Shran
Junk Collector
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V8 Engine Swap
Solid Axle Swap
Truck of Month
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2008
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- Rapid City SD
- Engine Type
- V8
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- 5.0
My recommendation, IF you have a welder, would be to skip the Ranger axle and find one from an Explorer. 91-94 for drum brakes, 95-01 for discs. If not or you don't want to do any welding or messing with e-brake cables, the one you found should be fine.
You may not necessarily need a driveshaft, you can drill and tap holes in the new axle's flange that will match the bolt pattern on your driveshaft. Just make sure that your slip yoke is not bottomed out or close to it. I should also mention that you will NOT find a factory driveshaft in a newer truck that will fit your truck...they simply were never made because after 89, the transmission were all longer and thus the rear driveshaft became several inches shorter than what you have now.
Now with that said, the u-joints in your current shaft are tiny and do not hold up well to offroad use, and their operating angles get maxed out really fast. I would recommend eventually finding a junkyard rear shaft from an Explorer or a 90 or newer single cab 4x4 Ranger and having it lengthened to fit your application... that way you end up with bigger u-joints that will last a little longer.
You may not necessarily need a driveshaft, you can drill and tap holes in the new axle's flange that will match the bolt pattern on your driveshaft. Just make sure that your slip yoke is not bottomed out or close to it. I should also mention that you will NOT find a factory driveshaft in a newer truck that will fit your truck...they simply were never made because after 89, the transmission were all longer and thus the rear driveshaft became several inches shorter than what you have now.
Now with that said, the u-joints in your current shaft are tiny and do not hold up well to offroad use, and their operating angles get maxed out really fast. I would recommend eventually finding a junkyard rear shaft from an Explorer or a 90 or newer single cab 4x4 Ranger and having it lengthened to fit your application... that way you end up with bigger u-joints that will last a little longer.