axle swap

[thisfords4u]

A little help please; can a 3.73 limited slip 7.5 go in place of a 3.45 open housing?

 

[adsm08]

If you have an open 7.5 with 3:45s its possible to rebuild it with a 3.73 LS setup, but you can't just throw the new carrier in, you will need to change the pinion gear and setup the bearings and backlash and such.

Now, if you have a whole axle, go ahead, just remember that having different ratios up front and out back on a 4x4 will tear your 4x4 system to pieces in anything other than deep mud or deep snow.

 

[thisfords4u]

So heres my deal: My daily driver is 87 ranger 4x4 7.5 w/3.45 gears, Frontend is wore out, and has 206,000 miles. I have a 85 Bll 4x4 7.5 w/3.73ls
gears About 80,000 miles. I would just swap everything over, but I am under the impression that the Bll axle assem. is wider than the ranger. I know I'd have to do the pinion also as the gear teeth wont mesh. So what do you think?

 

[adsm08]

I'd just swap both axles. I think the B2 axle is the same (or close enough) to the ranger axle in width. I know explorer axles are a bit wider.

 

[thisfords4u]

Could you read in the tech library under ford axles 7.5/8.8 axle widths and tell me what you think. I get from that , that the Bll axle is wider 1 5/8".

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, you are correct. but 1 5/8" isn't a huge difference. You might have to get it re-aligned as a B2 to get the thrust angle right, but that's about the worst of it I think.