Rear end?

[Riddle_Rob]

Just wondering,
for those of you who have turbo'd your rangers already..have you changed out the rear end?

Right now, I'm running the stockie 7.5" and I'm unsure of gear ratio. Also its not a posi.

Now I was thinking of upgrading to a larger rear end and I came across this:

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-parts-accessories-posi-rear-end-W0QQAdIdZ21905076

I would LOVE to convert to rear discs as well as a larger rear end such as this one and posi for obvious reasons.

Is this worth the time/effort/money?

[Jesshwarren]

The 7.5" is ok for low 13's high 12's. You will need traction bars or you will bend the leaf springs.

I am running a 8.8" explorer rear with disk brakes. 3.27 gears with a mini spool & traction bars.

The explorer 8.8" has 31spline axles and a heavier axle tube. The leaf spring perches are on the bottom side on the explorer rear I had to cut them off and put them on the top.

It is not necessary to upgrade unless you are running slicks or real aggressive tires and are trying for sub 2.0sec 0-60 ft times.

[Riddle_Rob]

It would be a good idea to upgrade to LSD though would it not? And I want to go with the disc brakes not only for better braking but for a show look as well.

[Jesshwarren]

A LSD would be a good idea. Not sure what parts are available for the 7.5" rear. Not sure about disk brakes for the 7.5" they may be available, duno.

[Riddle_Rob]

That's why I was thinking about doing the swap to the thunderbird rear end, or now that you mention it the rangers brother, explorer. I know our local heap here has a pile of explorers so I'm going to see what kind of price they are looking for a complete setup.

[flyin]

As rear ends go, I personally beat the heck out of a 7.5 in my last truck and It took It like a champ. You can purchase a 7.5 inch limited slip factory unit and transfer your ring gear to it for around 100 bucks on Ebay. I did and was very pleased with mine.

For upgrades I believe most 7.5 inch rear ends come with 9 inch diameter rear drums you could swap all of the brake parts from a ranger with 10 inch drums, or upgrade to an 8.8 inch.

8.8 inch axles come in correct width from rangers and are a bolt in.
-most have 28 spline axles and conventional clutch type limited slip
-FX4 rangers have HD 31 spline and a Torsen mechanical limited slip
-Explorers also have 31 splines but stay with clutch limited slip, however
many can be found with disk brakes. These require some modification to
spring perches and will require either a new master from the explorer or
some sort of proportioning to allow even braking to all wheels without
excessive lockup or abs operation. Also they are maybe a couple of
inches wider so the truck will look a little different and should be
considered before purchasing aftermarket wheels.

I hope this helps.

[Kurt]

That's why I was thinking about doing the swap to the thunderbird rear end, or now that you mention it the rangers brother, explorer. I know our local heap here has a pile of explorers so I'm going to see what kind of price they are looking for a complete setup.


Like flyin said, there were plenty of Rangers that came with the 8.8. Direct swap.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html

To put disc brakes on a 3000lbs front heavy pickup truck is kinda of a waste of money and effort. The only reason ford started putting rear disc on a lot of vehicles is to have independent anti-lock rear brakes.

[Riddle_Rob]

OK. Well, I figured I'd ask right! I'm not the most mechanically inclined person but I do understand.

As for ABS though, when I bought my truck it had a problem with the ABS. I bought it used from a dealer. I needed it to be road legal ASAP so I got him to safety at a cost of $500. Which was well spent in one way but not in another. I received all new brakes, tires, windshield, and a few other random parts I cannot remember ATM.

Anyways, to fix the ABS the dumb shop just cut the wires and made it go without. I HATE ABS anyways, but isn't that just a little wrong?

They also tried fixing my horn..ended up screwing up my airbag and re***ured me I have one yet the airbag light was burnt out so I was getting the annoying 5x5 Beeping from dash.

They even gave me the safety plates and everything after the decided they couldn't fix the speedo and said to come back in a week. I was young, dumb needed a damn ride to get to college that I was payin for and work. So I had to take it! Now, til this day, I still don't have use of my speedo unless its cold outside then when truck warms up it stops working.

Sorry for rant guys haha

[freebyrd24]

The 8.8 is nearly a direct bolt in for the ranger. I did it on mine and was very pleased. I had the 7.5 that was an open diff and i believe had 3.73's. I put in a LS, disc brake, 4.10 rear end. The 95+ explorers all came with disc brakes. I got mine for 150 out of the junkyard. You just need the brackets from the explorer to make it work. If you go that way I can be more specific about details. Theres a lot of info on rangerpowersports about it, but it can be a little confusing. I;m very pleased with the LS though

[freebyrd24]

Hey rob I saw your post over at rps. I mounted my axle like the explorer stock setup. That is spring under axle. Stock ranger is spring over axle. Now in that long thread somewhere someone had stated that using explorer springs with the explorer axle, in the stock setup would maintain stock ride height, but it doesnt. I used 4 inch lift springs to regain stock height. I wanted the stock look. Now what a lot of people do is cut off leaf spring mounting perches and relocate them to the opposite side, so the axle can be mounted like the stock ranger setup, which is spring over axle. This way I BELIEVE you can use the stock ranger springs

[Riddle_Rob]

You sure? I swore my ranger, which is in storage atm, was leafs under axel and my dads explorer (Same gen) was leafs on top of axel.

