Pinion splines?

[Otis413]

Are all 8.8 pinion shaft splines the same? (30 spline 1.626" dia.?) and are all 7.5s 28 spline? I'v found conflicting info on the 'net, and I know it's easy for people not that familiar with them to confuse the two (I did the first time I had to buy axle bearings, long story) most of the R&P sets I am looking at don't list any info on the pinion splines, just list as for a ford 8.8 rear.
Anyway, I just wanted to make sure before ordering a R&P set, this will be my first complete rebuild (8.8 from a '98 Explorer, turns out it has trashed bearings and worn pinion teeth) for my 04 Ranger, I can't find a good used 4.10 Ranger rear axle anywhere near where I live...
Thanks for your help!

 

[Curious Hound]

I don't remember the pinion spline count. However, I would like to mention that it is easy to confuse spline counts. Many times, we talk about spline count for an axle. Most of thevtime. We are talking about the number of sites on an axle shaft where it slides into a side gear within the differential. In this case, the 7.5" axle and many 8.8" axles have 28 splines while some 8.8" axles have 31 splines. This is totally separate from the number of splines on the pinion shaft where the flange for the u-joint is mounted.

 

[Otis413]

Yes, I'm asking about the pinion splines for the drive shaft flange, I read somewhere that some cars with 8.8 rears had 28 spline pinions, but I think maybe they actually had a 7.5 rear and just confused the two.
Just want to make sure before I order anything, waiting on my tax return anyway....
EDIT: Mine is 30 spline BTW.

 

[Curious Hound]

According to our tech library, the 7.5" has 28 pinion splines and the 8.8" has 30 pinion splines.