thanks Steve I really respect your opinion on this as I can tell buy many of your other posts here that you know of what you speak. and that goes for many here this is a grate forum.

My situation is fairly deferent here and I know it is difficult for many to understand, but after 20 years of pulling trailers up and down the Baja I have tried almost every combination of truck you can Imagen.

 

I see why he can't use the 9" now, so I am not challenging that point.
However I have to disagree with this statement.
Stock for stock... I'll repeat, stock for stock, the 9" has the 8.8" beat.
Now you can build either bulletproof, but then you don't have a stock rear.
Dave

 

It always ruffles feathers when I post that, but hey: it ruffles mine when people claim the 9" is stronger! We've had several LOOOOONG debates about it on FSB so I won't repeat all of that here. If you're curious about that topic, do a little searching over there & you'll get a screenfull.

 

well I cant really tell witch one is stronger. but I do know that after putting more than 2 million miles on 9 inch rear ends that I can repair them in the dark in the middle of Baja. axle bearings are a snap to change with few tools and I only need to carry a few extra parts on the rode. now that I have a 8.8 I'm told that when I lose a bearing I will need a whole new axle assy. and I will need to remove the differential cover and dump the grease out on the ground to get to the retaining clips. so I need to Carry a pump and a bucket of grease.
what is with the disposable axles? I never broke an axle on a 9 inch

 

That's not correct about the 8.8" wheel bearings, but why are you tearing up so many in 9" axles? All of them run on the same gear oil - not grease. If you can swap a pressed-on wheel bearing 'in a snap' with only a few tools, you'll have even less trouble with an 8.8's bearings. Click my signature link & look in the 8.8" Axle album.

 

Steve your are absolutely right about the rear axle bearings. I checked Haynes and the Internet. I got some ironness info from another site that led to my incorrect statement. I think they must of been thinking of the front axle bearings on some 4X4s. but I still have those darn axle clips But on your advice I think I am going to look for some better of rode gears and give this thing a chance. at least we can say that the *.* has been Baja tested and we will know what the strongest one is soon.

your look 8.8" Axle album is a welth of info thanks for sharing that .

about going through the 9 inshers I go through every thing down here this equipment gets beat to hell and back down here in Baja. I'm not just one of these guys that bring their shiny truck down here to be able to say that it made it down and back. I'm on these Baja roads every day and mostly off the pavement on steep rocky grades with a trailer loaded with parts and tools to bail out the weekend worriers.

Do you have any idea what I can do about changing my speedo so it is correct after I get rid of these

2.73s

 

The Vehicle Speed Sensor in a 95 reads revolutions of the ring gear carrier not revolutions of the trannt output. Therefore the speed reading is totally independent of axle ratio. Change it to whatever ratio you like and it will still read correctly. It will need to be recalibrated if you change tire sizes.

See:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=272900

 

How often do you get a brake like that. not very often for me

this is my first computer fly by wire pickup so bear with me I have always used 70s and early 80s Fords so I have a lot to learn.

 

Here's another writeup about the '92-96 speedometer (PSOM).

 

I think I am going to stay with the 8.8 with some better pulling gears for a while and give it a chance. but I still want to get the ZF and swap. do you know if the same one off of a 351 w will bolt to a 300? I forget if the 351 has the small block bell housing pattern.

 

Yes, 300/302/351w are the same. Small block 4x4 ZF5's get a pretty penny, but a 4x2 unit should be around 500ish.

Adrianspeeder

 

Down here they are a lot cheaper, about 200 US dollars and 300 with transfer case. they are also allot more plentiful here they use them allot more here on trucks. I am think in bring a lode of them up north and selling them on ebay. I can believe how much they bring up there.

 

I'd pay $200 for a 4WD ZF!

 

Are you serious!! I've almost paid 1000 for a non runnin' truck to get a smallbock 4x4 zf...

I'm with steve on this one.

 

it is a deferent world down here. My wifes 2003 ranger lost the transmission and I took it to the ford dealer in Ensenada. for a complete transmission R&R and rebuild it cost 350 US dollars. in the USA they would get almost 4000 US. this was a 5 speed OD automatic transmission. you can git all the dents hammered out and a good quality paint job for 250 to 300 US and I mean good work. most parts run less than half the price of parts in the USA. but tires are very expensive, I usually get those in the US.