He invented the 8.8 differential. I have rebuilt nearly every kind of engine, transmission, etc and I have to say that rebuilding this diff has GOT to be the single most time consuming, dirty, annoying mess EVER. After like 6 hours I finally have good runout, back lash, pattern, pinion depth, etc. It doesn't help that every single bearing had to be pressed off by hand since there arent ANY machine shops open.

Ya the 8.8 is a pile of total shit, but there is one more that I hate more. THe GM 10 bolt i fucking hate that piece of shit.

Satan invented the coolant passage running through the LIM of the 2nd gen RX-7's. In order to fix the coolant leak here you are required to remove the TURBO and/or exhaust manifolds, then remove the PITA to reach LIM bolts/nuts. Then Spill coolant everywhere. Then replace or in my case INSTALL the O-rings (previous engine builder/owner did not). Then put everything back. LAME

8.8's are wonderful diff's. The savior of the turbo rotary!


You doing the 8.8 IRS swap into your FD?

I'm doing the 8.8 IRS swap into my FC lol.

Naw, I never made any of that shit. I'm not the creationist. Ask God.

isn't the 8.8 from a Ford?

My buddy and I found a CD and a pamphlet the other day. It was in a baggy next to the macadamia (SIC) nuts in Safeway. On the baggy it said: "It's Your Choice", the pamphlets told the story of some Finnish scientists who drilled into Hell one fine early nineties day. Also included was a CD of The Sounds of Hell, which sounded suspiciously like someone playing Diablo with the sound turned up too loud.

In conclusion: send your 8.8s to Finland, have them dip them in the hole, and they will come back restored with their full unholy power.

isn't the 8.8 from a Ford?

That's exactly what i was thinking...Ford Ranger/1st Gen explorer?, perhaps?

mustang/tbird/mark 8/ranger/maybe explorer


what's wrong with using ford parts in a 30% ford vehicle? :P

if mazda drivetrains were tougher, wouldn't be necessary, but ford makes some nice diffs, 8.8's are their weaker diff but still plenty strong in a 2700lb rx7 that makes far less "instant" torque than v8 cars. They also have the bonus of coming in IRS cars (thunderbird, mustang cobra) which make them a much nicer swap into an rx7 than a live axle.

Lol I broke the diff in my Jeep AND my RX-7. I'm fixing the jeep at the moment (I swapped in a ford explorer 8.8). I haven't decided on a good diff option for the rx-7 just yet. Whatever I pick needs to handle up to 600 hp and slicks though.

The jeep diff broke from axle wrap. Basically I turned my leaf springs into S shaped scrap metal and as a result trashed my driveshaft and pinion bearings. Since I was rebuilding it anyway, I elected to throw out the old carrier and went with a stronger one as well as an aussie locker.

Every SINGLE adjustment was barely out of spec so when I'd put a different shim in it'd put it the other way. I ended up sacrificing the preload on the carrier for a bit higher of a preload to get the back lash on it right. Also, this guy dropped the pinion and chipped the end of it. I'm assuming it won't be a problem other than a little noise that will be drowned out by my tires anyway.

As for the axle wrap, I got some new (to me) springs and broke them apart and added an extra leaf from some sort of chevy full size vehicle. It probably added at least an inch and a half back in lift.

Everything was perfect and ready to go last night when I went to reinstall the new, stronger driveshaft when I discovered Carolina Driveline forgot to give me back my diff yoke. So yeah, the project is extended yet another week because of something stupid.

8.8's are wonderful diff's. The savior of the turbo rotary!


You doing the 8.8 IRS swap into your FD?

I'm doing the 8.8 IRS swap into my FC lol.

Would you mind doing a little writeup on this? I'd like to take a look. Thanks.

chris, how their prices? i've been by that place many time and have wondered how much they charge to make a shaft if i ever needed to have one made. i had to use a shaft from an rx3sp when i installed the rx7 lsd in my 808.