What is the spline count on front 8.8 ?
The truck is a 03 F-150 4x4 5.4
Thanks

 

Should be 27 spline.

 

What I have been reading is that it is a 30 spline.
hmmmm.

 

Its either a 28 or 31 spline, not 27 and not 30. The rangers that got the 8.8 got the 28 spline, and the explorers and F150s got 31 spline 8.8s.

 

Thanks for the reply. You are right ! But the rear 8.8 are 28
or 31 spline. I've been told that the front 8.8 is different than the
rear. For instance, lockers designed for the rear 8.8 will not work
in the front 8.8 It's rather confusing!

I'm still researching.

Thanks again
Joe

 

DOH!!!!! Missed the front in there. Yes I was talking about the rear and the front 8.8 is a different spline count. I don't know what it is but you're right no 8.8 rear lockers will work on the front. To my knowledge the only locker that is made for a 8.8 IFS is an ARB.

 

I have now found out that it is a 28 spline. But that is not the
end of the story. The man I spoke with said that the number of
splines is not always an indication of strength or torque capacity.
The strength of the 8.8 IFS is that it is a reverse rotation, and in
how the axles are attached.
He commented that breaking an 8.8 IFS is a very rare event. He
races offroad in a 4x4 class and uses the axle as it comes right from the factory. They have proven to be very reliable.
Joe

 

The pig is not the weak link in the 8.8 IFS. The weak point is the CV shafts. Any reverse rotation front axle will be stronger than a standard cut axle dut to how the gears mesh together. With reverse rotation the gears push toghether when they mesh so they will keep in contact more, whereas standard cut try to push away from each other when they mesh. This causes them to ride a little farther out on the teeth and since its riding on a thinner piece of metal you run a higher risk of stripping the teeth off either the ring or the pinion. With reverse rotation this possibility is greatly reduced.

Like I said the problem isn't the pig, its the CVs, they don't hold up very well to alot of abuse offroad with big tires. Its like on a solid axle the weak point is usually the ujoints. The only thing is, is that you can upgrade ujoints, but not CVs, nobody makes aftermarket shafts for it.