Hey. For starters, my 96 Ranger currently has a shot R6 axle Ford Ranger Axles - The Ranger Station and on that page I noticed that the Explorer axle codes D4/D5 have the same info as the R6 except for the higher capacity. Would this be a direct/easy swap into my Ranger? And since I have to do a rear axle swap, would it be a good idea to 'upgrade' to an axle with the 4.10 gears? What are the benefits of going to higher gears? Those Explorer axles are more common than the Ranger ones where I'm at. Thanks.

 

First off, to put an Expo axle in a Ranger, you have to:

Cut off the spring perches and weld on new ones.(Expo is spring under, Ranger is spring over.)

Weld on shock mounts.(Expo has the shock mounts on the spring plates, and no, they won't work with the Ranger mounts on the frame.)

Account for the extra width. (expo axle is 1.5" wider than a Ranger axle.)

Modify the parking brake cable. (Expo cable is just a bit short)

Now, if you are doing a lowered truck, you keep the spring perches and the parking brake cable will fit. Would still need to do something about shock mounts though.

And going to a deeper gear in the diff is only necessary if you have bigger than stock tires, and beneficial if you tow a lot.

This is far from comprehensive, but it's a good start.

 

Oh ok. Thanks! That cleared up a lot.

 

Will 1998 and up rear axles swap easily into a 1996?

 

john covered it basically

explorer axles are different than ranger axles

no matter what year you will have to do what he posted above....spring perches, shock mounts....yada yada

ranger axles will work from 83 to 2010....with a few minor differences (brakes)

 

i bolted the shocks on without having to do any welding. use the lower plates that the explorer u-bolts go through and the shocks will bolt right on. you need two of one side though (ie two passenger side or two driver side)

 

Widths are different....93+ are the same however

 

I and a few others have tried the "two driverside spring plates", but it puts the shocks into a bind. Yes, it will bolt up, no it won't work properly. I ended up modifying my spring plates to make it work and not bind the shocks, but thats not a straight bolt in solution, and there are better alternatives.

 

So I can put any 93 and up Ranger rear axle onto my 96 without any problems since they're all the same width?

 

Yup....

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" shorter than the 1993-up pieces. (Both sides) meaning 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 in 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.

As a note, if you go to a salvage yard, you'll find many left-side shafts 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.


More here.....
Ford Ranger Axles - The Ranger Station

 

interesting. i've had mine is for almost 5 years now. haven't had any issues. the only thing i did different was move the passenger side upper mount behind the axle so i could use one pass one driver lower mount. also running nissan hardbody airshocks.

 

So the axle on right now is 8.8" with I think 9" brakes. I found the same axle, but it has 10" brakes. What's different about the 9" and 10" brakes? If I got the new axle with 10" brakes, would my wheels fit just fine on them like they do on the current one?

 

yup. Just more stopping power.

 

Thanks! Everyone's been very helpful