And from what I got, if I use my stock ranger leafs in stock location UNDER the expo axel, I will get a few inches of drop and I won't need to use my drop kit. I could probably use the U-bolts from it though.

I might have been reading it wrong this morning maybe I'll go over it again.

[freebyrd24]

Hmm Take another look at the explorer. Everyone that I personally encountered was spring under axle. And the ranger should be spring over axle. Double check it just to be sure. If not, maybe it was modified. But as far as I understand personally, thats how it was setup. I may be wrong but I am almost 100 percent positive. When I used stock explorer springs located UNDEr the stock explorer axle, I dropped a solid 4-5 inches in the back. You can use the U-bolts from the explorer axle, and you need to get the spring perches from the explorer setup. I think you need two of the same side ones from that setup. I had two sets of perches I was using and I tried different ones to make it match. Using those perches, you can keep stock shock mounts and location. If you look under, one shock is in front of the axle, and one is in back. If you find a good deal on a parts explorer with the correct axle, or a good junkyard setup, you can get all the pieces you need right there for relatively cheap. RPS has charts with axle codes that are found on the door jams of the explorers to make sure you get the right axle.

As for using the stock ranger leafs with the explorer axle. The leafs from the ranger may not be able to mount the axle on top of the springs. I'm not sure if the top of those springs will allow the axle to seat inside of it. The bottom of the explorer leafs have a surface that matches the axle, and has a cylindrical piece that lines up with the axle mounting hole. The little cylinder piece slides right into the hole, and that allows it to line up correctly. I don't think you can mount on top of the ranger springs, but I am not sure. Try to take a look at it and see if it can do done. I'm not so sure though

Sorry for the long rambling post! and if its unclear let me know!

[flyin]

I would start by NEVER letting the shop touch your truck again. Find a shop where they know what they are doing. Abs diagnosis isn't that hard most of the time. Neither is air bag diagnosis. You just have to know enough not to accidentally set them off and some decent shop manuals. What scares me is that they would let a vehicle leave the shop with a major safety system malfunctioning. I wouldn't think a reputable shop would do this.

[Riddle_Rob]

Yea its not a large reputable shop at all. Just some corner shop really small and would personally got to Canadian Tire first. But it was ***ociated with the dealer I bought the truck from so I got what I got. If I had the choice I would have done it all myself but I didn't have the time/skill at the time.

As for the rear end, I'm going to try to figure it out before I go and install the drop kit that way I don't have to get down there twice..know what I mean?

Time and money will tell!

[D94R]

As rear ends go, I personally beat the heck out of a 7.5 in my last truck and It took It like a champ. You can purchase a 7.5 inch limited slip factory unit and transfer your ring gear to it for around 100 bucks on Ebay. I did and was very pleased with mine.

For upgrades I believe most 7.5 inch rear ends come with 9 inch diameter rear drums you could swap all of the brake parts from a ranger with 10 inch drums, or upgrade to an 8.8 inch.

8.8 inch axles come in correct width from rangers and are a bolt in.
-most have 28 spline axles and conventional clutch type limited slip
-FX4 Level II's rangers have HD 31 spline and a Torsen mechanical limited slip (the first year FX4 will have the Torsen unit though too)
-Explorers also have 31 splines but stay with clutch limited slip, 95 and newer can be found with disk brakes. These require some modification to
spring perches and will require either a new master from the explorer or
some sort of proportioning to allow even braking to all wheels without
excessive lockup or abs operation. Also they are maybe a couple of
inches wider (1.5 to 3 inches wider depending on year of your ranger) so the truck will look a little different and should be
considered before purchasing aftermarket wheels.

I hope this helps.

Just modified your post a little to help with what to look for.

[nagelandy55]

Riddle - I put an 8.8 L/S explorer axle in my truck. Its from a 2001 so it has disc brakes, and let me tell you they are awsome! If you wanna drop use the existing leaf perches if not weld different perches on top.
If your around toronto try a wrecker called www.standardautowreckers.com (thats where i got my axle with disc brakes for 200 bucks).

[fordnut71]

i just put in a stock rear end from a 4.0 ranger. its 8.8 an it comes with 10" drums . i just put my 9" back on thats all . when i had mine off i 4.10 gear in it with a mustang ls i had laying around. i perfer www.car-parts.com u can search every 1 then.

[roadkill]

im running a 93 Mazda 4.0 8.8 rear with 91/2 inch drums and posi. big rear right now for the stock 2.5l off the line, but a deff difference in the top end speed and accl. picked one up from the junk yard for $500 and blots right in no prob!!