good EDIT, welds tube to centre, immediately drapes arm over the heat affected zone...lol

Best DIY axle out there. Cheap too.

I have had >excellent< results utilizing ESAB - OK Ni-Cl as my filler.

I'm surprised you didn't take the axle tubes out, cut & bevel them on the lathe. Mount them between centers on a rotary welding fixture and have near perfect results. Seems like it would have been much more accurate. Drill & ream 3 locating pin holes before removing the tubes. They would go back exactly where they came out.

Im sure you have your prefered ways but I would rather than using tape to lay out the cut lines, use a good pipe cutter. It will give you a perfectly aligned score all the way around. Great video and explanations!

Strike a line down the tube with a piece of angle iron so that the clock of the tube does not change. Maybe this will be in part two.

question? wouldn’t it be easier to drill out the 3 filler welds and just add a complete short side axle tube

If it welds, it isn't cast iron. Cast steel and cast iron are way different. Cast Iron can be TIG brazed to itself and dissimilar metals with silicon bronze filler rod, but it will not happen with typical 70s2 filler rod. Heard someone mention 309. It's good for heat treated 4130 that won't be re-normalized.

A PIPE CUTTER IS ALOT MORE ACCURITE TO MARK AXLE TUBE

U CAN USE YOUR MEASURING TAPE AND WRAP IT AROUND THE TUBE WITH BOTH ENDS TOUCHING THEN MARK YOUR LINE, IT WILL BE STRAIGHT

Why not just use a large pipe cutter to scribe a line around the tube?

If I was doing these axles I would make a jig clamp to fit around it and put into it a marker holder and a bit to hold a plasma cutter as well.

Nice work, but I have to ask... why not just drill out the slug welds between the tube and the housing, shove the tube out with a porta power, cut the longer tube to match the short tube, press it back in, then weld everything up?

I’m just starting to look at axle narrowing. What about using a piece of heavy paper that’s exactly the cut amount , wrap it around and then spray paint over it. Should leave a perfect tube behind?

Every low budget street car, hot rod , even some low 11 second car in Mexico has a set up just like that, i did mine for about 120 dollars with disc brakes, posi traction, and 3.73 gears all from the scrap yard.

Hi, great video, one question, doesn't that change the side angle of the drive shaft? Will it be too much of a change for a drag racing application? In other words the drive shaft is no longer in the center of the chassis but to one side? Thanks.

That's why I have always stayed away from explorer and truck 8.8s. All I take from them is the 31 spline posi and throw that in a 8.8 fox mustang rear (94 and up are wider). With c clip elim and 31 spline I have beat mine to death for 6 years on 28in slicks, 2950 lb car and 576hp. My buddy had one in his Fox with 33 spline and his car made around 700whp. Poor man's 9in.

Good video. Very informative. But if you go through the trouble to narrow an 8.8 then use the 9 inch ends. Easier to do and cleaner.

It would be good if you could cover the fabrication of the 4 link and maybe a video on squaring the axle to the chassis 👍

Can you leave the gears in the pumpkin while you are cutting and welding

I used to use a pipe cutter for this and then debur and bevel and done deal. This is the hard way.

Your like a plastic surgeon drawing all over, and then cutting off all that fat. Ha ha she's 20lbs. lighter 3 inches tighter now 😂😂😂 great video thanks!!

Zipties make great circular guides.