8.8 or 9 in?

i have two bronco's an 84 and an 86. i can only keep one.. and i want to know what axel to keep im gonna swap out stuff and not sure what i should keep.

Depends on what you wanna do, 9inch is very strong, very good aftermarket. easy to work on. 8.8 has a good after market, can be strong if built right. Easier to swap to disc brakes. Harder to work on.

true but the 9 didnt come with limited slip option and getting a locker is both time and money that i dont have i ned to be on and off road so i need at least a limited slip.

love_my_bronco said:

true but the 9 didnt come with limited slip option and getting a locker is both time and money that i dont have i ned to be on and off road so i need at least a limited slip.

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Run a mini spool in that 9. There only 30 bucks. Just put one in my cousins truck last weekend and she works nice. Donies on the pavement all day.

keep the 9 in

the 8.8s are garbage i blew up 2 of them already had a 9 in in my 150 never gave me a problem

9 inch, blew up my 8.8 at 96k with a truck thats ALL stock

love_my_bronco said:

true but the 9 didnt come with limited slip option and getting a locker is both time and money that i dont have i ned to be on and off road so i need at least a limited slip.

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I think the 9 inch " Limited slip" was called a Trac Loc. Way easier to swap out the pumpkin than the whole diff. Just make sure you find one with 3.50 gears. they are very plentiful in the auto wreckers, cheap too

axles dont just blow up. Ive had 3 8.8s with over 200k on them, another with 150k that was used for towing. Its true they arent as strong but they arent weak either.

also yardape, i think the 9" is easy to convert to disc. I have seen a few bolt up kits and several weld on kits out there for the 9". Are there kits out there for the 8.8 besides using stuff from a smaller 8.8?

ok with all thats been said does anyone know if the trac-lock can be bought seperate and how much could it run$$$?

check you local junk yards, call them and ask what they'd want for a 9 inch axle, you might be able to pull a complete axle relatively cheap and not even have to go to the work of swapping out the pumpkin. definatly go for the 9 inch, you don't need to do much of anything to make them strong as ****.

If you have trouble locating a pumpkin in 3.55 trac lock, let me know, theirs a ton of yards near me, and being laid off, ive got plenty of time to pull parts.

trac loks can be had new for less than $300. Myself I just went to the wreckers and got a 3rd member with a trak loc in it for a hundred bucks. I'll never have to touch it again.

The 9" is the Chevy 350 of axles, pretty much every option out there is available for them. Limited slip differentials (the Auburn is one of the best), lockers (the Detroit Locker or the Tru-track), spools & air lockers.

Disk brakes are available from a number of vendors, Stainless Steel Brake Corp is the company I've dealt with before when I converted my Mustang & Ranchero although to be honest I think they're of questionable value on a truck. the front brakes provide about 75% of your stopping power. Rear disks will help a bit with the greater mass of large tires but still, lots of other mods that I'd spend my $$ on first.

http://www.ssbrakes.com/

As Shift pointed out, axles are probably the strongest part of any truck and unless abused they're usually good for 250K+ without needing anything.

The removable center section of the 9" is probably it's greatest advantage. To keep costs down I've done several gear/differential swaps by picking up a junkyard 3rd member & having it rebuilt on the bench by a local dealer & then installing it at home. Being able to keep a couple spare center sections with different gear ratios is what makes them so popular with the go-fast crowd.

Well Ive seen both blow chunks but Id say by design the 9 inch is probably stronger well no it just is . Having the pinion support bearing after the actual gear is a very good plus , the 8.8 has both bearings on the yoke side and the 9 inch has pressed on bearings on the end of the axle so it doesnt use the actual axle as the inner race for the bearing which is the biggest downfall to the 8.8,s little brother the 7.5 . I run all 8.8s in my 5 bolt stuff except the 79 I just got but the 9 does have advantages another being if you wanted to run a locker in the summer you could have a seperate 3rd member set up to judt drop in and then switch back to an open in the winter without the cost of gear setup another reason racers like them for the ease of changeing gear ratios for track conditions . They can change gear ratios in less than 30 min . My experience with lockers in a bronco driving on the highway in MI is that is causes high blood pressure and white knuckles . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Where can I find a bolt on disc conversion for a 85 bronco with 9" rear?

The only place I'd put an 8.8 is on the trailer, on the way to the scrapyard. I've repaired dozens of them over the years, and I think they're junk.

I just swapped in a 8.8 into my 1982 Bronco, it seems to do just fine. I didn't see the point of rebuilding the old 9" when you can get an 8.8 cheap. Plus you can sell the broken 9" to someone who wants to go mudding.

9 inch is strongest rear end known to man. thats why all the chevy lovin dirt trackers run them they say it is bc it is easy to swap gears but they know a chevy12bolt wont hold up to any power or abuse.

fordsohc46 said:

9 inch is strongest rear end known to man. thats why all the chevy lovin dirt trackers run them they say it is bc it is easy to swap gears but they know a chevy12bolt wont hold up to any power or abuse.

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A buddy of mine had a Vega that went 9.30 in the quarter, and he always insisted on running the GM 12 bolt, because he didnt want any Ford parts in his Chevy. He tore the ring and pinion teeth off a few times, due to the pinion deflection under load. He then sold the Vega and built up a 1400 hp ******* that goes high 7s. The first thing I said to him when I looked over the car.. "Where's the 12 bolt, dude?? That looks like a FORD rear in there!" And indeed, it was a 9" housing.

See, even the most die-hard types can come around eventually! haha

i knew i could do alot with the 9" but wow thats alot. ok ill stick with my nine. one last question. if i go to a pull yard how would i know the diffrence in from the trac-loc and a standard 9" what will the tag say?