Just a tip for welding cast iron, or any weldable cast metal for that matter. Pre heat the piece with a torch. Get er good n hot. It will help the weld cool slower which reduces the chance of cracks
That was exactly my thoughts when I saw him welding the tubes to the pumpkin. It's actually cast steel but the composition off the metal is unknown. some people heat the pumpkin up with a torpedo type heater and let it gradually cool moving the heater farther away from the pumpkin in 15 minute intervals at a time.... 😎
Seen 100s of the 8.8s welded with every type of welder and NO CRACKS>.. so the steel STEEL its made up of is very good.. So dont worry about heating it up.. It will be fine.
I always lay a basic beed, let it crack then go over it again HOT. Welded every type of cast steel imaginable with that method and it works like a charm. the sides of your weld never crack its always right down the center and if it doesnt crack weld it again anyways. Just my hillbilly 2 cents.
Thank you, great video. One small suggestion I learned in my hobby shop, please do not take my suggestion as any hit on your talent, this video taught me plenty! So here it is, you like me have a nice collection of welders behind you likely $1000s worth... My point is for time management in my shop I now sport 3 angle grinders. $50 each, one for cut off wheel, one for grinding, one for a wire wheel. Have all three saves me time, which in-turn money. Just a thought. YOU have made skill MAN. thank you again.
Totally agree on grinders. Even for home use, I've got half a dozen HF $10 angle grinders with assorted wheels and brushes. Yeah, they're not as long lasting as name brands, but they don't have to be when you only use each one 1/6 of the time. Also found it handy to cut short the cords and put plugs on, they all live together in their own toolbox without tangling. I just use one retractable cord for them all.
the old ford van 9 inch was a beauty as well. It was sooo offset that you could easily shorten it and use it in a pinto or vega. A perfect fit. We were doing this when i was 15 years old
For marking a cut line I like to use my big tube cutter and just run it around the axle a few times. It puts a perfect score line every time and it will always be square. We all have our own little tricks and that's just one of mine.
There you go! I destroyed a wheel of my Dear Daddy's once.Cutting bent fork tubes into.Didnt like that hardened CHROME! It cut both/but ,ruined that cutter.wheel
Filler 309 contains nickle which is ductile and thus prevents cracking. You can use even higher content and nickle base fillers when welding cast iron. If you're going to weld something like a bracket to a cast housing you can prep the surface with a layer of nickle base filler and then weld the bracket onto that.
fun fact. the 8.8 has different length axle tubes because ford actually made an 8.8 the same width as what you cut. thy put it in rangers and explorers. they just put two of the shorter tubes in for the skinny version. if anyones looking for them any explorer will have them or any ranger with a 4.0
To clean the tube, axle housings, I took a few washers, a 5/8ths wooden dowell rod, and a screw, screwed the washers to the end of the rod and wrapped a few paper towels around it. Then, utilizing the square edge of the washer, raked the inside of the tube. Got it pretty clean. Sure beat trying to stick an arm down in there.
This dude ROCKS! Knows his stuff, very articulate, and fun to watch! Not to mention those rows of dimes he's laying with the welding tips! Nice work Justin!! Happy New Year 2019 :)
I narrowed an 8.8 differential for my ‘66 Mustang. Bought custom axles from Moser. I took out 2 1/8” per side. Tip: Rent a pipe cutter. It’s fast and accurate. BTW, I used INNER pipes to align it. Pictures upon request.
I think I would have used a horizontal band saw to cut the axle tube. It would have saved marking all around the tube. I can cut square or rectangle tube with an angle grinder (had to cut 42 pieces of 2"x3" 11 ga tube for the CNC plasma table before we got a decent horizontal band saw) but round stock sucks for marking and cutting. We had to cut some 6" sch 40 pipe a while back. We had some scrap left over and , just screwing around, we rotated a cutt 180 degrees and cut a thin slice off. The thin part was .015" and the thick part was .031". About 0.001" per 1 inch is closer than you can cut with a angle grinder on round stock.
309 filler rod works absolutely great for just about anything disimalar especially structural. Aluminum bronze works great when not. What a great video thanks Justin ... Jason
Mike Ford correct! You get a gold star.. but who said welding or brazing? Just said it’s great for dissimilar. You aren’t wrong that it’s for brazing though. Brazing is great with Alu bronze for anything non structural as stated. We said the same thing
I used to do a lot of 9 inch Ford rears , both to narrow and to install Grand National spindles when a full - floating rear was needed. I have the luxury of owning a full machine shop ( including a lathe big enough to handle a full sized rear and tubes ) but most of the time I found it faster and easier to just cut the tubes with a pipe cutter. With a good pipe cutter you get square cuts and a bevel. Because I was doing this kind of work for some of the local racers as well as myself I built an alignment / welding fixture that was a real time saver. It was made from cold rolled round stock , the first part was clamped in the carrier saddles and was a reducer for a round bar just slightly smaller than the id of the tubes. The ends of the shaft were bored and tapped for different ends for however the tubes were to be finished. This setup even was center drilled so the whole thing could be put in the lathe and checked with a dial indicator.
Maybe a bit unnecessary but I have the axles shot blasted clean before cutting and welding but oh so much nicer to work on super clean and rust free axles. It takes about an hour and a few bucks worth of media but makes everything that much easier to do. The secret to good welds is the prep. Welding needs spotless clean joints. Blasting gets muck out of the metal pores and gaps.
Andrew Wilson Agreed. The first thing I do on any project is make sure it’s clean. I realize it’s not possible or practical in some situations but working on clean parts is so nice.
