Ford 7.5-Inch Rear Axle History & Specs

Axle Width Differences:

People have asked about the widths of axle shafts to swap shafts from one axle to another.

The early 1983-1992 Ranger axles are 1-inch shorter than the 1993-up pieces (Both sides). This means that the an entire Ranger axle assembly from 1993-up is 2-inches wider than 1983-1992.

The right side Bronco II axle shaft is 1-5/8″ wider than the 1983-1992 Ranger shaft. All of this additional width is on the passenger side. The drivers side shaft is the same length in either axle assembly.

On ALL Ranger/Bronco II’s the drivers side axle shaft is longer than the passenger side.

There is no difference between 7.5 & 8.8 axle shaft lengths provided you stay in the same year window.

Mustang Note: If you go to a salvage yard, you may find that the left side shafts have been removed from 1983-1992 Rangers and Bronco II’s. These axle shafts are the same length as the axle shafts in the “Fox” (1979-1993) Mustangs EXCEPT that Ranger/Bronco II shafts are five-lug and Mustangs are four lug. Ranger/Bronco II shafts are frequently “pillaged” for use in converting a Mustang to five-lug wheels.

Identify Your Axle:

You can identify which axle you have by the tag attached to the inspection cover.

Here is an example of an axle tag:

Looking at that tag, you can see the gear ratio stamped on the lower left, and the axle size (ring gear diameter) stamped in the bottom middle.

So looking at the axle tag above, you can see it’s a 3.73 gear ratio in a 7.5 inch axle.

Axle Codes:

Rear axle codes can be found on the Safety Standard Certification label attached to the left drivers side door lock post.  The code appears as a number or letter/number combination in the ‘Axle’ column of the label.