Catching up on all my reading this weekend, finally have some time off.
Working on putting an 8.8 under the son's YJ now. Picked one up from an Explorer for $
AMC 150 and working on getting it ready. Plan is to weld the center, add a truss like I did in the
CJ7 and go with a locker.
Problem with the C-clip eliminator kits I've seen so far, is you have to purchase (or fab) a new disc caliper mount. Since the kit mounts on the ends of the tubes, it moves the rotor out past the normal position. Not a problem on drum brakes but not so on disc.
From what I have read, the problem with the C-clips is minor as you most likely will break something else first.
And John is correct, the axle won't 'fall' out due to the caliper holding the rotor in place, but I think trying to drive with the rotor dragging on the brake pad would be extremely difficult, especially off road.
You have to be careful which CCE kit you go with. The vast majority of them I have looked at simply make an aluminum housing to trap a roller bearing that has the correct size journal to press in place on the axles.
When I helped Superior as part of the design team for their version, we used the venerable Set 20 bearing, seal, and shaft retention collar from the Big Bearing Torino Ford housing end. It is housed in a 1018 CR steel single piece that has a centering lip that helps seal it and also holds it concentric to the OEM housing end centerline.
The axles are 4340 and dual drilled for both 5 on 5.5 and 5 on 4.5 bolt circles with thread in wheel studs that are available up to 3" long. (not a selling point, but that has come in handy for me several times)
Here's where your choice in using a CCE can get a bit sticky. I was the impetus behind getting Superior to make the kit and my desire was driven by all of my many friends that ran the 8.8 and who had all bent the stock axles. Due to many discussions over the years, I've found that this isn't really that common unless you play in rocks like we do in JV. I believe at one point I was wheeling with about 8 rigs at one time out there that had all bent axles or were carrying them for spares after swapping them out.
In that vein, we went after the design of the axle and really beefed up the flange and made the radius where it transitions to the shaft large and robust. To date, no one has bent one of the Superior shafts, so we did our job well.
For all intents and purposes, it is little more than a HP Ford 9" shaft.
The only gotcha I see with the narrower track rigs is the housing ends add .900 of an inch per side. That's a bonus for the YJ and TJ guys because the stock Explorer axle is about an inch too narrow which often necessitates new rims with less backspacing or wheel spacers.
The kit works perfectly with the Ford Explorer rear disc brakes and simply spaces the backing plate out .900 and lines up the rotor with the flange and keeps the Drum in Hat rotor parking brake intact and fully functional.
Finally, I know of no one who has ever had a C-clip fail or the button on the end of the axle. If you're consider a CCE due to that, don't, it's not an issue. If you're looking for a CCE that is designed to handle all the side loads and off camber you can throw at it, then it will work very well.
Thanks for the invite John.