Why not use the 3 inch 3150 bearing out of the 9inch 31 spline and eliminate the clip eliminate, now you have 9 inch ford caliper capacity and the correct bearing, just a thought.
@Mark Bartmanski, sure. I rented a big pipe cutter and cut out 2 1/8” off the middle of each side, narrowing it to OEM width. I ordered Moser axles. The rear end came out of an ‘86 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. 3.55 gears and disc brakes. I cut away all of the unused suspension stuff and welded on leaf spring perches. I precisely unturned the pinion nut, counting the turns. Remove the carrier and replaced the bearings, putting the shims back exactly as they came off. Put in new pinion bearing, seal and crush washer, and installed the pinion nut the exact same 13 1/4 turns. Took several pictures.
Excellent choise of the 309 filler! I can't TIG weld but I know this stuff very well from MIG welding. Ofcourse it's originally intended to weld steel to stainless steel but it has many more uses. The shop were I used to work used a lot of 309 Mig welding to create a hardened surface area when we ran out of the special electrodes.. Bit of a backyard solution but it did the trick. This was mostly done for a lot of wear plates where abrasive stuff went through pipes 24-7.
Hi from New Zealand, Another tip when using grinders uses ear protection and respiration protection. I'm a nurse have cared for truck and trailer loads of mechanics, engineers, carpenters, and builders. One thing they all have in common they are deaf and have chronic respiration problems.
When marking where to cut, mark one side and then cut a piece of posterboard or heavy paper, in your case, 2 7/8" wide x 8-10 inches long and wrap it around the axle. Align the ends and mark along sides of paper.
i welded my tubes to my housing with ni-55 stick rod with the flux knocked off, worked a treat and wetted into the housing/tube like butter, excellent stuff to work with.
@@phlodel i knocked the flux off because i was tig welding the tubes together and didnt want the flux to contaminate my weld, had i been stick welding i would have just used the rods as normal.
If the axle housing was originally built with the pinion off center, the way you just modified it, it is not on center any more. (That is why one axle was longer in the first place.) If your new axle goes into a truck, you are golden, but if it is going into a car, the driveshaft will hit the side of the tunnel.....especially with 2 or more in the car.
Easy trick to taking off the spring pads that is much easier than what you did. Cut them right down the middle fore to aft, then take a pry par and pry one side up from the cut you just made. Then take the biggest adjustable wrench you have, and use that the work the piece back and forth until it breaks off. Do the same for the other side. You will be left with just the weld to grind down. Works on everything but GM multileaf spring seats. They have a spot weld in the center you have to grind off before you can work the seat until it breaks off.
Get a jig, the aluminum bushings, ground an polished shaft and new housing ends then narrow it where u want it. That's what I did. I put 9 inch housing ends on mime that way no more c clips.
Use a pipe cutter it fast and doesn't put grindings in the housing.a couple of strong magnets on it will catch shavings also. If you don't have a large pipe cutter.
The best way to determine how much the axle tube needs shortening is to measure the difference between the long drive shaft and the short drive shaft, this difference is how much the axle tube needs shortening. The best way to mark two parallel lines around the axle tube is to cut a strip of thin sheet metal to the exact width needed wrap it tight around the axle hold in place with a jubilee clip then scribe a line around both sides. Then cut the tube off against the inside edge of both scribe lines, the axle will now be cut square and at the correct length needed.
Great idea to use the other axele It makes the centre in the centre now it might launch straight down the strip with even axles if you only need few more inches if not just need to get axles made up to fit great job I have a spare one at home with a lsd centre I could use the late model wheels if I did it to my car no spacers just put the late model plate to mount the rear brakes and deeep dish wheels will fit nicely thanks mate 👍
Hi, great video, one question, doesn't that change the side angle of the drive shaft? Will it be too much of a change for a drag racing application? In other words the drive shaft is no longer in the center of the chassis but to one side? Thanks.
I’m just starting to look at axle narrowing. What about using a piece of heavy paper that’s exactly the cut amount , wrap it around and then spray paint over it. Should leave a perfect tube behind?
The carrier ’is’ cast steel, prior to pressing tubes into the carrier, the tubes are given a sealer coating that looked like red loctite, all this did was keep the dope from seeping beyond the press fit of the tubes. Btw, I worked where these were made!
Just a couple suggestions from one welder fabricator to another, cutting the brackets off the tubes, Its much easier to use an actual grinding wheel, probably a 4inch in your case to gouge most of the weld out. The ginding wheel is obviously much stronger and you can make a few light passes over it following the high side of the weld then as it gets deeper you can buzz the top lip off to either use the cutting wheel to finish, or sometimes your lucky enough to just wack it off with min effort. Also, welding any cast iron its best to heat it with a torch first, even out past the main area but concentrated mostly on the welding area. If its somthing thats going to be structual and really need to be rugged, after your finished welding depending on what it is, give it a min to cool so it isnt red anymore and pack as much sand on it and around the area as possible. It'll make it cool slower and less prone to cracking.
Because I'm lazy, when I cut big tubing I use a Rigid 4" tubing cutter. Minimal finishing work and cut is nice and square IF and only if the tube is cleaned of rust in such a way that it won't make the cutter wander. Only better way to it cut is with a very large lathe.
