Does a ford 8.8 fit into a rwd Celica? Find out here!

http://www.celica-gts.com/forums/index.php?topic=29189.0 Answer: kinda.

I'd reinforce that panhard bar if you're going to grind on it.

It won't be much grinding. I suspect a 1/16th. And I'll see what I can shave from the cover.

What's the width of the Ford rear end after you narrowed it? Any idea how much heavier the whole unit is compared to the old one?

It's 59". Exactly 1" wider than the stock Celica. The 8.8 weighs 174lbs with drum brakes. It's heavier with disc. My stock Toyota axle was 130lbs.

In reply to Trackmouse:

I'd be surprised if it's a solid bar though, not a tube you want to put a stress riser into.

In reply to Trackmouse:
59" from mounting face to mounting face? That seems wide.

It's a 62" wms to wms. Take 2 and 7/8" out of the drivers side tube and it shortens it to 59" and some loose change.

In reply to BrokenYugo:

If it's a tube I'll simply create a new one. If it's solid it'll take the grinding. My thought is ill start grinding, if I see an opening I'll grind as far as good and weld it up.

In reply to Trackmouse:
I was hoping it was narrower because I need 56" or less for my project. Oh well, the search continues.

My explorer 8.8 came out at 56.5" from the wheel mounting faces with a short side axle swap. Curious how yours is different.

You will notice that extra weight back there. It felt like I was dragging an anchor on my Falcon when I installed the explorer rear.

His was probably a wider truck 8.8. The Explorer 8.8 is somewhere around 59 and change inches WMS-WMS to start with.

In reply to Jumper K. Balls:
Early and late Explorers came with different axle widths. I can't remember what year they changed. That may be why yours is narrower than trackmouse's. It looks like early Rangers had a fairly narrow 8.8 with the offset diff. The passenger side axle is 27.25" long, so a narrowed Ranger unit might meet my criteria.

Sorry guys, I got my info mixed up. Your right, it's 59" (1993 explorer) so the 3" knockoff puts it at 56". My bad. I remember taking The measurements and realizing it would add 1/2" on each side.

I have one of the later disc brake rear ends under my green TR8. Did the same thing, narrowed just the one side. Picked up two complete rear ends for $200. Both limited slip 3.73s. It comes out to just a tick shorter than the stock TR8 rear end. Its heavier by about 30 pounds, but some of that can be lost if you go to Wilwood brakes. Next time I do one, it will be a lighter 28 spline 7.5 or 8.8 unless its another very high HP car like the green one. Should be able to knock off 20 pounds or so by going with the Ranger or car based 8.8s. The Exploder rear end is just way too beefy. It has big tubes, big brackets, bigger axles, bigger brakes. Great for a rock crawler or drag car, but in a 2400 pound car that struggles to put power down, it just isn't necessary. The main thing the Exploder has going for it is the fact that it is cheaper and easier to put together than the other options. The junk yards near me are loaded with donor Exploders. They also have an overabundance of late 90s Land Rovers with 4.0s and 4.6s. Good time to be a TR8 enthusiast.