My rear end bit the dust...
 

On my way in to work this last Saturday, I noticed a louder than normal whine coming from the rear end of my truck('95 F150 XLT). Working at a dealership, I had one of the techs I work with raise it on the lift to have a look see. Well his prognosis was grim and he showed me where the rear end had hemorrhaged gear oil all over the place. His advice to me was to find a replacement rear end because mine is dead.

After punching in my VIN on the VIN decoder, I found out that I have an 8.8 inch rear end with a 2.73 rear axle ratio.

Since I have to replace the rear end, can't I just use a good old 9 inch rear with a Traction Loc differential? What do you guys think?

If I swap out my rear axle housing with one from a '95 F250, will the 5 lug axles from my rear end swap in place of the 8 lug axles of the '95 F250 rear??