97 ford ranger axle swamp

Danger Ranger 26 · Jul 4, 2016

I have a 97 ford ranger with a Dana 35 that has blew up on me and wanting to swamp it out for the same Dana 35 or what could I upgrade to. I'm wanting to upgrade but don't know what to and what's the easiest. Any help would be appreciated.

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swynx · Jul 4, 2016

Danger Ranger 26 said:
I have a 97 ford ranger with a Dana 35 that has blew up on me and wanting to swamp it out for the same Dana 35 or what could I upgrade to. I'm wanting to upgrade but don't know what to and what's the easiest. Any help would be appreciated.

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you could upgrade to a dana 35...

alot of guys will argue that there is no sense in swapping a dana 35 for a dana 44(sas), unless if you rock crawl or want 4.10 gears on the cheap.

the dana 35 is good for 35's and in some cases 37's.

although you hadnt said anything about doing an solid axle swap.

Danger Ranger 26 · Jul 5, 2016

What solid axle would work tho and I got a Dana 35 in it now but the case blew apart and gears are kinda F'd.

In your opinion what would be the best to go with for liability in strength

Also how much rigging would I have to do for the solid swamp

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4x4junkie · Jul 7, 2016

The Dana35 front axle you have in yours is a rather strong unit... If you are breaking it for whatever reason, then the next real step up is to a Dana60 (as said, a Dana44 front is not really that much of an upgrade... bigger brakes mostly). A D60 front would likely mean you'd want to upgrade the rear axle as well since it would then be out of proportion with the front.

Some info about your truck and type of use might help others to help you a bit better (what size tires, lift, running lockers, etc.).

Danger Ranger 26 · Jul 8, 2016

I got it sitting on 31s with a 5 in body lift. I was looking into doing a solid Dana 30 I believe from a jeep front end. If any one done this swap before please lmk how difficult and costly it was also if any fabrication needs to be done

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Danger Ranger 26 · Jul 8, 2016

The its my toy to play in the mud with

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alwaysFlOoReD · Jul 8, 2016

Check the tech library at the top of every page.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-axles.shtml

4x4junkie · Jul 8, 2016

Danger Ranger 26 said:
I got it sitting on 31s with a 5 in body lift. I was looking into doing a solid Dana 30 I believe from a jeep front end. If any one done this swap before please lmk how difficult and costly it was also if any fabrication needs to be done

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A Dana30 is going completely the wrong direction, most everything about a D30 is smaller/thinner than on your D35.

Have you examined what actually happened yet? Maybe it was water intrusion into the diff or some other external factor? (you did mention mud use) Are you running a suspension lift? (maybe it's drop bracket struck against your diff housing, damaging it?) Unless you're really crazy about the skinny pedal on the right, the D35 should be completely fine on 31s.
Many here run 35" tires (and even 38" tires, with some care) on the D35 without issue with just a few simple upgrades such as the Warn Jeep hubs and Spicer 5-760X u-joints (it is not the same case as with the often-maligned Jeep rear D35 that it sometimes gets confused with... Things are very different for a front axle application).

Danger Ranger 26 · Jul 10, 2016

Yeah the diff casing exploded so I have a chunk missing out of it. I been looking for the same d35 but no luck I'll take a pic and upload it to show you guys when I get home but I don't want to down grade so thank you for the heads up on the D30. If I was to do a d44 ( if I can't find a d35) would the axle its self be wider? And should I also change the rear if so? I would like to stick with the d35 tho but idk if I'll be able go find one

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Danger Ranger 26 · Jul 12, 2016

Here's the pic

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pjtoledo · Jul 12, 2016

interesting pic. at first glance it looks like the frame has a massive crack, but its just a shadow!
regards the diff case, ever heard of JB weld? :icon_rofl:

did teeth break off forcing the gears to separate, or did the pinion decide to crawl up the ring gear and the housing couldn't handle it?

swynx · Jul 13, 2016

pjtoledo said:
interesting pic. at first glance it looks like the frame has a massive crack, but its just a shadow!
regards the diff case, ever heard of JB weld?
did teeth break off forcing the gears to separate, or did the pinion decide to crawl up the ring gear and the housing couldn't handle it?

to me it looks like the pinion decided to eject itself, but that could just be the picture.

go to a junkyard or pull and save, and pull the front pumpin off of a 1990 to 1997 ford ranger, or a 1990 to 1994 ford explorer, find out what axle ratios you have first. using the door sticker, and match it with the ratio on the donor rig.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/dana_28_35.shtml

4x4junkie · Jul 14, 2016

Yeah, that's an unusual (and quite spectacular :icon_surprised:

) failure.

Is the ring gear stripped? If so, I would agree with pjtoledo, the tooth fragments probably got wedged in there and forced the gears apart, taking out the housing with it.

A D44 may or may not be wider... Depends what vehicle you get it from (F-150 = much wider. Jeep Wagoneer = slightly wider, 1st-gen Bronco = roughly the same width). A F-150 D44 can be narrowed to Ranger width if desired.

Like was said, the pumpkin from any 1990-1997 TTB truck will bolt up. Just have to make sure you get the right ratio to match your rear (you don't have the crapstastic 3.27:1 gears in that do you? If you do, this might be a good opportunity to upgrade by grabbing both the front pumpkin and rear axle from a 3.73 or 4.10:1 geared truck).

97 ford ranger axle swamp

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