explorer axle years????

[alaskaal]

lowering my 89 ranger and would like to put a explorer rear under it to replace the stock 7.5
After reading several threads here on the swap it seems quite straight forward. Cut 2 7/8" off the drivers side tube and weld together and replace axle with a passenger side axle. Been welding for 25+ years so that parts easy.
Question is......what year explorer rear to use? Still using the leaf springs also
Thanks for any help

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Is this for lemons? I would keep the width for cornering if so.
Otherwise I have nothing for you, but someone else will.

 

[alaskaal]

It is for Lemons! lol
Looking for an 8.8 so we have a stronger rear and better gear ratio choices. Not to mention disc brakes. When entering corners we really use the brakes not down shifting to get thru the apex of the turn.
With a cut down 8.8 we can also run a deeper off set rim to use a wider tire in the 300 UTOQ or lower range. The bed will be sacrificed for mounting the wider tires.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Explorer8_8.shtml

The above link came from the tech articles. Third from the left, lighter blue button at the top of every page. TRS has a very thorough tech section. If you can't find it there you can check the TRS magazine. And finally use the "google" search button for the best search results within TRS.

Also have read that some newer fx4 trucks came with Torsen rears. That would be something I would look for.