Crown Victoria rear end

[Third DodgeBrother]

I had a chance to check out a Crown Vic on the lift at auto shop last week. The rear axle looked like a near-perfect, no-weld T bucket axle. Parallel four bars, rear mount suitable for a coilover setup, LSD, 8.8, disk brakes and Watts linkage already in place. I didn't get to measure the width though. Has anyone used one of these, or have access to measure? Has anyone found a rear axle reference table that extends past the 80's?

 

[mprokop]

Lets try to bring this back to life as I have access to a crown vic rear end and would love to use it. Does anyone have any info?

 

[Zandoz]

I have an 88 T-bird 8.8 I'm planning on using for my build...and checked out the Crown Vic units. The reason I went with the T-bird unit is that the CV unit's Watts link is notoriously is notoriously weak, I did not like the looks of the control arms and bracketry, the control arms were set to wide for my liking, And I wanted a numerically higher axle ratio than available with the CV. Width wise, the CV is in the low 60s face to face...wider than most like...but the width works well for my purposes because my body will be backed up between the tires , and I want all the body/tire clearance I can get.

The T-bird 8.8s are the same width, but are set up for a triangulated 4-link ,that to me looks cleaner, and uses all the Mustang high performance suspension components that are widely available. It comes with either 3.73 or 4.11 ratios.

I am traveling right now, and do not have access to the exact width and CV ratios on the 8.8s, but if no one has the figures handy by early next week, I'll see what I can find.

 

[Zandoz]

The CV 8.8s are in the low 60s wheel mount face to face. Most have something like 2.73 or 3.27 ratios. I'm on the road and do not have the exact numbers, but if no one has the before I get home early next week, I'll see what I can do.

For my build The CV units control arms were set too wide, and their bracketry looked ugly to me. Also,the Watts link mount is notoriously weak.

I'm going with an 88 T-bird unit..the same width, triangulated 4-link setup that looks and fits a lot better in my opinion, 3.73 and 4.11 ratios. Also, the T-bird axle can use the widely available Mustang performance suspension components. I'm going with used Granatelli Motorsports racing components.