U-joint for my explorer 8.8 swap.

[Zachalanche]

I'm putting an explorer 8.8 in my 89 rangerI have the U-joint flange from the explorer, is there a u joint available that will work with my stock drive shaft and said flange?

 

[4x4junkie]

I believe the Ex d-shaft flange should fit on your stock u-joint ('89 should have the 1310-size joints IIRC).

 

[Zachalanche]

I held the flange up next to the one currently bolted to my 7.5 and there is a considerable difference in width. my stock u-joint is actually pretty small.

 

[mjonesjr]

I believe the Ex d-shaft flange should fit on your stock u-joint ('89 should have the 1310-size joints IIRC).

The 7.5 axle drive shaft has the smaller u-joint no matter what year it is from.

You have 2 options, you can either get a Spicer conversion joint, or you can go to a drive line shop and have them sell you a new flange that is the right u-joint size for your drive shaft w/ the right bolt pattern for the pinion flange.

When I swapped my 8.8 in my BII, I got the new flange. It was $26 out the door from my local drive line shop.

 

[Zachalanche]

Sweet deal. thanks for the info.

 

[mjonesjr]

Take your stock drive shaft flange and the flange from the Explorer drive shaft. Tell them you need the u-joint to match your stock flange u-joint and the flange needs to match the Explorer flange.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

what year is the explorer axle out of and is your trans in the ranger manual or auto. also what is your wheel base? extended cab or standard cab and if standard is it lon gbed or short bed?

 

[mjonesjr]

what year is the explorer axle out of and is your trans in the ranger manual or auto. also what is your wheel base? extended cab or standard cab and if standard is it lon gbed or short bed?

Those have nothing to do with what flange he has. The auto and manual transmission used the same output flanges on the transfer case.

All Explorer rear axles use the same pinion flange.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

but driveshaft length on the ranger will effect which joint his shaft has whether it is a 1 piece or a 2 piece. if it doesnt matter which year or how many doors the explorer has then why is there 2 different joints listed to fit the flange? unless the drive shafts used on the 2 and 4 doors were different and they use different size caps or different width joints for the drive shaft side?

 

[mjonesjr]

The 2 door and 4 door Explorer's use different drive shafts because of the wheel base difference.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i see, thats what i was thinking, just like the rangers that use a 1 or 2 piece shaft depending on wheel base. well looking in the book you can get a combination of the 354 joint on the explorer and the 369 joint (108" w.b.) on the ranger. the combination joint is a 353 (precision part number). hopefully this helps the O.P. if not do like mjones said and take it in to a shop.

 

[Zachalanche]

k. here's all the specs my ranger is an 89 2.9 4X4 extended cab so it has the 2 piece drive line. it started out as an auto but is now a manual so that probably makse no difference. as for the explorer rear end, I got it out of another ranger. so, I don't know what the specs on the explorer were. all I know is that is out of an older explorer since it has drum brakes.

I am trying to line up all the parts ahead of time and I would really like to avoid taking this thing to a shop. since this is my only running vehicle right now i cantremove any of the 7.5 parts until I am ready to followthrough with the swap.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

ok thats enough information to bring up 1 more question. are the caps on the ranger ujoint very close together, almost to where they touch at the bottom corners or are they spaced out a bit from one another?

 

[Zachalanche]

very small .... tiny u-joint.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

well thats what i was afraid of. i didnt find any combination joints containing the use of that tiny joint. someone might make it, but not the brand that i carry which is precision. sorry to get your hopes up.