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Explorer rear in Thunderbird???

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  ghunt 
#1 ·
Hey everyone, I have an 86 thunderbird 5.0 Aod. I currently have the 8.8 open diff, with drums. I found for sale a nicely built explorer 8.8 rear with disk brakes and limited slip.

I am curious if this swap is possible on my thunderbird. will the mounting point be the same? Will i have to modify my suspension?

thanks
 
#3 ·
#4 ·
In '86 I don't believe any Thunderbird had an 8.8, not even the Turbo Coupes. They were all 7.5's but the Turbo Coupes came with a limited slip.

'87-88 Turbo Coupes had a disc brake, limited slip 8.8 with 3.55 gears (manual) or 3.73 (auto), but the V6 and V8 thunderbirds of the same years still had the 7.5.

I don't think there's any way an Explorer rear would swap over, most of them had leaf springs anyway, regardless they wouldn't have your control arm mounting points (which are the same as a Fox Mustang).

If you can find a Turbo Coupe rear you'll get disc brakes, good gears and a limited slip and it will bolt right in. They're really popular with Fox Mustang guys that want disc brakes but don't want to do a 5 lug swap.
 
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