I have an old lincoln G8000 that I have a miller suitcase wirefeeder hooked to, and an antique profax spoolgun for aluminum both of those feeders can push a clean bead with SS wire, 4043 or 5356 alum., with either CC or CV, and I can tig just the same using the CC as well as scratch start my plasma torch....all you need is AMPerage to melt metal and it ultimately doesn't matter to the metal which type of current you use whether AC or DC the metal isnt that picky it will melt practically the same with either it rarely puts up much resistance once you created a contact...
Great video. Make great videos about TIG welding! Have smiled where you have marked the dimensions. It's true that you can do it with a ruler. On our work we make it easier, we have a plastic strip (long: 100 cm, wide: 3-5cm, thick: 1-1.5mm). As you take the measure and marks the spot, then the plastic strip is wrapped around it and if the stripes are exactly on top of each other. you can draw with a pen along the edge. Then the other measure is drawn and that's the same way. so you have the quick measure to raustrennen what you need. Greetings from Germany
All you need to do is get a Wrap around. It is a pipe fitting tool used for marking cut lines on pipe. Then you only need to measure at one point then make your mark. You can then measure a a few spots to verify your mark is straight. It is not accurate to make multiple marks around a tube for a cut line. You should also use a sharp soap stone marker not a paint marker. your line should not be an eight of an inch or more wide. You lose accuracy that way. Your line needs to be as thin as possible.
you haven't considered preheating the cast to 600 to 800 degree's (using a temperature pen to determine the heat) prior to the weld? as far as i know that's a routine practice when welding cast. I agree using stainless rod does help prevent cracking too.
Same thing for chopping out 3", if you want a wider axle cut and put in 3" on the other side to match the length and use 2 left side axles. But what tube thickness and diameter for that section. Jeeps often do an 8.8 swap but they are a bit narrow.
Cool video in the 1970s my Dad had a 1967 Mustang Fastback 289 he was always going to junkyards to buy Ford rearends to swap in and out of that Mustang eventually he got the correct gearing he wanted which I believe came out of a LTD my Dad wasn’t a professional trained drag racer but he did time his speeds and times getting onto the same highway on ramps which he timed to get a better speed at keep in mind the Mustang was our family car and as a young boy I thought it was cool to feel him “punch” the accelerator he had also grown up in a very rural area of Upstate New York so when we went to visit my Grandparents the old Man love racing on the rural roads he grew up driving on and knew pretty well he loved that Mustang for those rides and often borrowed a Chevy 2 with a SBC in it my Grandfather used as his daily driver that one had a 3 on the Floor and could leave rubber in all 3 gears my Dad would say put on your seat belt and we go out and haul ass for a while the coolest Ford rear modification I know of was a guy I know took one and put it into a old Ferrari he bought with a blown engine and installed all Ford running gear he wanted to keep the Ferrari rims on the car so he machined the two axles to fit into the Ford rear ironically over 35 years later the car was trying to be put back to factory specs under its newest ownership and that guy was tracked down for any input on original parts many of which he did know of the whereabouts or who he sold them to apparently that specific car had some historical significance to Ferrari collectors and he was dibbed the guy that tried to ruin the car his take was completely different as he bought a non running car , made it run ,and drove it for years without the high maintenance costs associated with the brand BTW the guy is my Uncle and he is a West Point graduate and retired Aerospace Engineer u,u.S. retired AirForce and Commercial Pilot he did the machining himself on his Lathe in his home
IMHO=Call Currie, Strange, or Moser etc., and buy a 9" housing (Dana, 12 Bolt GM whatever) to your spec ( length, pinion centered, or where you need it). No C clips, and saves a ton of work. It has stronger axles, it's straight. With a 9" Ford, you can set up center sections with different ratios, and change them in a about 1/2 hour. Cheaper in the long run. Everything this guy shows is true. He knows his business. I am not criticizing. I did this with a Dana 44, but, they don't have C clips.
Forgive my ignorance, cutting down 1 side only, does this mean that at factory width the prop shaft was on an angle from the gearbox centreline to the diff centre
Everlast sell sweet TIG/Plasma for a very reasonable price. Also, pre-heating cast helps to mitigate weld cracking. In some circumstances, its absolutely necessary.
If it welds, it isn't cast iron. Cast steel and cast iron are way different. Cast Iron can be TIG brazed to itself and dissimilar metals with silicon bronze filler rod, but it will not happen with typical 70s2 filler rod. Heard someone mention 309. It's good for heat treated 4130 that won't be re-normalized.
Sorry - I read 309 in a comment before I heard you talk about it. Ford used to have a giant steel mill. Maybe they still do. They cast, forged, and rolled all their own alloys. I'll bet that pumpkin is cast 4130 or 4140.
the difference in tube length centers the pinion behind the motor. if you take it all out of one side, the pinion is no longer centered, could be a problem.
Was thinking the exact same thing. Not only that but there is no guarantee that just because the tube length is the same, that the axle length needs to be the same. One axle could easily protrude further into the housing more than the other depending on how the centre is constructed. I would have measured the difference between the two axles and removed that amount. Trying to do it on the cheap to save resplining axles on a car with a four link seems like recipe for disaster.
I'm surprised you didn't take the axle tubes out, cut & bevel them on the lathe. Mount them between centers on a rotary welding fixture and have near perfect results. Seems like it would have been much more accurate. Drill & ream 3 locating pin holes before removing the tubes. They would go back exactly where they came out.
308 Stainless? Wow, I was not expecting that... Ford used quite an interesting alloy with that rear end. I will say TIG welding on stainless is a blast! I was just a beginner at it and I was laying down pretty welds. Not sure about corrosion resistance though. But hey, stainless is tougher than mild at least.
