475,000 mile F7 rear axle

[Paisano]

This rear axle assembly replacement is in progress right now. The old axle assembly.....brakes line/brake junction block......stabilizer bar........and driveshaft flange are disconnected and are sitting on jack stands or blocks. But I ran into a problem, which I posted in the brakes forum.

 

[Paisano]

I got the old axle assembly off and placed into the core return container. I used jack stands at the rear of the frame not too far from the bumper. Should I have placed the jack stands forward of the leaf spring mounts on the frame? I have limited space now for the transmission jack. I might run into problems with that.

And it's too late for me to reposition or further extend the jack stands. I might have to use my regular floor jack. I'm getting started on this now

 

[sgtsandman]

As long as the jack stands are on a sturdy base, leave them where they are. You are going to want all the room you can get when monkeying around with the transmission.

 

[Roert42]

It might be easier to get someone to help you hold the axel up and get the nuts for the U bolts started instead of trying to balance the axel on a jack.

That's what I ended up doing with the axel in my F-150.

 

[Paisano]

No one to help me. This is my only vehicle. I need it to return to work next Tuesday. I'm going back out there now to see if I can transfer the assembly from the dolly
to the transmission jack.

Is is better to start the leaf spring bolts first or the driveshaft flange bolts?

(Just to clarify. This is a rear axle assembly replacement. A transmission jack is often used for this)

 

[Roert42]

I would get it up, and get the U bolts for the springs started. The drive shaft can be installed after everything else is finished.

 

[Paisano]

Ok. The assembly is now sitting on the transmission jack lifting plate and staged for set-up. This is not a very good transmission jack. There are adjusters for the plate angle. But one of them is very difficult to adjust because of the weight of the assembly on the lifting plate. So hopefully my floor jack can be used to vary the angle of the flanges so the bolt holes can align.

And it looks like I will also use my floor jack to lift the leaf spring one side at a time, to stick the riser blocks between the axle tube mount and the leaf spring.

( I never did rear axle assembly before.)

Back to work...........

 

[Paisano]

This new rear axle assembly is completely installed. Tomorrow, I'll re-install stabilizer bar, shock absorbers, brake junction block, etc. And I'll start on the drum brakes also.

This new axle housing is supposed to be pre-filled with gear oil. I'll check to see if it needs to be topped off.

I have the driveshaft flange mated with a new axle companion flange now. But someone told me that I won't need to get the driveshaft balanced. Is this correct?

 

[Roert42]

The balance of the drive shaft should not be effected by the mounting flange on the differential.

 

[Paisano]

Ok.Thanks. I'll report back late tomorrow or earlier if I have questions. I need to get a replacement parking brake cable.

 

[Paisano]

I hope to completely finish this project tomorrow. I think all I have left is brakes and bleed,

My vehicle is 92' Ranger. But this rear end is for 1999-2009 Ford Ranger. The axle housing is supposed to come filled with gear oil.
I don't know if it is conventional or limited slip. So I bought some 80W-90 gear oil because it can be used for conventional or limited slip.

This reman axle assembly is 8.8 with 4.10 gear ratio

Will this be acceptable? If it needs friction modifier, is it likely the manufacturer already added it?

Oh.....I discovered this yesterday. Someone at the factory wrote '4.10 L' on the axle housing. Does this tell me if it is conventional or limited slip?

Normally, I would just ask the manufacturer about gear oil. But it takes them forever to answer the phone.

 

[Paisano]

The manufacturer called me back. This is what he said:

This is a conventional axle
Run it through gear changes gently with rear wheels on jack stands to distribute the gear oil to the wheel bearings
Then top off with 80W-90 gear oil as needed

 

[Paisano]

I think all I have left to do is bleed brakes and check gear oil level in the rear axle housing.
But I am having trouble with the parking brake cable fasteners. I'll post that under the existing brake thread I started earlier

 

[Paisano]

I got to test drive truck with this new rear end. Drum brakes are done too. I just want to do one last sanity check.

Just to summarize what this project accomplished:

I replaced 7.5 inch ring gear/4.10 gear ratio rear axle with
8.8 inch ring gear/4.10 gear ratio rear axle

Someone warned me do not use 4WD with mismatched gear ratios. Because it would cause a lot of damage . We know the original Dana 35 front axle (which I still have) is 4.10 because the rear axle came in 4.10 from the factory

The new axle is also 4.10. So this matches the 4.10 axle up front. But what about the front axle ring gear being 7.5 inch and this reman axle is 8.8 inch? Is this a mismatch that would also cause damage?

Now my 4WD is broke anyway, and I did not see the front driveshaft rotate a couple years ago when I put it in drive up on jack stands. But I'm just checking to make sure. Is it only mismatched gear ratios that would cause a conflict..............and not the difference between 7.5 inch and 8.8 inch ring gear?

 

[pjtoledo]

the gear size does not matter, the gear RATIO definitely matters and must match.