Choosing a rear-end for drifting help :)

[chasingomas]

Hey!

Hope y'all are well. I'm buying an v6 04 New Edge, and I'm going to build it for drifting. I have an idea of everything else, but I'm worried about the rear end. I will be engine swapping in a 95 GT engine I'm building, in the future; which eventually will be supercharged too. I just want to plan ahead so I'm not upgrading my rear end/diff every time I bump the power, esp b/c I'll be starting sub-200 hp. I'm more into Japanese-style drifting, which uses an LSD instead of a welded diff. I heard all 00-04 GT's have Traction-lok? My plan is to spend a day at the junkyard, so that's where I need help. Is there any 3.55/3.73, 31-spline traction-lok rear-ends in ANY Ford I could pluck? Also, I know mustang rear-ends don't have an offset, so does that disqualify all offset rear-ends or is there something I can do about it? Finally, if you have any other idea's, please spitball them, anything helps. All you og's are a wealth of information, and I want to learn everything haha Thanks!

P.S. I know most here don't drift, but if you set your car up for drag racing, It's actually quite similar, so throw out any advice or tips you might have

 

[duh09]

Any 8.8 from a V8 94-04 will bolt right into place. A 94-98 width will be 1.5" narrower but it's all in the axle tubes themselves, all the suspension bracketry is the same through all the Fox chassis cars. Technically any Foxbody rearend would fit, but Fox rear ends are 4 lug and drum brake so sticking with 94+ to keep same brakes.

All of the V8 rear diffs will have Trac-Lock, all of them likely need a set of clutches to grab appropriately. Ford sells the upgraded Carbon Fiber clutch packs used in the 03-04 Cobras as a kit that hold up pretty well. Cost on the kit is around $160.

Offset 8.8 housings will not work in a Mustang without a lot of work to basically build them back into a standard Mustang housing, but the guts between the 8.8's are interchangeable so if you found an Explorer or Truck rearend with a 8.8" and a Trac-lock, you could pull the gearset and diff and put that into a Mustang housing along with the correct 31 spline axle shafts to match. Ford also sells a Trac-lock rear diff with 31 splines for like $300 to avoid a lot of digging through junkyards for the appropriate rear diff.

If it was me, I'd find a 3.27 rear end from a 94-04 GT, slap a set of clutches in it, and run it until it pops and figure out which direction to go on gearing from there as well. It's hard to really nail gearing for something like what you're planning until you get out and run it and see how it feels. Back in the day, with my def not drift prepped 95 GT, out in the factory parking lots with the 240 kids, I was hating the 4.10 gears for swinging it out because I was running out of gear too fast. I was needing to shift more to keep it sideways and it would upset the car. A 3.27/3.55 would have probably been a lot better, but with you having more power with a blower, you'll likely want a higher ratio to keep that wheel speed going.

There's a guy locally who's in a similar boat as you and has been learning the ropes in a V6 New Edge and is still rocking the 3.8L for the time being. It is obvious that he's down on power, but it can be done. Seat time is better than anything.

 

[Snorky]

If you are running the v6 I would find someone parting out a modded mustang gt 94-04 who's done a gear swap in it l, i would say 3.73s or 4.10s are your best bet for maintaining the wheel spin.. Then you have the rear and worst case scenario you have to change bearings or clutch packs. The 3.73s will help you out a little so you won't rely so heavily on the hydro break for kicking it out.

Part of me wants to just tell you to save your money and buy a gt since you have to find all of the wiring. The K member. The axle. The fuel pump/rail setup anyway. 94-98s seem to go for 3-5g in varying condition

 

[chasingomas]

Any 8.8 from a V8 94-04 will bolt right into place. A 94-98 width will be 1.5" narrower but it's all in the axle tubes themselves, all the suspension bracketry is the same through all the Fox chassis cars. Technically any Foxbody rearend would fit, but Fox rear ends are 4 lug and drum brake so sticking with 94+ to keep same brakes.

All of the V8 rear diffs will have Trac-Lock, all of them likely need a set of clutches to grab appropriately. Ford sells the upgraded Carbon Fiber clutch packs used in the 03-04 Cobras as a kit that hold up pretty well. Cost on the kit is around $160.

Offset 8.8 housings will not work in a Mustang without a lot of work to basically build them back into a standard Mustang housing, but the guts between the 8.8's are interchangeable so if you found an Explorer or Truck rearend with a 8.8" and a Trac-lock, you could pull the gearset and diff and put that into a Mustang housing along with the correct 31 spline axle shafts to match. Ford also sells a Trac-lock rear diff with 31 splines for like $300 to avoid a lot of digging through junkyards for the appropriate rear diff.