Good video Justin im looking to do the same in for a rear end in my 33 vicky this rear end is the right width im looking for what vehicle did that one come out of? I looked at one out of an f150 but it was a bit longer to start
There is a lot of wasted time involved in all that measuring to get the cut lines. As far as measuring is concerned, take a piece of wood or steel and place it against the rear end housing lip. Put a scratch mark on it where it meets the outside of the wheel bearing flange and then run it around to check for parallel. Once you're done then measure from the end to your scratch mark and that gives you what you need to know. All that tape work is inaccurate as hell as your tape will flex and the end will move in and out. To mark your cut lines go to any welding supply and ask for a wrap around. You wrap it around the tube and make sure the edges stay inline, make your line and you are done. You can also use a strip of gasket paper as long as one side is a factory edge (wrap around's are made out of thick gasket paper). The other method would be to get a wheeled pipe cutter for 4" pipe. Most rental outfits have these for daily rent. Their operation is pretty much self explanatory and would cut these tubes in about 1/2 hour and be perfectly square. I have been fabricating for over 40 years and they would laugh me out of the shop if I did things like this this way.
I have a question, I’m currently shopping around for a IRS diff, the Ford Explorer and expedition have them , but I’m wondering if simply narrowing a solid rear axle would be more solid than the aluminum IRS diff case ? Or that just to much work for nothing ?
Is there any way to use a rear axle like this on a Toyota truck and come out with the same wheel pattern or do you have to stick with 8 lugs. I'm wanting to do a v8 engine swap in my old v6 and will upgrade the rear end at the same time, but wanted to still be able to use stock wheels and or have them match the fronts. How can this be done?
Anybody knows if the 8.8 comes with non slip from the factory? If yes, what mustang year ? Also, does it have to come off from a manual car ? Sorry for the qoustions but it is my first time and would appreciate the help.
Nice work, but I have to ask... why not just drill out the slug welds between the tube and the housing, shove the tube out with a porta power, cut the longer tube to match the short tube, press it back in, then weld everything up?
Followed your instructions and tips. Narrowed my 8.8 and now it's part of a tri-angulated 4 link in my 55 Nomad. Thanks man...
Just a tip for welding cast iron, or any weldable cast metal for that matter. Pre heat the piece with a torch. Get er good n hot. It will help the weld cool slower which reduces the chance of cracks
That was exactly my thoughts when I saw him welding the tubes to the pumpkin. It's actually cast steel but the composition off the metal is unknown. some people heat the pumpkin up with a torpedo type heater and let it gradually cool moving the heater farther away from the pumpkin in 15 minute intervals at a time.... 😎
Seen 100s of the 8.8s welded with every type of welder and NO CRACKS>.. so the steel STEEL its made up of is very good.. So dont worry about heating it up.. It will be fine.
Black Box if it’s thicker then your thumb atleast take the chill off.
correct sir
I always lay a basic beed, let it crack then go over it again HOT. Welded every type of cast steel imaginable with that method and it works like a charm. the sides of your weld never crack its always right down the center and if it doesnt crack weld it again anyways.
Just my hillbilly 2 cents.
I used two hose clamps instead of the tape because it gives a better edge to cut to. It works very well.
Thank you, great video. One small suggestion I learned in my hobby shop, please do not take my suggestion as any hit on your talent, this video taught me plenty! So here it is, you like me have a nice collection of welders behind you likely $1000s worth... My point is for time management in my shop I now sport 3 angle grinders. $50 each, one for cut off wheel, one for grinding, one for a wire wheel. Have all three saves me time, which in-turn money. Just a thought. YOU have made skill MAN. thank you again.
Totally agree on grinders. Even for home use, I've got half a dozen HF $10 angle grinders with assorted wheels and brushes. Yeah, they're not as long lasting as name brands, but they don't have to be when you only use each one 1/6 of the time. Also found it handy to cut short the cords and put plugs on, they all live together in their own toolbox without tangling. I just use one retractable cord for them all.
the old ford van 9 inch was a beauty as well. It was sooo offset that you could easily shorten it and use it in a pinto or vega. A perfect fit. We were doing this when i was 15 years old
No matter what I do this magical man has it all laid out
For marking a cut line I like to use my big tube cutter and just run it around the axle a few times. It puts a perfect score line every time and it will always be square. We all have our own little tricks and that's just one of mine.
Ridgid # 423 is perfect.
There you go!
I destroyed a wheel of my Dear Daddy's once.Cutting bent fork tubes into.Didnt like that hardened CHROME! It cut both/but ,ruined that cutter.wheel
Filler 309 contains nickle which is ductile and thus prevents cracking. You can use even higher content and nickle base fillers when welding cast iron. If you're going to weld something like a bracket to a cast housing you can prep the surface with a layer of nickle base filler and then weld the bracket onto that.
"nickel", not "nickle", knucklehead.
Knuckelhead*
nickelhead !!!
whats with the fancy words anyway?.... ductile?.. seriously nucklebuck....
Yup...an old timer trick i learned was that if your unsure of the metal type use 309 rod...ive welded stainless to galvanized with 309 flawlessly!!!
fun fact. the 8.8 has different length axle tubes because ford actually made an 8.8 the same width as what you cut. thy put it in rangers and explorers. they just put two of the shorter tubes in for the skinny version. if anyones looking for them any explorer will have them or any ranger with a 4.0
Also look for a Ranger with a torsion bar front suspension. It has the 8.8.
