I am seeing if anyone has any experience with this. My daily driver is a 2wd RE 5 speed with a 7.5. My project (which is getting a 9 inch) is a 3.0 V6 5 speed.

I know the 8 inch 3rd member is larger/longer Has anyone that has done this swap have any insight? I have a feeling I will have to fab up some new hanger/shackle mounts moved back an inch or so.

 

First off you mean 8" Yes its possible but your going to have two different lug patterns if you do this. Front will stay 5 and the rear would be 6. Other than that you should be able to just swap it right in and even bolt it to the exact same spot and be fine

 

correct me if im wrong but it sounds like he is going to put a ford 9" in his project and then put the 8" out of his project truck into his 2wd dd truck.

if you did do this like stated above you would have 2 different lug patterns. thats all i can help with.

 

Yeah, the project is getting a 9 inch. The 8" donor truck is a 2wd, so 5 lug. From what I have researched all V6 trucks have an 8 inch.

What I am concerned about is the 3rd member width.

 

Some info from Pirate:

-2wd v6 & turbo & 1 ton models have a 8" diffs, All other 2wd's have 7 1/2" diff.
-7 1/2" diffs use 27 spline axles.
-7 1/2" diffs are approximatly 8 5/8" from mounting surface of the diff to the mounting surface of the driveshaft flange.

-8" diffs are 30 spline axles.
-8" diffs are approximatly 9 3/8" from mounting surface of the diff to the mounting surface of the driveshaft flange.

 

So my rear end would be pushed back 3/4 of an inch if I were to just bolt in the 8"
from what I understand

 

If you have a complete donor truck for the diff, why not snag the accompanying driveshaft as well? Then the diff length issue is no more.

 

The truck with the 8 inch is a 2wd extra cab V6 5 speed (2 piece driveshaft)
The truck I want to swap the 8 inch to is a 2WD 22RE 5 speed (1 piece driveshaft)