Ran my Ranger into a ditch, gear ratio question

[warmachine5500]

Hello all. 1994 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 4.0L V6.

I recently ran my Ranger into a ditch trying to avoid a head on collision. I hit pretty hard (approx 30mph). I can tell the axle beams in the front are bent, and possibly the trailing arms as well, but I was going to simply have the entire front rear replaced instead of doing pieces.

My question is, what gear ratio do I have? I have looked for the sticker that's supposed to be on the front end, but it's gone. I want to make sure I get the same ratio on a used front rear. If I'm not certain about the gear ratio, could I just use the guts from my existing differential and put them in the new rear? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[4.0B2]

look on the data tag on the rear, it SHOULD be right IF no one has regeared it..

best thing to do is drop the front end out and count the teeth on the pinion and ring gear and report back with your findings.

if you have a true 35 and you get a new(to you) d35, you can use your drop out third member, yes.

several different ways of doing it.
if you have sucky gears you can find a better geared one in the junkyard and get both front and rear... just make sure it's a 8.8 rear axle.

 

[4x4junkie]

My head is spinning trying to figure out if the OP is asking about just his front axle or both front and rear axle?

If you're replacing both axles with ones from the same truck, then ratio wouldn't matter as much, however you probably wouldn't want to wind up with something like 3.27:1 gears, those suck bad no matter what size tires are on it.

Another place to check for your factory ratio is the axle code on your door sticker.
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html

You cannot take the gears out of a front axle and put them in the rear though (the front is a Dana35, the rear is a 8.8", two different animals).

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

From what I gathered, you just need any complete D35.

The ratio doesn't really matter, as you can swap out your pig to the new beam.

Is there no tag on the rear axle either...?

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[warmachine5500]

The data tag on the rear (front axle) is gone.

However, the axle code on my door sticker is 91. So according to the table I have the 3.27 ratio.

I wasn't asking about the rear axle, nor was I under the impression that I could use the gears from a front differential in a rear differential. I simply was asking how I could figure out my front differential gear ratio because the data tag is gone. I want to make sure that when I salvage a junked front axle (beams, housing, differential, and all) that it will be compatible with my rear axle/differential.

Which, according to this friggin' awesome table you have here, means I could use a front end with any of the following gear ratios: 3.27, 3.08, 3.55, 3.73, 4.10, 4.56. That's correct, right?

EDIT: UrbanRedneckKid, you're picking up what I'm putting down. Though I didn't check the rear axle for a tag.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

What...? You just listed all oem ratios...?

Whatever you put in the front has to match the rear. If you do in fact have a 3.27 rear, then you need a 3.27 front.

Personally, it'd get rid of the 3.27 gears. My truck had them stock, I hated them.

 

[4x4junkie]

I wasn't asking about the rear axle, nor was I under the impression that I could use the gears from a front differential in a rear differential. I simply was asking how I could figure out my front differential gear ratio because the data tag is gone. I want to make sure that when I salvage a junked front axle (beams, housing, differential, and all) that it will be compatible with my rear axle/differential.

Ok, I think I got you now...

Yes, you'll need another 3.27:1 front axle if you keep your existing 3.27:1 rear.
If it was mine however, I'd swap both ends for 3.73s (this assuming stock-size tires are on it).

 

[warmachine5500]

Ohhh I get it now. So if I found a junked Ranger with different ratios, I would have to swap out both front and rear axles.

 

[adsm08]

Yes.

I happen to have a more-or-less complete 3.27 front axle from a 94.

I think the spindles and shafts are gone, but the rest of it is still there. I actually do have the shafts, but they are buggered up. Someone took the u-joints out wrong and now the caps break when you put new joints in.

You should have most of the parts it needs still intact on your damaged axle.