Thread: Project Lex
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Old 09-15-2017   #1654
Halon
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Re: Project Lex

So I'm at the point where I can show some photos of this. I was an initial Beta tester for the new Grannas 8.8 Supra swap kit and thus was keeping it a little bit hush. Since I had my diff all built and ready to go, and since I was headed to the track for Proving Grounds to actually test it out, he had me try out one of his first kits just to ensure everything was good to go before he released it to the masses. I was a bit rushed as I received the kit a few days before heading to the track, and I don't work particularly quickly anymore at this stage in my life, lol. But I got it knocked out.

Quick background on the kit. It uses an IRS Ford 8.8 31-spline diff out of an 07-10 Ford Explorer. I personally got mine used from LKQ for $138 after tax out of an 08 Explorer. It is an aluminum housing with a 3.55 gear ratio which probably would have worked, but ideally for my 6spd I wanted something a little less than that. So I had a local well known Ford diff builder named Dustin rebuild it for me with new seals, bearings, and a Ford Racing 3.27 gear set. Charged me $200 and that included the gear set! Since this particular diff was an open diff (some come with a ford clutch style LSD I believe), I purchased a Wavetrac LSD for mine. Long story short, the guys at Wavetrac knew their shit when it came to 8.8's more than anyone else I spoke to regarding the 8.8, and they displayed the utmost confidence in their product compared to some of the other LSD manufacturers we spoke with. I highly recommend them and their product. Comes with a legitimate lifetime warranty, even if you were racing as that's what they were made for (their words exactly). Anyone else interested in the Wavetrac, I highly recommend getting ahold of Ryna Vieau, and make sure you order the 31 spline "non c-clip" version. So anyway once the diff was built, it was time to move onto installing the actual Grannas bolt-in kit for it once I received it.

Once I received the kit, I spent the first day removing my old oem 200mm diff/axle setup, and took some comparison photos. The new diff and axles are quite obviously a beefier arrangement!

The next day I assembled the 8.8 diff with his custom cover, cage, and front mount. It was quick and very simple to assemble. Joel went over exactly how to set the jacking studs, which was a breeze. Per the recommendation of my diff builder I used RTV on the diff cover rather than the gasket (gaskets are notorious for leaking apparently).

Day after that I installed the new differential and axles. Fitment of the differential was on point, took me very little time to get it mounted up into place. The fact that he used studs on the cage really made install a breeze as you just popped it up into place with the studs in the stock subframe mounting locations, and then just bolted the front mount. Literally took 15 minutes. I opted for the bolt in DSS Level 5 axles. They include stubs that popped right into the differential, and the axle shafts fit right into the stock hubs and bolt up to the stubs quite easily. All in all I'd say this was as easy, maybe even slightly easier due to the use of studs, to install compared to installing the OEM setup. Really incredible how bolt-in of a setup it is.

I didn't opt for his driveshaft and instead had an adapter made locally to adapt my current 1pc Steel Collins driveshaft to the diff. I had it made out of 2.5" thick, 5" round aluminum as that is what the machinest had on hand and this was very last minute so we had to make due with that. The adapter turned out great, thanks again to local DSM legend Mr. Mark Leasure for doing some very last minute tweaks to make sure it was hub-centric on everything to fit as perfectly as possible. I will say however, I highly recommend getting the correct driveshaft or having your current driveshaft modified. The adapter works, but for me it was a stop-gap and I will eventually be getting my driveshaft lengthened and the correct yoke/flange installed on it for this diff, and I recommend folks do the same, just my opinion.

By the time I had everything done, loctite'd in place, full of some spare off-the-shelf diff fluid (for break-in), it was Thursday around lunch time, and I had to load it on the trailer by Thursday night as we were headed up to the track at zero-dark-thirty Friday morning. So I took the car on a 1.5hr drive around the Twin Cities after lunch. Side roads, county-roads, highways, on/off-ramps, basically do as much of a "break-in" of the gears, lsd, etc as I could with what little time I had left. I probably managed to put 50 miles on it before I got it back home. Car drove excellent! Drained out the fluid and refilled with some Redline 75w140NS. Loaded it up on the trailer and crossed my fingers!

Friday I got about 6 passes in at the strip. Car drove like a dream. I hadn't been to the track in 2 years, and it was my first time there on my new setup, so I was working through a learning curve. I ran 12's all day as I struggled to get it out of the hole with 2.x 60's most of the day. My last two runs however I was starting to get things figured out an cut a 1.89 and a 1.86, so I was getting better.

Saturday I got about 6 more passes in. Cutting 1.8-1.9 60's most of the day. Diff setup was taking it no problem, to the point I had pretty much completely forgot about it and the fact that I had a couple day old diff swap in my car wasn't even in my mind anymore because it was working so seamlessly. I ended the day and the weekend trip with a best of 11.1 @ 131 with a 1.9 60' on my last run. Lots of room to improve with a better 60', but I was happy with it considering it was my first time out in such a long time, and on a new setup, and on a diff that I literally finished installing the night before!

Thanks again to Joel for the great product. I highly recommend his kit. It fits great, and Joel was readily available via text, phone, or even video chat. Hard to find that sort of customer support now a days, so I can't speak highly enough of him! Thanks Joel, I love the diff, and once you go live with it to the masses I'm sure everyone else will love it as much as I do!

Here some photos to check out of the kit.

And a vid of my final/best pass with this setup in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmCiPDNelE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnmCiPDNelE&hd=1
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Last edited by Halon; 09-15-2017 at 03:01 PM..
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