You wanna talk about MUSTANGS?......was: Re: [Shotimes] OT New Camaro just slightly retro

[Bob]

I've owned three 8.8 trac-loc equipped Mustangs (1986, 1988, 1992) and still
have two with over 580,000 miles combined.  They are each on their first
differential/ring/pinion and they don't make noise.  I open-track 2 of the
3.  While they do have bearings that ride on the axle shaft, the axles don't
need to be replaced unless worn and they make noise when they need to be
changed.  Changing axle bearings is a once every 200,000 mi proposition in
my experience.  It's also possible to install axle saver beraings instead of
changing out a bad axle.  The bearings then run on a different part of the
axle.  If you're only complaint is the noise, it could be that the
differential was improperly repaired.  It's a common issue to have noise
with a new ring and pinion and probably the number one reason for the work
having to be redone.

There are thousands of Mustang owners out there running far above the stock
hp/tq with stock rearends.  On the Mustang race boards it's rare that anyone
has a problem with the differential (other than the friction discs wearing).
My 86 makes 355 lb/ft at the wheels on a stock drivetrain.  My 88 is
currently getting a SC, but there no reason to expect that a new
differential or an upgrade will be required when it's done and making
somewhere North of 425 hp.

I'm not at all doubting your experience and I don't blame you, but it is not
a common complaint with the car.  A search of the newsgroups should reassure
you of that, more than a salesmen's word.  It does annoy me that they went
with the stick axle compared to an IRS, but my information is that the
suspension mount points are designed for an IRS first and a stick axle
second.  In the future I expect to see a well-implemented IRS.

My stock 94 ATX SHO has a broken diff and this is it's second according to
the previous owner's documentation.  Still, it's my understanding that they
are pretty reliable, so the repair was probably not properly done the last
time.  That bill was $3,500 because when the diff went on the ATX, the
transmission case was damaged.  You'd be hard pressed to blow less than half
of that on an 8.8.

	-- Bob

> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of George Fourchy
> Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 9:02 PM
> To: shotimes@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: You wanna talk about MUSTANGS?......was: Re: [Shotimes] OT
> New Camaro just slightly retro
>
>
> On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:09:19 -0500, av8r567@optonline.net wrote:
>
> >I don't know why George keeps putting down the 8.8.  It's a damn
> good rear-end.
>
> HELLO.....???  DId you read the post beyond the first
> sentence....???   The two most
> expensive Mustangs I purchased needed a total of 5 (I didn't
> spell it all out in
> detail...I thought you would get the idea.) rebuilds by the time
> they were 3 years
> old.  Why would I think it is a good rear end?
>
> I could care LESS about all the other cars out there....I had
> SIX, and FIVE were
> BAD, SEVERAL TIMES.  Don't try and blame me, either....my SHO
> went 293,000 miles,
> and would still be going if someone knew how to design (for the
> long haul) 10 inch
> clutches that have to handle over 200 HP at 7000 RPM.  My
> Slorider wagon now has
> 141,000 miles, after a tranny rebuild under warranty at 21,000
> miles.  Its tranny is
> perfect, according to reliable local sources who service it
> regularly.  (So is the
> 3.8 Vulcan engine, by the way...!!)
>
> I didn't mention the T-Bird I had before these cars were
> built....I've praised the
> performance and reliability (other than its rear axle) of my '87
> Turbo Coupe,
> particularly the Pinto engine here, in the past.  I also
> mentioned that in 200,000
> miles its 7.5 inch differential (same design as 8.8) needed a
> total of 5 rebuilds,
> two of which I had to pay for, since the first one out of
> warranty failed 500 miles
> past ITS warranty.  That was $1350 times two.  The first gears
> started to howl at
> 30,000 miles.  I told the dealer, and he said to bring it in when I wanted
> to...they'd fix it.  Then I got moved by the FAA to another part
> of California.  The
> first dealer would have swapped the entire axle housing and all internal
> parts....the axle was bent.  But the subsequent dealers tried to
> fix it without
> swapping it (they didn't trust my first dealer's diagnosis).  I
> finally swapped it
> out with one from PnP, and it went the last 45,000 miles
> relatively quietly.
>
> Yeah.....I just LOVE Ford rear axles built past 1985.
>
> Yee HA!!
>
> George
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