'91 Ranger - need a new rear, 7.5 or 8.8?

[Fairlaniac]

The rear in my ’91 Ranger (beater truck) is vibrating and in need of repair or replacement. I’ve only had this truck since 12/12 so I don’t know much history. The pinion bearing and seal are shot as it leaks and I can grab the driveshaft and move the pinion all around with a 1/16th or more of movement in any direction. The axles rotate with 5-10 degrees of slop and when I put the truck on jack stands and run it in gear there are all kinds of snap-crackle-pop sounds. I’m afraid I’ll have a ton of cash in it to fix everything so I’m looking at used assemblies. It’s easy to figure a 3.73 w/ 10” brakes from a ’92 – down will fit but will any others such as 8.8 rears fit easily? Whatever pops up first I’ll probably buy. So my questions is, when looking at a complete used assembly. Which model of vehicles should I look at? I recall something about the 8.8 pinion flange is larger than the 7.5 so does it require a different pinion yoke? I’m not going nutso on this and putting an Explorer disc brake rear on. Just a simple swap in and out with minor mods is ok with me.

Thanks,

 

[straycat]

4x4 or 2wd? You don't give enough info. If you are not going to lift it and run taller tires I would stay with the 7.5 and don't worry about it. It might be cheaper to just get a new rear gear installed (around $300-450 total). You can just get a junk rear end but, then you might buy just that...a junk rear end and have to do this all over again. If you can do the work yourself then just replace the gear and have one that is going to last a long time.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^ I agree with staying 7.5...unless you can weld, then whatever pops up first. I would just use a junkyard rear myself, as I'm a cheap risk-taker.
Good luck,
Richard

 

[Captain Ledd]

the 7.5" isn't that bad. But if you have the opportunity to get an 8.8 there's no reason not to.

90-92 4.0L Rangers came with 8.8's according to the Tech Library. These will be the same width.

IF there is a flange difference you can take the flange on the driveshaft end (the centering ring should be the same diameter on ALL Ranger shafts/flanges) and mark 45° off from the existing holes and drill/tap them (or take the axle flange to a machine shop, but that means resetting pinion pre-load, or converting to solid spacers, fairly cheap, but it doesn't seem like you want to delve that far into it.)

Newer Ranger axles will all technically fit, but will be an inch wider on either side. For a beater truck, I doubt this will matter much.

When I put the Explorer 8.8 (wider still) in my '97 it kinda looked off, but now I don't even notice it, no one else does either.