brakes for the 8.8

[crawlin91]

the time has come to get this axle under the truck, and I have a few questions regarding the installation. I know I need to weld on different spring pads, shock mounts and set the pinion angle. so........I basically want to know whats involved as far as brakes are concerned.
Its from a 94 explorer and came with brake cables and hoses.

1) Will the e-brake cable hook right into the ranger setup?

2) Do I need extended brake lines for the rear?(as I will be lifting the truck 6")

sh*t I almost forgot, what about hooking up the drive shaft. Im going with a singlepiece from a newer fx4. Will I need a new flange or will it hook right up?



anything else, you can think of???

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

(1) I used the stock ranger cables on my 92 exploder 8.8

(2) I'm running about 6" of lift and i'm using the stock rear flex line, all I did was drop the mountin point at the frame rail where it meets the hardline.

(3) The drive shaft will bolt right up

anything else you need to know feel free to ask.

 

[engdept]

1. All brake lines and e-brake lines will install without any modification since the axle has drum brakes.

2. If you want, you can get all 3 extended stainless steel braided lines from James Duff for $95 shipped.

3. The stock drive shaft WILL NOT bolt up to the Explorer axle drive shaft flange. You will either need to get a 1310-1330 u-joint to fit in an Explorer drive shaft flange or get a flange that is the 1310 u-joint with the Explorer axle drive shaft flange bolt pattern (any drive line shop will be able to get it or stock it, my local shop stocks them for $25).

Here is a couple pictures to show the difference in the drive shaft flanges. These pictures show the new flange (the clean one) with the 1310 u-joint style but with the Explorer axle flange bolt pattern. You can see the obvious difference in bolt pattern in the flanges. The dirty flange is from the 7.5 axle.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

1. All brake lines and e-brake lines will install without any modification since the axle has drum brakes.

2. If you want, you can get all 3 extended stainless steel braided lines from James Duff for $95 shipped.

3. The stock drive shaft WILL NOT bolt up to the Explorer axle drive shaft flange. You will either need to get a 1310-1330 u-joint to fit in an Explorer drive shaft flange or get a flange that is the 1310 u-joint with the Explorer axle drive shaft flange bolt pattern (any drive line shop will be able to get it or stock it, my local shop stocks them for $25).

Here is a couple pictures to show the difference in the drive shaft flanges. These pictures show the new flange (the clean one) with the 1310 u-joint style but with the Explorer axle flange bolt pattern. You can see the obvious difference in bolt pattern in the flanges. The dirty flange is from the 7.5 axle.

Since the FX4 had a 31 spline 8.8 from the factory it should work for sure on that end... but the other end can get dicey. Some newer trucks have a bigger flange coming off the back of the t-case, so you would need to to do some extra work of you ended up with one of those.

It also was brought up just as this article was being finished that later Supercab 4x4s fitted with aluminum shafts have a larger T-case flange (same as the larger rear flange with 3" bolt spacing). These will require either swapping the forward U-joint piece or swapping the t-case flange. --4x4junkie.

 

[Yellowsplash]

The only one-piece driveshaft that will "bolt-in" is one from a 98-99 extended cab 4x4. All the newer ones have the larger 3" flange (including an FX4) on the t-case side, whereas yours and the 98-99 have the smaller 2.5 flange. As said before, you can either:

1. Use a 1310-1330 conversion U-joint (Spicer 5-134X) and use a smaller U-joint stub shaft flange piece on the driveshaft itself
2. Swap the transfer case output shaft with the correct 3" output flange from a newer model.
3. Get the correct driveshaft from a 98-99 ranger and bolt her in.