couple axle questions.

[harleytech]

Ok I did read the sticky on axles.Heres my story and questions.I just bought a dana 35 out of a 92 explorer at the junk yard to replace mine as due to a wreck my truck was in.I found out it has a 3.73 gear set already in it where my 96 mazda has a 3.27 in it.would it be worth it to go ahead and buy the rear end too? for a cheap gear upgrade? Now then comes the real questions. what would the chances of the exploder havin a posi in it? since it has 3.73 and was a std. and i read on doin the 8.8 swap but if i already have an 8.8 in place can i just change the innards ,shafts and brakes without having to swap housings?

Ohhh one more big question what all will i need to swap over on the front axle since mine has front abs and the exploder doesnt?

 

[Explorin94]

If you put that rearend in your ranger you will need to add spring perches and shock mounts as the explorer axles have spring under leafs. The explorer having a L/S is possible. See if it has a tag or take the cover off. It should read something like 3L73 with locker or 3 73 without locker.

 

[rangerstzz]

around here, the chance's of a 3:73 explorer having a limited slip is about 97 percent likely, the door code would be "D4". You will also need new { wider } u-bolts as explorers use a bigger axle bearing, thats if you swap complete axles.

 

[swamprat]

Axle shaft lengths are different between ranger and Explorer

 

[AllanD]

Axleshaft diameter is aloso different...

The limited slip differential won't work because of the axle spline issue.

Yes you could swap over the gears, but that's precision work that most
professional mechanics aren't competent to do...

In my experience 3.73 explorers run 70/30 LS/Open
a manual trans skews that a bit more towards the LS
say 85/15, but since that limited slip won't work in your axle...

Frankly I'd go looking for an 8.8" ranger axle in a '93-up ranger with
Axle code R6

 

[harleytech]

well what i was thinkin is just pull all the stuff,shafts,carrier everything and swap it over to my housing.

on another note is the abs the same on both rear axles? 92 exp 96 maz.

and last what all needs to be changed over to put the front abs off my axle onto the 92?

 

[4x4junkie]

It's FAR easier to swap the whole axle than to switch out the gears & carrier. If the gears are off by even 0.005", you'll end up with noisy gears at best... more likely a catastrophic failure later down the road (there can easily be 0.005" or more variance between different housings).

To put the ABS on the front, you need to swap everything from the knuckles out (except axle stub shafts and locking hubs).

 

[AllanD]

well what i was thinkin is just pull all the stuff,shafts,carrier everything and swap it over to my housing.

What we've been trying to tell you is that it won't fit.
The ONLY common part between the 8.8" Ranger axle and the 8.8" Explorer axle are the ring and pinion gears themselves.

on another note is the abs the same on both rear axles? 92 exp 96 maz.

Yes.

and last what all needs to be changed over to put the front abs off my axle onto the 92?

Everything outboard of the balljoints.

a 1992 axle from an explorer is really the WRONG axle to repair a 1996 Ranger/Mazda as the '95-97 used a SUPERIOR brake system.

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[scotts90ranger]

if he managed to bend the beams themselves, then everything inboard of the balljoints would work if a ABS axle wasn't available...

on that note, what all is needed to convert to those brakes other than the knuckles/calipers and such? are the brake lines the same?

 

[AllanD]

Frankly I'd still recommend using a TTB D35 beam from a '95-97.

the beam is not quite the same.

If you see both beams with the steering knuckles removed
side-by-side the difference will jump out at you...

And it isn't the tack welded in place threaded steering stop.

It's the more extensive internal reinforcement for the balljoint stud
that the steering stop is actually threaded into.

on the '90-94 D35 that lower piece is basically just a stack of washers
welded in place then reamed with a papered reamer to create the seat
for the balljoint stud.

On the '95-97 Beam that reinforcement kinda "wraps" up the front and
back sides of the beam.

Mabey it doesn't make a difference... but to me more metal is always a good thing.

My truck wears 1995-97 beams (and brakes) because I wanted the brakes,
but that extra reinforcement is something that gives me a warm and fuzzy
feeling about the later D35 beams Vs. the early D35 beams.

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[harleytech]

UPDATE: I bought the 92 Explorer front axle and tore it down to the i beams,radius arms, and pumpkin. I then stripped the messed up front end out from under the 96 mazda and stripped it totally down too.I replaced the radius arm and i beam pivot bushings installed new springs and a 1 inch coil spacer and stuck the Explorer front end under my truck the used the 96 knuckles,spindles,hubs,and steering linkage and etc to put it all back together also used the 96 camber eccentrics the front end went in perfectly and aligned as beautiful as can be.The front end now sits within half an inch of being level.
EVERYTHING CAN AND DID LINE UP AND SWAP OVER PERFECT!!

In the end I'm not really sure the axle was bent,as the d/s radius arm bracket in the rear was caved in and the washer on the radius arm its self was bent almost backwards.