If it was me, I'd find a 3.27 rear end from a 94-04 GT, slap a set of clutches in it, and run it until it pops and figure out which direction to go on gearing from there as well. It's hard to really nail gearing for something like what you're planning until you get out and run it and see how it feels. Back in the day, with my def not drift prepped 95 GT, out in the factory parking lots with the 240 kids, I was hating the 4.10 gears for swinging it out because I was running out of gear too fast. I was needing to shift more to keep it sideways and it would upset the car. A 3.27/3.55 would have probably been a lot better, but with you having more power with a blower, you'll likely want a higher ratio to keep that wheel speed going.

There's a guy locally who's in a similar boat as you and has been learning the ropes in a V6 New Edge and is still rocking the 3.8L for the time being. It is obvious that he's down on power, but it can be done. Seat time is better than anything.

Dude this is amazing information thank you so much. Your plan sounds great, I'm going to roll with that. There a couple GT's in yards not to far from me. I was planning on using the engine and beating the shit out of it n/a and get good at using intertia drifts and flicks while I build the 302, so then I'll be ready for the power and stuff because of the seat time in the v6. Also that gearing info is super helpful. Sometimes, as someone new, It's hard to parse through info online. It's nice to hear advice from someone with actual experience.

 

[chasingomas]

If you are running the v6 I would find someone parting out a modded mustang gt 94-04 who's done a gear swap in it l, i would say 3.73s or 4.10s are your best bet for maintaining the wheel spin.. Then you have the rear and worst case scenario you have to change bearings or clutch packs. The 3.73s will help you out a little so you won't rely so heavily on the hydro break for kicking it out.

Part of me wants to just tell you to save your money and buy a gt since you have to find all of the wiring. The K member. The axle. The fuel pump/rail setup anyway. 94-98s seem to go for 3-5g in varying condition

Thank you! I don't plan on adding a hydro for a while, I want to really focus on car control, in initiation esp, so I plan on clutch kick in, and e-brake in emergencies, otherwise, I want to be on throttle. And you're super right about the GT. I actually have a 95 GT shell and most parts minus trans/rear end/wheels, lol but basically I have schizophrenia and ran out of money for the build waiting for disability. I make money selling clothes so it's pretty inconsistent, but I saved enough to actually buy a running and driving manual car, so I'm just going to throw all the parts I have into that (coilovers, steering wheel, etc), and put the 95 in storage until I have the money to build it to OEM+. Since it's my first car and I'm not in a rush anymore, I wanna wait t'ill I can give it the respect I think it deserves if that makes any sense. If I wasn't in this position, a GT would be a way better option.

 

[Snorky]

Thank you! I don't plan on adding a hydro for a while, I want to really focus on car control, in initiation esp, so I plan on clutch kick in, and e-brake in emergencies, otherwise, I want to be on throttle. And you're super right about the GT. I actually have a 95 GT shell and most parts minus trans/rear end/wheels, lol but basically I have schizophrenia and ran out of money for the build waiting for disability. I make money selling clothes so it's pretty inconsistent, but I saved enough to actually buy a running and driving manual car, so I'm just going to throw all the parts I have into that (coilovers, steering wheel, etc), and put the 95 in storage until I have the money to build it to OEM+. Since it's my first car and I'm not in a rush anymore, I wanna wait t'ill I can give it the respect I think it deserves if that makes any sense. If I wasn't in this position, a GT would be a way better option.

If you're not going to run a hydro(which I strongly recommend you do as it will probably save your clutch/flywheel life) I would go with the steeper 4.10s. My buddy has been drift racing for probably 12 years now. He started out in a Mazda miata doing the clutch kicks but adding the hydroboost was a game changer. Helps out dramatically in underpowered cars that need steep gears to make up for it. He drifted that sucker for years. Now he drifts A class in a caged 240 with a 1uz v8 and a supra trans in it, it's a pretty cool car. As you go up in power you begin to spend astronomical amounts of money on rubber each event.

 

[chasingomas]

If you're not going to run a hydro(which I strongly recommend you do as it will probably save your clutch/flywheel life) I would go with the steeper 4.10s. My buddy has been drift racing for probably 12 years now. He started out in a Mazda miata doing the clutch kicks but adding the hydroboost was a game changer. Helps out dramatically in underpowered cars that need steep gears to make up for it. He drifted that sucker for years. Now he drifts A class in a caged 240 with a 1uz v8 and a supra trans in it, it's a pretty cool car. As you go up in power you begin to spend astronomical amounts of money on rubber each event.

That's great info! i'll probably get the hydro sooner than I thought then. I just wanna like learn the fundamentals super well in the beginning before I start adding anything. Thats good to know because the hydro will prolong the time before I have to bump power. Thanks My wallet thanks you too :') Also that car sounds INSANE. I was thinking about sc400's, they're such beautiful cars to me. And idk the idea of a Japanese v8 is super cool to me.