Axle Swap 7.5 to 8.8

[mosssc]

I was just under my Ranger and noticed a wet spot on the rear end. It looks like a pinion seal leak. She has 230,000 on her, so I'm guessing it's time for a differential rebuild.
From what I see, just replacing the whole axle with a salvage part is much friendlier to the wallet vs a rebuild.
The door says I have an 87...aka open 7.5 @ 4.10
If I put a F7 or R7 (7.5 or 8.8 @ 4.10) will I have issues? It seems like I saw somewhere that I'd need to replace the Master Cylinder and maybe some ABS parts too. What about tires/wheels (I'm not looking to change those for now)
Any suggestions are more than welcome!!
I like doing light/moderate off road, perhaps towing a small camper or boat. No hard core 4 wheeling.

 

[fastpakr]

If you get an 8.8 from a Ranger it should be a direct bolt in swap. You can keep an eye out for a limited slip as well.

An Explorer axle is also a good option, but you'll have to move spring perches and shock mounts, which adds some time and cost to the swap.

 

[Curious Hound]

Axle swap is pretty easy. Get one from another Ranger and it's basically a bolt-in project. Check out the tech articles on this site. There is a lot of info there about different axles a swap procedures. I don't know why you would have to do anything with master cylinder unless that is an issue peculiar to the year of truck you're working on. If you stay with drum brakes, the e-brake cables should work fine.

It gets more complicated with using Explorer axles (they're upside down) or swapping to disc brakes, etc.

Eric B