8.8 howl on acceleration

[BLAKE]

Apologies in advance: I know how many variables there are here.

- Junkyard 2000 Explorer 8.8
- Drivers side of housing cut down 3 inches

- Axles and ring gear/diff removed
- Pinion left in place

- Reassembled re-using every shim/cap/whatever in the same place it came from
- Set everything in spec as best I could tell, but neither me or my friend that were doing it have done so before.
- Ring gear looks good, spider gears show some wear but aren't chowdered

So what do you think? Noise on acceleration mean that the parts or bad or we just failed at setup or...?

If it is a setup issue, where to start?

[svauto-erotic855]

If your tooth contact is too far up or down on the ring gear it will sound like that. Pinion depth moves the contact from side to side. Backlash moves the contact up or down on the tooth. If you buy a new Ford gear set I will set it up for you using the factory tools. In all likelihood your gearset is bad now.

[Baron Von Crowder]

If your tooth contact is too far up or down on the ring gear it will sound like that. Pinion depth moves the contact from side to side. Backlash moves the contact up or down on the tooth. If you buy a new Ford gear set I will set it up for you using the factory tools. In all likelihood your gearset is bad now.

/\ that.

[johnboy]

If interested I have a set of 3.55 ford racing with install kit new in the box. $100

[BLAKE]

If your tooth contact is too far up or down on the ring gear it will sound like that. Pinion depth moves the contact from side to side. Backlash moves the contact up or down on the tooth. If you buy a new Ford gear set I will set it up for you using the factory tools. In all likelihood your gearset is bad now.

You think it was bad before or I've killed it in the 1/2 mile test drive?

If interested I have a set of 3.55 ford racing with install kit new in the box. $100

Man, too bad they're not 3.73's.

[johnboy]

Tell me about it. I want to put 3.73's in my truck. It's got 3.55. These were a left over stang build.

[svauto-erotic855]

You think it was bad before or I've killed it in the 1/2 mile test drive?

They may have been bad to begin with but a half mile drive should not have done much to them.

The trick to making old gears work is to measure the backlash before you take everything apart and to go back with the same amount even if it is out of spec. Old gears normally have about .024-.032 of backlash while I shoot for about .008 on a new Ford set. You can add shims to tighten up the bearing preload when using used gears but make sure to add the same amount on each side. I make a habit of preloading new bearing quite a bit since they wear and get lose after a few hundred miles. On used bearing I just limit the thrust to zero and then add an extra few thousandths to each sides shims.

What is you engine setup? On turbo cars 3.55s are normally the fastest. NA cars with a stick are normally best with 3.73s. NA cars with an auto like 4.10s or 4.30s.

[BLAKE]

What is you engine setup? On turbo cars 3.55s are normally the fastest. NA cars with a stick are normally best with 3.73s. NA cars with an auto like 4.10s or 4.30s.

NA roller 5.0 H/C/I carbed with a T5. 3.73's should be exactly what this car wants.