Bronco II axle questions

[ryanj1022]

i am only 18 and love to work on my Bronco. i can basically do anything under the hood and most other places except the axles. i have a few questions here that i need answered to make my 87 Bronco II perform even better off road (dont get me wrong, it works awesome now).

1. Wat size rearends come stock in my model B II?

2. Can you weld up an axle while it is still on the truck?

3. Wat is the best rear axle to replace my stock one with?

4. What does Open Differential actually mean?

5. Best and easiest thing to do to make my front and rear axles perform better?

thanks for all the help guys.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

1: 7.5" rear axle

2: Depends on what you're welding

3: 31 spline 8.8" w/ disks from an explorer or fx4 level 2

4: Open means you have no traction aids in your differentials such as a locker, spool, or limited slip


5: Some people stand behind the TTB hard core. Do a search in the axle/suspension pages. 4x4Junkie and Todd have awesomely performing TTB rigs.

Some will tell you that the TTB is junk and to go with a solid axle. Personally, I'm ditching my IFS and going with a D44 straight axle and a matching 9" rear.

A pretty common upgrade for the TTB is installing a Dana35 TTB up front.

A set of lockers and good tires will do amazing things for a rig.

 

[Hahnsb2]

What he said, the 7.5 is fine welded even with 35s. Yes you can weld it in the rig, just make sure you keep it very clean! And dont expect a welded diff to be fun on the street!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The easy solution is to go with a "lunchbox" locker (lockright, aussie, powertrax, etc) in both front and rear axles and run 4.10 gears or so...

But it's not exactly the cheapest.

From what I understand, you have to be pretty careful and know what you're doing to weld an axle and have it hold up good. Plus they can be a lil rough on the street...

There is nothing wrong with the 7.5" rear end running up to 33" tires. I think they'll handle 35's ok too, but so far that's been untested by me.

The D-28 front axle you got will be fine with 33" tires and an OPEN diff. Lock it and expect breakage... That was with a brand new joint, didn't spit a cap, it just snapped the shaft.

I would worry about upgrading the front axle before the rear, but IMHO, lockers or welding an axle is the best performance mod you can do for offroading. BUT, you have to keep your head about you because while they will help get you through a lot, they can also dig you into trouble...

 

[stegomon]

dude what the hell did you do to that..i havenever seen the outer part of an axil brake....do you heep hubs

also for the dana 28...umm i have broken axils with 235s in snow....i would upgrade to a dana 35...bolt in swap..just need to change once tie rode..and i beleave that is the driver side inner...been a wile since i have been under a ranger...also you need to cut the front drive shaft down...nice weekend project....as for the rear...leave it...unless you go with the sploder with disc brakes..then you will be good

 

[Dishtowel]

Please do not write what "wat".

As 'lil-blue' said, you do have to be careful welding the diff in the axle!
I packed mine full of old towels and cut out specially fitted pieces of tin to shield the ring gear. Make sure and have your ground clamp on the same side of the bearings as you are welding on. You risk 'welding' a bearing if your not careful.

Then, I would recommend changing out the diff oil one week (or less) after welding it. Then AGAIN 2-3 weeks after the first oil change.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

dude what the hell did you do to that..i havenever seen the outer part of an axil brake....do you heep hubs

What did I do to it?

WOT, cut the wheels hard, in mud..... POP!

I was moving until that happened...

Runnin stock Ford manual hubs, 33" Powercat tires, 4.10s and a lock-right locker, FM-146, stock 2.9 with unknown mileage.

 

[Totalled]

Pull the carrier. (keep the bearing caps/shims in order.) Gut it. remove the ring gear. Clean the carrier up with carb clean, then brake clean. put the side gears in. Put the spiders in. Start welding the side gears to the carrier. Stop every once and a while and make sure the cross pin still slides freely in and out. Weld the spiders to the side gears. pull the cross pin. Take a screw driver to the carrier and knock all the weld spatter out. Install the ring gear. Put it back into the rig. Check the back lash. Done.