I have done a few rear diff mods. I like to drill the welds remove the tube from housing shorten then press in realine tube and rewelded back up.
To clean the tube, axle housings, I took a few washers, a 5/8ths wooden dowell rod, and a screw, screwed the washers to the end of the rod and wrapped a few paper towels around it. Then, utilizing the square edge of the washer, raked the inside of the tube. Got it pretty clean. Sure beat trying to stick an arm down in there.
Walker Ashcraft I usually just wipe it out after cutting it. Whatever gets the job done best for the person doing the job is the right way 👍
This dude ROCKS! Knows his stuff, very articulate, and fun to watch! Not to mention those rows of dimes he's laying with the welding tips! Nice work Justin!! Happy New Year 2019 :)
I narrowed an 8.8 differential for my ‘66 Mustang. Bought custom axles from Moser. I took out 2 1/8” per side. Tip: Rent a pipe cutter. It’s fast and accurate. BTW, I used INNER pipes to align it. Pictures upon request.
Shlashlskh
Lhhlhlglhh
Lh
H
Ll
L
Hhksllghgsllhlhahlhllhlh
Hla
Lhllh
Hlahl
Lhlahhlhhl
Hl-lhhhlhhlhlll
Hlllhllhls
Hllhh.lhh
Hllhlhlhl
H lllhhhllsllllhlhhhhg
Llh
Hhh
Hhlhl
Hl
Hl lhhhlhhhlhlhhhlhl
Hh
Hllhhlhhhhhlahlh. Hlldllhhlhllshhlhhslhhhdlhlhhlhlhlhhkg .
Would like to see this, have a Volvo Amazon I'd like to put an 8.8 on since the bolt pattern is 4.5
8.8
Sloppy Mechanics I'm surpised you didn't tell him to just cut off the leaf spring mount
The denmah has spoken
BETTER A 9 INCHS......NO DAMN C CLIPS........
A wrap-a-round will make your life a lot easier when cutting pipe.
I think I would have used a horizontal band saw to cut the axle tube. It would have saved marking all around the tube. I can cut square or rectangle tube with an angle grinder (had to cut 42 pieces of 2"x3" 11 ga tube for the CNC plasma table before we got a decent horizontal band saw) but round stock sucks for marking and cutting. We had to cut some 6" sch 40 pipe a while back. We had some scrap left over and , just screwing around, we rotated a cutt 180 degrees and cut a thin slice off. The thin part was .015" and the thick part was .031". About 0.001" per 1 inch is closer than you can cut with a angle grinder on round stock.
309 filler rod works absolutely great for just about anything disimalar especially structural. Aluminum bronze works great when not. What a great video thanks Justin ...
Jason
It's definitely a go-to filer for me. Thanks for watching!
Except that aluminum-bronze is now classed as brazing and not welding. 309/309L were specifically designed for dissimilar metal welding.
Mike Ford correct! You get a gold star.. but who said welding or brazing? Just said it’s great for dissimilar. You aren’t wrong that it’s for brazing though. Brazing is great with Alu bronze for anything non structural as stated. We said the same thing
I used to do a lot of 9 inch Ford rears , both to narrow and to install Grand National spindles when a full - floating rear was needed. I have the luxury of owning a full machine shop ( including a lathe big enough to handle a full sized rear and tubes ) but most of the time I found it faster and easier to just cut the tubes with a pipe cutter. With a good pipe cutter you get square cuts and a bevel. Because I was doing this kind of work for some of the local racers as well as myself I built an alignment / welding fixture that was a real time saver. It was made from cold rolled round stock , the first part was clamped in the carrier saddles and was a reducer for a round bar just slightly smaller than the id of the tubes. The ends of the shaft were bored and tapped for different ends for however the tubes were to be finished. This setup even was center drilled so the whole thing could be put in the lathe and checked with a dial indicator.
I've used a tubing cutter to make a witness line when I need to cut tubing square. Just a few twists makes a great line!
Maybe a bit unnecessary but I have the axles shot blasted clean before cutting and welding but oh so much nicer to work on super clean and rust free axles. It takes about an hour and a few bucks worth of media but makes everything that much easier to do. The secret to good welds is the prep. Welding needs spotless clean joints. Blasting gets muck out of the metal pores and gaps.
Andrew Wilson
Agreed. The first thing I do on any project is make sure it’s clean. I realize it’s not possible or practical in some situations but working on clean parts is so nice.
Why not use the 3 inch 3150 bearing out of the 9inch 31 spline and eliminate the clip eliminate, now you have 9 inch ford caliper capacity and the correct bearing, just a thought.
pipe cutter works great and the cut is perfectly straight. Do that for my driveshafts too
I was gonna say this. I use the cutter to put a groove and then I sink the bandsaw in it. It tends to follow the groove.
I narrowed an 8.8 Ford. Special ordered new axles from Moser. Came out great.
@Mark Bartmanski, I installed it in my ‘66 Mustang fastback that I am retromodding.
@Mark Bartmanski, sure. I rented a big pipe cutter and cut out 2 1/8” off the middle of each side, narrowing it to OEM width. I ordered Moser axles. The rear end came out of an ‘86 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. 3.55 gears and disc brakes. I cut away all of the unused suspension stuff and welded on leaf spring perches. I precisely unturned the pinion nut, counting the turns. Remove the carrier and replaced the bearings, putting the shims back exactly as they came off. Put in new pinion bearing, seal and crush washer, and installed the pinion nut the exact same 13 1/4 turns. Took several pictures.
