changing rear axle bolt pattern

[85_Ranger4x4]

Dunno how old your F-150 axle is but if it is '97 or newer it won't be a 5.5" pattern, they switched to a metric measurement. Just something to think about.

 

[4x4junkie]

Thats what I mean, swap in the explorer axle then put shortened f-150 shafts in and the 150 brake setup to give me a 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern to match the dana 44 front axle. It works in my head

Ummm....

Instead of all this fussing around with axleshafts, why not just have the flange re-drilled for the new pattern?? The flange is JUST big enough to accept a 5.5" bolt circle IF you use thread-in studs (press-in ones will not fit however).
Brake drum? You can hand-drill that yourself... its centered by the center hub of the axle.

That does apply to the Explorer axle flanges (and discs) too.

 

[dude772]

the f-150 axle is from a 91 its definitly a 5.5 pattern... hummmm well it looks like all i can do here is try it.... i can pull the 150 axle apart and try to see if the shafts will work with the explorer, measure the bearings and seals stuff like that, then the backing plate bolt pattern i can try to match up.

This just seems to be a reasonable option that ive never heard of anyone trying. I like it because personally i dont like the look of the full width axles on a ranger. But i do understand and agree with the stability gained with the full width axles.

 

[351ranger]

Are you not understanding what junkie is saying??? Redrilling the sploder shafts and discs/drums to 5 on 5.5 would be a hell of alot cheaper than getting axles cut and resplined. Just take the sploder shafts to a machine shop and they could redrill to the bigger pattern easily and like junkie said redrill the drum or disc's by hand or a drill press.