explorer 8.8 in an a-body: experience needed

pishta said

The axle tubes are steel, the pumpkin is iron.....get some help on that bi-metal weld as iron is a bear to weld on if you dont know what you are doing. Make yourself a "bottom" brace that goes under the pumpkin and ties the tubes together. Or better, bolt it across a cast AL rear "girdle" 8.8 cover, thatll lock the axles.

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I ran it for 13 years that way... Just swapped out the 8.8 for a RockJock 60 a couple months ago. On the 8.8 I ran a T/A aluminum cover with the bearing cap preload screws and it never had any problems. I was running an ARB airlocker in it and 36x12.5 tires on a 5000lb vehicle. Amazing how well the 8.8 held up to the abuse. A bottom brace isn't practical for the kind of fourwheeling I do. I need all the clearance I can get.