Excellent choise of the 309 filler! I can't TIG weld but I know this stuff very well from MIG welding. Ofcourse it's originally intended to weld steel to stainless steel but it has many more uses. The shop were I used to work used a lot of 309 Mig welding to create a hardened surface area when we ran out of the special electrodes.. Bit of a backyard solution but it did the trick. This was mostly done for a lot of wear plates where abrasive stuff went through pipes 24-7.
Nice!!
Hi from New Zealand,
Another tip when using grinders uses ear protection and respiration protection. I'm a nurse have cared for truck and trailer loads of mechanics, engineers, carpenters, and builders. One thing they all have in common they are deaf and have chronic respiration problems.
When marking where to cut, mark one side and then cut a piece of posterboard or heavy paper, in your case, 2 7/8" wide x 8-10 inches long and wrap it around the axle. Align the ends and mark along sides of paper.
i welded my tubes to my housing with ni-55 stick rod with the flux knocked off, worked a treat and wetted into the housing/tube like butter, excellent stuff to work with.
Why did you knock the flux off?
@@phlodel i knocked the flux off because i was tig welding the tubes together and didnt want the flux to contaminate my weld, had i been stick welding i would have just used the rods as normal.
@@Cervan Sorry. I didn't catch the TIG part. Why don't you just get nickle TIG wire?
If the axle housing was originally built with the pinion off center, the way you just modified it, it is not on center any more. (That is why one axle was longer in the first place.)
If your new axle goes into a truck, you are golden, but if it is going into a car, the driveshaft will hit the side of the tunnel.....especially with 2 or more in the car.
The pinion is not centered on for 8.8 rear ends, that is why one axle is longer than the other
@@Redtooth75 I covered that: I switched a word by mistake. Thanks
Easy trick to taking off the spring pads that is much easier than what you did. Cut them right down the middle fore to aft, then take a pry par and pry one side up from the cut you just made. Then take the biggest adjustable wrench you have, and use that the work the piece back and forth until it breaks off. Do the same for the other side. You will be left with just the weld to grind down.
Works on everything but GM multileaf spring seats. They have a spot weld in the center you have to grind off before you can work the seat until it breaks off.
Get a jig, the aluminum bushings, ground an polished shaft and new housing ends then narrow it where u want it. That's what I did. I put 9 inch housing ends on mime that way no more c clips.
Use a pipe cutter it fast and doesn't put grindings in the housing.a couple of strong magnets on it will catch shavings also. If you don't have a large pipe cutter.
The best way to determine how much the axle tube needs shortening is to measure the difference between the long drive shaft and the short drive shaft, this difference is how much the axle tube needs shortening. The best way to mark two parallel lines around the axle tube is to cut a strip of thin sheet metal to the exact width needed wrap it tight around the axle hold in place with a jubilee clip then scribe a line around both sides. Then cut the tube off against the inside edge of both scribe lines, the axle will now be cut square and at the correct length needed.
Great idea to use the other axele It makes the centre in the centre now it might launch straight down the strip with even axles if you only need few more inches if not just need to get axles made up to fit great job I have a spare one at home with a lsd centre I could use the late model wheels if I did it to my car no spacers just put the late model plate to mount the rear brakes and deeep dish wheels will fit nicely thanks mate 👍
I've never owned a Ford 8.8 or intend to or intend to cut the tubes, but this was cool/informative to watch.
Hi, great video, one question, doesn't that change the side angle of the drive shaft? Will it be too much of a change for a drag racing application? In other words the drive shaft is no longer in the center of the chassis but to one side? Thanks.
I’m just starting to look at axle narrowing. What about using a piece of heavy paper that’s exactly the cut amount , wrap it around and then spray paint over it. Should leave a perfect tube behind?
The carrier ’is’ cast steel, prior to pressing tubes into the carrier, the tubes are given a sealer coating that looked like red loctite, all this did was keep the dope from seeping beyond the press fit of the tubes. Btw, I worked where these were made!
I put one of these 8.8 under my jeep trussed with the Artec kit and 4.88 gears. Huge improvement over the stock Dana 35 and an upgrade over a Dana 44
Try big hose clamps instead of tape. You can get them right on the mark it's much faster and they won't melt when you make the cut
I was sceptical til he pulled out the 309's. It's a happy medium between the two parent metals carbon content, roughly that is.
I like to use some steel angle scribe an index line along the tube before i cut, makes it real easy to line up the tube when its time to weld it up
The truck/SUV 8.8's are offset diff. The Mustang ones are centered and shorter but only have 28 spline vs the Truck 31.
Just a couple suggestions from one welder fabricator to another, cutting the brackets off the tubes, Its much easier to use an actual grinding wheel, probably a 4inch in your case to gouge most of the weld out. The ginding wheel is obviously much stronger and you can make a few light passes over it following the high side of the weld then as it gets deeper you can buzz the top lip off to either use the cutting wheel to finish, or sometimes your lucky enough to just wack it off with min effort. Also, welding any cast iron its best to heat it with a torch first, even out past the main area but concentrated mostly on the welding area. If its somthing thats going to be structual and really need to be rugged, after your finished welding depending on what it is, give it a min to cool so it isnt red anymore and pack as much sand on it and around the area as possible. It'll make it cool slower and less prone to cracking.
Underrated bro your work here is very awesome
Because I'm lazy, when I cut big tubing I use a Rigid 4" tubing cutter. Minimal finishing work and cut is nice and square IF and only if the tube is cleaned of rust in such a way that it won't make the cutter wander. Only better way to it cut is with a very large lathe.
