- Joined
- Aug 7, 2007
- Messages
- 2,384
- Reaction score
- 39
- Points
- 48
- Location
- Michigan
- Vehicle Year
- 1984, 1997
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 302, 2.3
- Transmission
- Manual
- My credo
- If you're not making mistakes, you're not learning.
Oh yeah, it's perfectly fine.
These types of gears haven't changed much since the 1930's, I mean things have gotten a little tighter and more consistent/better manufacturing processes, metallurgy, etc, but it's still just a spiral bevel gear that's offset from centerline. It's not a racing setup that needs to handle some extreme of stress, it doesn't sound like you're doing extreme amounts of towing, it probably has some miles on it. What I'm getting at is that while it's cool to have the really nice stuff, most things just don't need it. The more important part is that it's kept full and relatively clean and it'll have a plenty long service life. In most cases it'll long outlast the vehicle.
These axles, the 7.5" and the 8.8" are pretty stout axles all in all. Only the spider gears in the 7.5" popping under higher power is the only real main outright weak spot. And even then, there was a member a while back that built a NICE 9" unit for his desert truck, but decided to weld up the spider gears 7.5" just to see how long it would last. After something like 2 years, he ended up just swapping out the axle to put the 9" in. Never ended up breaking it.
These types of gears haven't changed much since the 1930's, I mean things have gotten a little tighter and more consistent/better manufacturing processes, metallurgy, etc, but it's still just a spiral bevel gear that's offset from centerline. It's not a racing setup that needs to handle some extreme of stress, it doesn't sound like you're doing extreme amounts of towing, it probably has some miles on it. What I'm getting at is that while it's cool to have the really nice stuff, most things just don't need it. The more important part is that it's kept full and relatively clean and it'll have a plenty long service life. In most cases it'll long outlast the vehicle.
These axles, the 7.5" and the 8.8" are pretty stout axles all in all. Only the spider gears in the 7.5" popping under higher power is the only real main outright weak spot. And even then, there was a member a while back that built a NICE 9" unit for his desert truck, but decided to weld up the spider gears 7.5" just to see how long it would last. After something like 2 years, he ended up just swapping out the axle to put the 9" in. Never ended up breaking it.