Text and images by C.Asaravala. Blood, sweat, and tears by John B.

DIY or not?
There is something to be said about the do-it-yourself attitude. However there are some projects that leave you tired, beat down, and wishing you had just dropped the car off at a shop. The 8.8" gear swap may very well be one of those tasks. A few months back we attempted a rather straight-forward gear swap on our 2001 Mustang GT. The 8.8" Traction Lok rear end in this car is the same style Ford has been using on the Mustang, Thunderbird, F150 and similar vehicles since the early 80's. Hundreds of thousands of guys have swapped out their 8.8 gearing for better acceleration. Needless to say changing the ring and pinion on these cars is not supposed to be a big deal. Well we must have had the one car that wanted to buck the trend. What should have been a two or three hour project took about seven hours. In retrospect it's quite comical that we had so much trouble. Heck, it's even educational.

So, for anyone wanting to learn how to do their own 8.8" gear swap, here are the do's and don'ts. We caution you, we have spared no detail or agony. Also note, you'll need all the common tools, plus access to a press. You can't do the job without a press so make sure you have that squared away before your tear into the differential.

Most guys are too scared to tackle an 8.8" gear swap. Our friend John B. has done plenty and was willing to show us that it's not too bad. Our 2001 GT is in the garage and ready for a seemingly routine two-hour gear job.	When servicing your Ford 8.8 rear end jack up the rear of the car high enough to work comfortably and use stands under the axle housing. Chock the front wheels.
Remove the calipers and support them using wire so that the caliper weight is not hanging on the brake hose.There is no need to disconnect any brake lines.	Use a 12mm 12pt socket to remove the drive shaft flange bolts and place the driveshaft out of the way.
Remove the ten 10mm-socket differential cover plate bolts and pry the cover open, allowing the fluid to drain into a pan.	Unlike the Ford 8" or 9" differentials, the 8.8" is assembled directly in the housing itself. Remove the pinion shaft retaining bolt with a 8mm wrench. It helps to insert a screwdriver into the center of the Traction Lok assembly to keep the unit from turning.
Drive the pinion shaft forward, then rotate the gear and pull the entire shaft out.	The suckers are tough to see but a pair of "c-clips" retain the axles in place. Remove and save these two clips. It may help to push the axles in bit to gain access to the clip.
The axles can now be removed or slid back far enough to allow the gear assembly to be removed. Now is a good time to inspect and change the axle seals at the end of the housing.	Mark or scribe the bearing caps so they go back on the same side and direction. Then remove the two bolts per cap.
The Traction Lok and gear assembly can now be removed from the differential housing and set aside.	Working at the front of the differential case, remove the pinion nut - this is best achieved with an impact gun. If you don't have one, it is suggested you loosed this nut before you even take the differential cover. Put the car in gear with the parking brake to keep the gear from turning.
If the pinion flange doesn't pull off you will need to use a gear puller like this one.	Usually the pinion will come free with a few smacks from a hammer. Do this with the pinion nut back in place to protect the threads. Our pinion was not going to budge and since we were replacing the gearset we weren't concerned about damaging it.