I agree with being focused on accuracy but a felt tipped sharpie is like 1/4 thick lol.
I have an old lincoln G8000 that I have a miller suitcase wirefeeder hooked to, and an antique profax spoolgun for aluminum both of those feeders can push a clean bead with SS wire, 4043 or 5356 alum., with either CC or CV, and I can tig just the same using the CC as well as scratch start my plasma torch....all you need is AMPerage to melt metal and it ultimately doesn't matter to the metal which type of current you use whether AC or DC the metal isnt that picky it will melt practically the same with either it rarely puts up much resistance once you created a contact...
Great video.
Make great videos about TIG welding!
Have smiled where you have marked the dimensions. It's true that you can do it with a ruler.
On our work we make it easier, we have a plastic strip (long: 100 cm, wide: 3-5cm, thick: 1-1.5mm). As you take the measure and marks the spot, then the plastic strip is wrapped around it and if the stripes are exactly on top of each other. you can draw with a pen along the edge.
Then the other measure is drawn and that's the same way. so you have the quick measure to raustrennen what you need.
Greetings from Germany
All you need to do is get a Wrap around. It is a pipe fitting tool used for marking cut lines on pipe. Then you only need to measure at one point then make your mark. You can then measure a a few spots to verify your mark is straight. It is not accurate to make multiple marks around a tube for a cut line.
You should also use a sharp soap stone marker not a paint marker. your line should not be an eight of an inch or more wide. You lose accuracy that way. Your line needs to be as thin as possible.
you haven't considered preheating the cast to 600 to 800 degree's (using a temperature pen to determine the heat) prior to the weld? as far as i know that's a routine practice when welding cast. I agree using stainless rod does help prevent cracking too.
Considered, noted, calculated, never done. Theres a ton of factors and it has been determined that it is not necessary on this diff.
Can you leave the gears in the pumpkin while you are cutting and welding
Same thing for chopping out 3", if you want a wider axle cut and put in 3" on the other side to match the length and use 2 left side axles. But what tube thickness and diameter for that section. Jeeps often do an 8.8 swap but they are a bit narrow.
Hi. Great video. I have a question, however. Where can I purchase one of these 8.8s for a 98 S10 now or soon? Thanks.
Quick tip...you can use a hose clip instead of masking tape that gives you a had edge to cut against, works a treat.
Cool video in the 1970s my Dad had a 1967 Mustang Fastback 289 he was always going to junkyards to buy Ford rearends to swap in and out of that Mustang eventually he got the correct gearing he wanted which I believe came out of a LTD my Dad wasn’t a professional trained drag racer but he did time his speeds and times getting onto the same highway on ramps which he timed to get a better speed at keep in mind the Mustang was our family car and as a young boy I thought it was cool to feel him “punch” the accelerator he had also grown up in a very rural area of Upstate New York so when we went to visit my Grandparents the old Man love racing on the rural roads he grew up driving on and knew pretty well he loved that Mustang for those rides and often borrowed a Chevy 2 with a SBC in it my Grandfather used as his daily driver that one had a 3 on the Floor and could leave rubber in all 3 gears my Dad would say put on your seat belt and we go out and haul ass for a while the coolest Ford rear modification I know of was a guy I know took one and put it into a old Ferrari he bought with a blown engine and installed all Ford running gear he wanted to keep the Ferrari rims on the car so he machined the two axles to fit into the Ford rear ironically over 35 years later the car was trying to be put back to factory specs under its newest ownership and that guy was tracked down for any input on original parts many of which he did know of the whereabouts or who he sold them to apparently that specific car had some historical significance to Ferrari collectors and he was dibbed the guy that tried to ruin the car his take was completely different as he bought a non running car , made it run ,and drove it for years without the high maintenance costs associated with the brand BTW the guy is my Uncle and he is a West Point graduate and retired Aerospace Engineer u,u.S. retired AirForce and Commercial Pilot he did the machining himself on his Lathe in his home
That's awesome
IMHO=Call Currie, Strange, or Moser etc., and buy a 9" housing (Dana, 12 Bolt GM whatever) to your spec ( length, pinion centered, or where you need it). No C clips, and saves a ton of work. It has stronger axles, it's straight. With a 9" Ford, you can set up center sections with different ratios, and change them in a about 1/2 hour. Cheaper in the long run. Everything this guy shows is true. He knows his business. I am not criticizing. I did this with a Dana 44, but, they don't have C clips.
You are a Master of measuring man
Forgive my ignorance, cutting down 1 side only, does this mean that at factory width the prop shaft was on an angle from the gearbox centreline to the diff centre
Hose clamp for marking the cut works well
I have had >excellent< results utilizing ESAB - OK Ni-Cl as my filler.
once again, you are a brilliant man.
Donnie
Why not use a wrap around? Great video thank you
Is that diff supposed to be bone dry? 1:20
Everlast sell sweet TIG/Plasma for a very reasonable price.
Also, pre-heating cast helps to mitigate weld cracking. In some circumstances, its absolutely necessary.
I checked your site for the soup recipe for degreasing the diff. Can you tell me where it is on the site? Thanks.
Hey bud I just picked up a 56 Ford Fairlane what's the best way to go about getting a wider tire on the rear I'm doing all the homework I can
question? wouldn’t it be easier to drill out the 3 filler welds and just add a complete short side axle tube
If it welds, it isn't cast iron. Cast steel and cast iron are way different. Cast Iron can be TIG brazed to itself and dissimilar metals with silicon bronze filler rod, but it will not happen with typical 70s2 filler rod. Heard someone mention 309. It's good for heat treated 4130 that won't be re-normalized.
