Explorer rear axle on a Ranger?

[Xplorer92]

I am aware that the Explorer rear axle has spring under perches and different sway bar and shock mounts than a Ranger rear axle. Has anyone ever made a swap like this? I have a '93 Explorer rear axle that I would like to put under my '94 Ranger 4x4, if anyone has any suggestions on how I should go about this, it would be much appreciated. I was thinking I could just get new perches and weld them on top, and just fabricate the sway bar and shock mounts, but I have a felling it might be more involved, or maybe cheaper and easier to just change the gears in the existing Ranger axle.

 

[jimbo74]

what are the specs on the ranger? the 4.0l equipped rangers sometimes had the ford 8.8" erar end... not sure if they were the same spline count as the explroer though......

 

[Xplorer92]

The Ranger is a '94 4.0L 4x4, Auto Tranny, has an 8.8 3.27 rear end and the complete front end underwent a '93 Explorer front axle transplant do to severe front end damage the Ranger sustained. I pretty much used everything from the steering system to the radius arms and brackets from the broke down '93 X that I have to fix the Ranger once I had the frame bent back to factory specs. I assumed that they were the same because they look the same and everything bolted up right, but perhaps there are some internal differences that I am unaware of. If I do come across a Ranger 8.8 3.73 rear axle is it compatable with the Explorer 3.73 front that I have put in? I know running two different axle ratios can cause severe damage to the driveline when in 4wd. I'm assuming they are the same. Even if it is not I would be more inclined to just swap the rear with an Explorer rear, they seem to be easier to find than the Ranger axles.

 

[unclemeat]

Have you checked on theranferstation.com ther is tons of info there on ranger parts.

 

[DB_1]

I say stick with the Ex 8.8...bigger axle tubes, 31 splines and an inch wider i believe over the Ranger's 8.8.

If the rear axle you have has 3.73 gears in it (most likely it does, check the tag on the diff) then you won't have to worry about it matching your front axle's ratio provided it is 3.73.