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The 8.8 is a noted and good upgrade from the weak Dana 35. As you will see there is really no comparison of the two axles or their components but I thought a good side by side comparison was applicable to sway the nay sayers. Some of the photo's have been garnered from other sites because of their quality and illustrative purpose's. |
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| Here are the two Axle Shaft side by side. The bigger of the two is the Ford 8.8. | |
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| Here is a comparison of the Carriers and ring gears. Guess which is the 8.8. | |
Ford Explorer's are the prime candidates for these axles. If you get one from a Junk yard that is a 1995 or newer it will also come with disc brakes. It is also possible to find them with 4.10 gear ratio. It is also a misconception that some Explorer's came with 28 spline axles. I personally have looked at over 70 Explorer rear ends from all year ranges. I am not saying that they may not be out there, but I have never seen one and I will wager that I have looked at as many if not more examples than the people claiming that the come in the pre 95 models.
As a matter of fact my 8.8 is out of a pre 95 with drum brakes and it has 31 spline axles.
After-market support for the 8.8 is really good and all types of lockers and gear ratio's are available for it.