My neighbor was installing a new pumpkin last week. When he got it in and the axles slid in, they would not fit. We pulled the pumpkin and the splines on the new rear seem to be 31 where as the axle and original pumpkin are 28. I did not know ford made an 31 spline 8"? Did they, or is there something we are missing? Needless to say he now has 2 8" pumpkins with 3.50's (one that appears to be 31 spline, the other a complete rear)for sale. I will post in classifieds Scotty P
spline Ford made no 31 spline 8" rearends. You probably need to rotate the axles has to install them. They are a tight fit, just play with it and don't hammer it.
weird. How about taking the carrier from his old center section and putting the new ring gear on it? Seems to me it should work and you still wouldn't have to set up the pinion again. Just make sure you get some marking compound and a wear pattern chart so you can set up the side to side again.
You didn't mention if this was an open rearend or some kind of locker. 8" were 28 spline only but, from what I have heard they use the same spiders as a 9", and mini spools are interchangeable. Maybe thats how it ended up 31 spline. Some axles interchange between 8" and 9" but I don't know what could be used in this situation. I used Granada 8" axles in my 57 ford 9" housing.
