Ford 8.8 Mustang Rear End - Cutoff Wheel

Vehicle Application	Axle Width (inches)
'86-'93 Ford Mustang 8.8	59 11/44
FORD
'65-'66 Mustang	57 11/44
'67-'70 Mustang 8.0	59 51/48
'71-'73 Mustang	61 11/44
'67-'71 Comet, Cougar	59 11/44
'71-'77 Maverick	56 11/42 and 57
CHEVROLET
'67-'69 Camaro	59 51/48
'70-'81 Camaro	60 51/48
'62-'67 Chevy II	58 71/48
'68-'74 Nova	59 51/48

Cutting, Welding, And Tweaked Tubes
The most popular procedure for the Ford 8.8 is to saw off the coil-spring brackets and weld on new leaf-spring brackets for an early Mustang, which is exactly what we're going to do with our notchback '67 Mustang. While we could take this housing to a professional shop to have all this work done, the budget way is to do all this work yourself. But there are a couple of tricks you need to know so you don't screw up.

Do not use a torch to remove the brackets from the 8.8 housing. Instead, use a cutoff wheel, which will remove the brackets but not put heat into the thin-wall tubes.

Do not use a torch to remove the brackets from the 8.8 housing. Instead, use a cutoff whee

The easiest way to remove the coil-spring and control arm brackets from a Fox-body Mustang 8.8 is with an acetylene torch. But Ray Currie warns that this is a recipe for disaster. The 8.8 housing tubes are extremely thin, which means the heat from a cutting torch will easily bend the tubes. Instead, he suggests using a cutoff wheel on a high-speed die grinder to remove the brackets. Then use an angle grinder to smooth what's left.

Next, Currie also says that it's possible to weld new leaf-spring brackets on these thin tubes and not affect axle alignment, but you have to work slowly. Currie suggests welding an inch or shorter bead on one portion of the leaf-spring mount and then moving to the opposite mount and doing the same thing, allowing enough time for the weld to cool to the touch before applying more heat to that mount. This will minimize heat concentration in the tubes and prevent them from warping.