8.8 ring and pinion swap ?

[boots6868]

Yall have been sooo much help with my 03 explorer since i got it. you helped me fix.
A. Timing chain repair.
B. Door ajar light.
Now i got a new queery for you guys and gals.
my 03 has a terrible whine at about 55 mph on up when accelerating. i let up on the throttle and it goes away.
Now i know enough that this tells me its probably the pinion bearing going out.
What im wondering is... in the interest of saving money. can i go to the junkyard and pull a pinion and race out of ANY 8.8 early model and stick it in this 8.8 Independent rear.
my thinking is the problem lies with these independent rears and their aluminum housings. If i get one out of the bulletproof 8.8 explorers (and there are a load of em in the U-pull it yards now. I could really save some big money.. I would also be thinking of taking the matching ring gear as well.

Does anybody have any personal knowelege on the fitment difference? I figured Ford probably uses the same guts in the punkin for both.
what do you think?

 

[scdix50]

You must use a matching set. They must be timed when setup. I would find a good low mileage unit and put the whole thing in. I never had any good luck with having the pinon bearing replaced. Both times the ***** used an impac wrench to put the pinon bearing nut back on.

 

[boominXplorer]

Usually in the IRS 8.8's its the carrier bearings that go out first. I replaced all 4 bearings in my 04 with 103k and have not had an issue since. If you find a low mile diff your only going to have the problem again as they all have cheaply made bearings and seals in them

 

[boots6868]

Thanks guys for the input.
I agree that i would have to have the match set ring and pinion. mines 3.55 gears. i think that was quite popular in the late 90s explorers.
My thoughts were to gut one out with low milage on a solid axle (they were built better) and swap the goods into my irs set up. time i got ... money is tough...
yeah if i had the money i would just go to my dealer and order a ring and pinion repair kit.
I can get the gears and bearings for 25.00 out of my local u-pull.
and im not a stranger to setting up rear ends. I used to build 9 inch for our race car.
my big worry was the dimensions of the races and bearings going in.
After i asked this i did some checking and summit racing offers the bearing kit for 8.8 and it fits solid or irs same part #.
Oh i know what else i needed to ask if anyone knows off hand. the pinion torque load, and the backlash settings.

 

[boominXplorer]

I just happen to have a new 3.55 axle whine service kit almost complete on my shelf if your interested. Its part number 5L3Z-4209-B. I have the ring and pinion, carrier bearings, shims and pinion seal. I took out and used the pinion bearings, crush sleeve and pinion nut on another project. If your interested its yours for $125 + ship

 

[imp]

.......and im not a stranger to setting up rear ends. I used to build 9 inch for our race car.
my big worry was the dimensions of the races and bearings going in.
After i asked this i did some checking and summit racing offers the bearing kit for 8.8 and it fits solid or irs same part #.
Oh i know what else i needed to ask if anyone knows off hand. the pinion torque load, and the backlash settings.

9-inch is much easier to set up gears in. Pinion and it's bearings are removable from the FRONT of the housing, without disturbing anything else. 8.8 when being set-up, must have pinion removed and inserted in housing from the BACK, so the ring gear must be out to gain access. Then, the pinion bearing SHIMS must be properly sized, and without ability to accurately measure pinion depth in the housing, this hit-or-miss set up becomes pretty time-consuming.

As a GUESS, I would think the bearings used in ANY 8.8 are all the same size. But, I could be wrong. imp