8.8 Ford rear pro drag gear set

[4speedracer]

My experience with a foxbody stickcar and a 8.8,stock suspension, housings are the weakest link even with tubes welded and bracing.put money into a 9" lot parts going to cost the same.axles,spool etc.

[Rory McNeil]

Originally Posted by 4speedracer

My experience with a foxbody stickcar and a 8.8,stock suspension, housings are the weakest link even with tubes welded and bracing.put money into a 9" lot parts going to cost the same.axles,spool etc.

Yes, you certainly want to have the axle tubes welded to the cast iron center case with a 8.8, and after a couple of years, had to straighten the tubes and brace the tubes, never had any issues after that. A 9" is nice, but building a 9" housing with all the bracketry to allow it to accept the factory style trailing arms is required. So although the spool and axles are priced the same, the custom housing, plus an aftermarket case with a ball bearing pinion support does add to the cost. That said, the 9" does have a much broader selection of available ratios, not to mention many ratios can be had in "pro" gear alloy, so could well be a worthy upgrade for a faster or heavier combination.

[Run to Rund]

You can probably find a commercial housing set up the way you need it, at a moderate price. Another thing about the 9" is that you can go way overkill for almost the same price as setups with less strength--31 vs. 35 spline axles, 28 vs. 35 spline pinion, etc.