Jerryg

I have the chance to get a 8.8 diff for free but I have to pull it myself. It's from a 92 Cougar sitting in a feild. Anything special about pulling it? I'm assuming all the bolts are metric.

Thanks

Scottgill

Take a an of PB Blaster, a pry bar and a break over bar along with anything else you think you might need. You may want to run the tag number to check gearing and Limited slip.

Jerryg

Thanks the door sticker has an AX Z code so it should be a 3.08 locker. Is there anything else I should get like the drive shaft?

Dave Tibbitts

If you have a battery powered sawzall, it makes the job a lot easier. Simply cut off the last 4 inches of the driveshaft. Also, there's no need to remove both axles, just unbolt one of the rear hubs from the control arms and pull the axle and hub out of the diff as a single unit. At this point, you're four bolts away from dropping the diff. Remove the rear support and the front mounts and the diff will fall to the ground, releasing the other axle.

Jerryg

Great info. Anyone know the socket sizes I need. Its a long drive to where the car is and i want to make sure what I need with me.

movieboy4fun

I just found it easier to drop the whole sub-frame assembly out. If its for free take it all, you might want the hubs for a 5 bolt conversion. I found it very hard to find somebody to "Broach my Hubs", but real easy to find a buddy,(Me, just needed lathe access), that could turn down my T-bird hubs to fit the MX5 bearings. I know Martin sells the broached hubs for a decent price, I just don't like the speed of his "getting to it", then I just bought a pair of new axle shafts from Factory Five,(same price as Martins broached hubs), and being a DIY guy I cored the old T-Bird axles for new GT Mustang IRS axles and just swapped out the axles shafts from FF. Voila, new set of serious 600HP plus axles for a decent price. Lots of info on doing this swap, hardest part was taking apart the new axles, ye old pipe trick came to the rescue there. If I can do it I will,(rant on) I can't stand the rip off price that some of these companies think their product is worth,(rant off).
Just my opinion and method. take it for what it's worth, NOTHING!!! LOL.
good luck with your removal
Keep moving forward.
Dean0

mazdaspeedmiata

what year mustang irs axles ?

Jerryg

Back from pulling the diff and here is some info for the next guy.

Socket size

Front mounting bolts 21mm
Driveshaft. 12mm 12 point
Rear mount bolts 19mm on one side 15mm on the other

But in reality I didn't use the sockets the bolts were way to rusty. This is what I did. First I used a 4 1/2 grinder with a cutoff wheel to cut the passanger side axel then used a prybar to remove the cv joint from the diff. Then I used the cutoff whel to cut the heads from the front mounting bolts. Be sure to push the bolts all the way out or they will get into the way later. Next I cut the rear mount its self. This let the diff drop. Then I used a pry bar to remove the driverside axel, cut the break sensor wires. Next i pulled the diff with drive shaft attached back about 10 inches that gave me room to used a sawzall to cut the driveshaft. All in about 2 hours and alot of 4 letter words.

movieboy4fun

I assume this was a private yard, the pick N pull I go to does not allow grinders or plasma cutters, risk of fire. I am sure it only took me an hour to drop the whole rear sub-frame, but then I wanted the axles and hubs as well. One of the best breaker bar extensions I have found is a chrome molly crash bar from emergency exit hardware, fits over my breaker bar perfect.

Excellent that you were able to get the rear out, one more part closer to a finished project.

Dean0