rear end

jobar · Aug 10, 2008

What upgrades can I do to a 7.5 rear (besides swaping it out for a 8.8) to help with towing.

bottledgt · Aug 10, 2008

dont waste your time

mkpecor · Aug 10, 2008

what are you towin? if any regear the truck. but you should be fine. i have towed lots of shit with rangers over the years and never gernaded one.

jobar · Aug 10, 2008

mkpecor said:
what are you towin? if any regear the truck. but you should be fine. i have towed lots of shit with rangers over the years and never gernaded one.

Its not a matter of what im towing its a matter how many times im towing. Im towing at least 3 times a week. I didnt think that my wimpy 7.5 rear would hold up.

rickcdewitt · Aug 11, 2008

jobar said:
Its not a matter of what im towing its a matter how many times im towing. Im towing at least 3 times a week. I didnt think that my wimpy 7.5 rear would hold up.

making a high capacity diff cover would help with heat.the small bearings are the main problem though

Will · Aug 11, 2008

You've got to consider the heaving and jerking that are transmitted into the axle by the trailer. All that added weight gives the ring gear a surge. More force can come through the axle from the wheel than the engine could give it I'm willing to bet. Add to that the fact that you have the axle shaft loaded with weight with a semi floater and you have a bending force as well as the surging twisting force on the same part at the same time. Maybe you could upgrade the axle shafts, but if they got more resistant to torsional loads, more force would make it's way to the ring gear--sort of like a trailer with no springs on it. The best thing is to upgrade the whole axle at the same time by getting a 31-spline Explorer axle. A Ranger 8.8 isn't an upgrade--it's rated at the same load capacity as the 7.5.

Evan · Aug 11, 2008

The rear end is not your limiting hardware. The engine will stall before you blow out the diff. A 7.5" hypoid gear can take a LOT of force. And you'd blow out a tire long before you'd snap an axle shaft off.

Worry about the bumper, the brakes, the tranny, the tires, the engine, and the suspension before the rear end.

If you do a lot of heavy towing it is a good idea to change the gear oil on a more frequent basis.

4x4junkie · Aug 11, 2008

The 7.5 is going to generate more heat under load than a 8.8 though, due to the higher contact pressures associated with the gears being smaller.

I'd say with a finned cover or something on it to help it cool better, you'll be fine. The engines that 7.5s are normally paired with shouldn't be too much for it.

Hahnsb2 · Aug 11, 2008

Run some Amsoil (or any other good synthetic) in it as well, it will run cooler, I was amazed how good mine looked in side and I even set the backlash a bit loose at 0.020". I didn't find any fine metal either which I expected from the locker teeth over-running eachother.

racsan · Aug 12, 2008

ive got a 8.8 and ive added a summit cover that has load studs that go up against the bearing caps. its sometimes refered to as a axle girdle. it also adds about 1/2 quart to the fill capacity. im running a valvloine synthetic 80w 90 gear oil, it was on clearance at a local meijers. if nothing else, just change the oil and it should be fine. my '88 with a 7.5 pulled alot of things and never had a rear diff issue. and it had over 100K when i bought it. had over 200K when i traded it off, trans was noisy with a sloppy shifter, but diff cover had never been off. with the 2.3 you would really have to be abusive to break anything, you might want to re-gear. its a good motor, but doesnt have alot of tourque. id run 4.10's minimum i were to pull much with it.

jobar · Aug 18, 2008

Hey rascan, I looked into getting a diff cover like yours but could find anything at summit for the 7.5.

bottledgt · Aug 18, 2008

Evan said:
The rear end is not your limiting hardware. The engine will stall before you blow out the diff. A 7.5" hypoid gear can take a LOT of force. And you'd blow out a tire long before you'd snap an axle shaft off.

no...really the spiders would explode first. thats the crap part about a 7.5

pyro4fun · Aug 18, 2008

Will said:
The best thing is to upgrade the whole axle at the same time by getting a 31-spline Explorer axle. A Ranger 8.8 isn't an upgrade--it's rated at the same load capacity as the 7.5.

hay Will, Not to call you out and i may be wrong but i thought all 8.8's with 31 spline axles where rated the same? :icon_confused:

the only difference that i knew of was the shock and spring mounts where different between Explorer's and Rangers? :icon_confused:

Jspafford · Aug 18, 2008

I would upgrade a motor or transmission before I worried about the axle. If you've towed it 'three times a week' already and it's held up, it will probably be fine.

If not, then swap in the bigger axle. Your not out anything if it doesn't break... and if it does, well then you have a good reason to swap.

I've towed with mine quite a bit and have had no issues. Had the truck sitting still chained to a stuck trailer with all 4 wheel spinning... still works fine.

FYI

Hahnsb2 · Aug 18, 2008

bottledgt said:
no...really the spiders would explode first. thats the crap part about a 7.5

True, the spiders do suck, nothing a locker can't fix though

pyro4fun said:
hay Will, Not to call you out and i may be wrong but i thought all 8.8's with 31 spline axles where rated the same?
the only difference that i knew of was the shock and spring mounts where different between Explorer's and Rangers?

Ranger 8.8s are 28 spline, same shafts as the 7.5...

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