I have a 3.55LS 8.8 axle in my 97 f150 4x4 and im planning on swapping it with an axle that has the 3.73LS....i know how to change the front its pretty easy but im worried about changing the REAR....the u-bolts and drive shaft are no problem but im worried about the brake lines and drum brakes....if anyones done this or knows how to... give me some tips and if there is a write up please share it with me...thanx

 

Aint nobody changed a rear axle? come on tell me something......i thought about puttin this in other drivetrain but its for my 97

 

If they are the same axles, both 8.8s, just put it back together as you tore it down.

 

Yeah it seems that simple....but as far as taking the brake lines out so i dont have to bleed em

 

oh, you meant things of that nature....I'm not quite sure.

Have you Googled about swapping axles? There may my threads on other sites about it...

 

yeah i looked around but came up short.....i just dont know about those hoses that go into the drums and one hose that goes into the axle...because theres no nut there and you cant just pull em out

 

IIRC, one of the hoses is just a breather hose.

Are the ends not threaded on the ones in the drums?

 

Sorry to be a dummy but ive seen IIRC a bunch but dont know what it means.....one of the lines is threaded and looks easy to take out, just a small wrench but the other hose like tube kind of thing doesnt really have anything to take em out with

 

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly

I really don't want to tell you something and be wrong.

Hopefully one of the more knowledgeable guys will tune in though. I will hang around for the info. :o

Sorry man.

 

oh ha thats easy enough....yeah well see...im plannin on takin one out of a pick yard on saturday so i should get some pretty good insight when i take it out but im hopin somebody knows some good advice/tips

 

Sorry with drum brakes you HAVE to disconnect the rear brake lines.
Its been a few years, IIRC the brake line tubing goes into the drum brake wheel cylinder.
The wheel cylinder is attached to th backing plate.
In the olden days we would disconnect the line and plug them with wood golf Tees.

Its a bunch of stuff to disconnect and reconnect. Then get a helper so you can bleed them. You probably need to change the brake fluid anyway.

 

^that sucks....im guessin theres a thread on here of how to do that....is it hard to bleed em and change the fluid?

 

It's actually quite easy. Go around one at a time and loosen off the bleeder plug and have a waste container of some sort and then have someone pump the brakes until all of the old fluid is out and fresh fluid starts to come out.. As you are doing that to each one, top up the brake fluid in the master cylinder.

 

sounds pretty simple i guess...im guessin it will be in my haynes book

 

I've swapped 8.8" axles before, but it was with disc brakes. The biggest pain I had was getting the e-brake cables disconnected