Yet another Explorer 8.8 thread...

That would be excellent!

 

what pics do you guys want to see? I can maybe get some tonight, but I doubt it, definately this weekend. I'm no photographer, if there is a particular area of interest, let me know

 

I'd like to see the spring plates and the driveshaft angle if possible. Pics of anything else you had to modify would be great.

I assume if I can get the Explorer brake lines, that I can just cut and re-flare those? I figure they're probably metric, so no chance of just screwing them in, right?

 

How do the Explorer springs compare to the Maverick ones? I know they are thicker, but are they longer? Shorter? Would it be possible to taper the ends of the springs to fit the Maverick mount points, or would that just jack the ride height? How about attaching the bottom leaf from the Explorer to the Maverick spring pack, then using the Explorer spring plates? (And obviously some other type of shock that may or may not exist...)

 

Another thought... The axle tubes on the 8.8" - they're like 3.25" in diameter, right? And the 9" axle tubes are 3" I think? What about using spring plates from a leaf-sprung vehicle with a 9" and elongating the holes a bit to cover that 1/4" difference? (Of course my next question would be, what application would I look for... )

 

For anyone else who's interested, I found some Explorer axle tag codes:

43 Open 3200 3.08
41 Open 3200 3.27
42 Open 4.10
46 Open 3.73
45 Open 3200 3.55
D4 Limited Slip 3200 3.73
D2 Limited Slip 4.10
L73 Limited Slip 3.73

 

I'm planning to use 8" or 9" spring perches and the Maverick springs. As I stated earlier, I will mount springs on the rear , while on the bench, to see if I will have any clearance issues with the springs, calipers, and rotors.

 

I think you'll probably be ok on that, although close. What I'm concerned about now is those lower spring plates... The Mav ones don't look big enough to re-drill for the bigger u-bolts, so I'll need to get around that somehow. Current propositions are

1: Bastardized springs

2: Custom spring plates like Shaun's

3: Spring plates from some other yet-undetermined vehicle that will already fit or almost fit.

 

I repeat.

 

here are some pics, you'll have to decode them yourselves

 

must have 10 letters...

 

I think that's going to be very useful. Thanks Shaun! You think if you got your ride height back up where you want it the then the tunnel clearance thing will be solved?

How does it drive? Any vibration or unusual noise other than when you hit a big bump and scrub the tunnel? I guess you're pretty satisfied with the brakes?

 

I would say that if it sat higher in the back, there may be less of an issue with the tunnel clearance, I'm going to massage the tunnel this winter to correct it.
Drives nice, don't hear any noises, or get any vibrations with it, I do wat to go under the car this week and nut and bolt everything though.
Brakes work great, I'm still running manual m/c and it's taking the 4 wheel discs pretty well. I am going to look into getting a m/c from a Lincoln Mark IV, I found one was manual 4 wheel discs, just to be safe

 

Guys, Great info. I have had an 8.8 from an exploder in my posesion for a few years and was going to off it since I thought the offset would kill me. Now I have a winter project. I just need some smaller gears. It has 4.10s right now..

 

put a t-5 in, with 3.73s I still don't use 5th gear, I'm going up a step