Ranger FW 8.8 vs 9.75

[Stephonix]

I am in the middle of planning out my SAS for this winter and am having trouble choosing an axle. Eventually I would like to swap a Chevy 5.3L v8 in my ranger and don't want to have to replace the rear axle again when this is done so my thinking was to go ahead and go with a 4.10 l/s 9.75 rear axle and redrill it to the correct bolt pattern as it is essentially just a larger 8.8 with 34 spline shafts, bigger axle shafts, 9.75 inch ring gear and tubes but weighs about 135lbs more than my explorer 8.8 already installed. It is comparable to a D60 in strength. However if I get a FW 8.8 all I need to do is redrill bolt pattern and swap ring, pinion and diff. Any thoughts or suggestions? I know both axles are overkill for my 3.0 but again do not want to be swapping axles again in the future.

 

[adsm08]

Well there isn't any real strength difference between the Explorer 8.8 and the F-150 8.8, so if you are going to swap anything put a 9.75 in it.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The 9.75 is strong, but for gearing and locker choices either a 8.8 or a D60 will beat the tar out of it.

Will have to redrill the bolt pattern, F-150 wheels of that vintage are hub centric so you might run into issues with your rims fitting over the locating ring on the flange too.

 

[4x4junkie]

The ARB Air Locker, Detroit Locker and gears down to 5.13:1 are all available for the 9.75". What else is needed?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'm not familiar with any of the options other than the 8.8. What is the clearance from ground to bottom of the pumpkin of these rear ends? That may be worth a thought.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The ARB Air Locker, Detroit Locker and gears down to 5.13:1 are all available for the 9.75". What else is needed?

Not nearly as easy to find stuff for as a 8.8.

My brother regeared his F-150 (8.8 rear) the about the same time I did mine (9.75). He had a ton more options for gears (like Ford Racing) and I guess I was mainly shopping for limited slips... which at least four years ago were pretty limited.

The reverse rotation 8.8 in the front was about comparable with the 9.75 with gearing vender options.

I ended up with Motive 3.73 gears front and rear and just left the rear carrier open.

I'm not familiar with any of the options other than the 8.8. What is the clearance from ground to bottom of the pumpkin of these rear ends? That may be worth a thought.

I can measure mine if anyone needs to know. They are pretty big but look bigger yet because they have gussets on the sides of the diff compared to a 8.8.