Sorry - I read 309 in a comment before I heard you talk about it. Ford used to have a giant steel mill. Maybe they still do. They cast, forged, and rolled all their own alloys. I'll bet that pumpkin is cast 4130 or 4140.
the difference in tube length centers the pinion behind the motor. if you take it all out of one side, the pinion is no longer centered, could be a problem.
Was thinking the exact same thing. Not only that but there is no guarantee that just because the tube length is the same, that the axle length needs to be the same. One axle could easily protrude further into the housing more than the other depending on how the centre is constructed. I would have measured the difference between the two axles and removed that amount. Trying to do it on the cheap to save resplining axles on a car with a four link seems like recipe for disaster.
I'm surprised you didn't take the axle tubes out, cut & bevel them on the lathe. Mount them between centers on a rotary welding fixture and have near perfect results. Seems like it would have been much more accurate. Drill & ream 3 locating pin holes before removing the tubes. They would go back exactly where they came out.
What's that marker you're using? Is it the Elmer's Painters marker?
308 Stainless? Wow, I was not expecting that... Ford used quite an interesting alloy with that rear end. I will say TIG welding on stainless is a blast! I was just a beginner at it and I was laying down pretty welds. Not sure about corrosion resistance though. But hey, stainless is tougher than mild at least.
Good video Justin im looking to do the same in for a rear end in my 33 vicky this rear end is the right width im looking for what vehicle did that one come out of? I looked at one out of an f150 but it was a bit longer to start
Can you tell me what is the shortest you can make a 8.8 ? Guess what I need to ask is what are the shortest axels you can get?
Not all ford 8.8s are offset right? The mustang 8.8s have equal axels? What is this from, an explorer?
Realized this guy is cool as heck within the first 20sec
would it be beneficial to preheat the assembly before welding?
There is a lot of wasted time involved in all that measuring to get the cut lines. As far as measuring is concerned, take a piece of wood or steel and place it against the rear end housing lip. Put a scratch mark on it where it meets the outside of the wheel bearing flange and then run it around to check for parallel. Once you're done then measure from the end to your scratch mark and that gives you what you need to know. All that tape work is inaccurate as hell as your tape will flex and the end will move in and out. To mark your cut lines go to any welding supply and ask for a wrap around. You wrap it around the tube and make sure the edges stay inline, make your line and you are done. You can also use a strip of gasket paper as long as one side is a factory edge (wrap around's are made out of thick gasket paper). The other method would be to get a wheeled pipe cutter for 4" pipe. Most rental outfits have these for daily rent. Their operation is pretty much self explanatory and would cut these tubes in about 1/2 hour and be perfectly square. I have been fabricating for over 40 years and they would laugh me out of the shop if I did things like this this way.
Wish I could find somewhere around jonesboro AR that can do this for me
So lets say I want to widen it. Could I just take the short side put some tube in, weld it, and use 2 long side axles?
Great video Justin, exactly what I've been looking for too!
You do an excellent job of explaining and teaching, Thank You!
U CAN USE YOUR MEASURING TAPE AND WRAP IT AROUND THE TUBE WITH BOTH ENDS TOUCHING THEN MARK YOUR LINE, IT WILL BE STRAIGHT
I just got one of these for my 55 customline. I think it’s 1.5 inches wider. Do I need to cut and weld ?
I rebuilt a many of these. I worked at the city garage in Mobile AL. We worked on all of the city's cop cars.
How have your Everlast welders held up?
I have a question, I’m currently shopping around for a IRS diff, the Ford Explorer and expedition have them , but I’m wondering if simply narrowing a solid rear axle would be more solid than the aluminum IRS diff case ? Or that just to much work for nothing ?
Is there any way to use a rear axle like this on a Toyota truck and come out with the same wheel pattern or do you have to stick with 8 lugs. I'm wanting to do a v8 engine swap in my old v6 and will upgrade the rear end at the same time, but wanted to still be able to use stock wheels and or have them match the fronts. How can this be done?
Good details. It's a big amount of work for a small job!
That's was smart. Cutting and grinding right beside your flat screen tv.
Where is your shop located at, I need this done for my S10.
Was this for an s10? Planning on doing mine
Hello I have a mustang 8.8 rear end. How can I narrow it each side 20 inches in each side.
Anybody knows if the 8.8 comes with non slip from the factory? If yes, what mustang year ? Also, does it have to come off from a manual car ?
Sorry for the qoustions but it is my first time and would appreciate the help.
I went and got one of these for my 55 customline and I think it’s only an inch bigger then my stock one. So do I need to cut ?
How much would a job like this cost at an axle shop? I was quoted $500 at one shop in Oregon.
What was that rear axle going into and what was the flange to flange measurement when you done
Just changed my alarm from 4am to 4.25am so I could watch an old Fabricator video.
At 14:12 did anyone else have flashbacks of Grasshopper branding himself to become Caine?
I could almost hear the skin sizzling - lol.
You got me.
Nice work, but I have to ask... why not just drill out the slug welds between the tube and the housing, shove the tube out with a porta power, cut the longer tube to match the short tube, press it back in, then weld everything up?
Strike a line down the tube with a piece of angle iron so that the clock of the tube does not change.
Maybe this will be in part two.
Hey would you still use the 309 stainless filler rod today? Or is there something better