hey guys, well today comin home from my friends truck shop i saw this really old f-150 that wasnt being used and got plowed with snow in the parking lot, now the body is just rusted like crap and there's speed holes EVERYWHERE! but apparently the engine is strong and was re-built a while ago, so i go and ask the guy if its for sale and he wants $500 for it but imo and from knowledge that truck isnt worth $500, $200 at the most! anyways back to the point, since the body is crapped out i was more interested in the nine inch in the back. Now how much wider is the 9inch than the 8.8 in the ranger? and is the 9 inch a whole much better than 8.8? and would it be worth puttin a 9" under the ranger or is the 8.8 strong enough??



Sorry for the long post but i thought i would jus share

 

get an explorer 8.8 with 31 spline and discs..screw the 9" the 8.8 will take whatever abuse you throw at it in a ranger!!

 

I think 9" is a lil overkill......unless you have a Built v8 in it....

Some info....

http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~biesiade/Fordrears.html ...... Looks like its 58 3/4" wide flange to flange....

http://www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm ...<Interesting stuff!


http://members.***.net/quanno/ford88.html

From what I gather, the 9" is and inch shorter? maybe? I thinK...cant find any def info.......



Bolt pattern is different there you would have to get wheels.....

 

lol, how hard is it to put one under? cuz im not new to hard and complicated work, im lifting my truck on my own in my driveway in -2 weather, but i just want an idea of what im gettin my self into. and is the exploder axle any wider than the one in the ranger?

 

nopers..identical..explorer your going to have to relocate the spring purches and the shock purches to the top of the axle..its not hard and the disc are a super nice feature!

 

You could do a Dana 44 w/ discs from a rodeo....but then you have the bolt pattern problem again....

 

^^^ eh i dont wanna go all out on this thing cuz it is my dd...

 

so that means cutting off and re-welding them?

any links or how to's?

 

yea..try and stay with 5 on 4.5 bolt patter..expo rear end is your best bet or if you dont want discs right away find an 03 or i think 02 also level 2 rear end there 31 spline and bolt right in..what gears you need in it?

 

i neeed 4:56 gears for 35" meats

 

in a couple years it will have a nice thumpin v8....

 

Wow thats a great write up!!! and is now added to favs...

 

if you look in out how to sections theres an explorer swap thread in there..

might be easier to buy 456 gears for an 8.8 and just gut an expo rear stuff the 456 in it and toss it in..

 

that would be a lot easier cuz while its out i can get my auto shop teacher to install it, and before that i can even clean it up a little bit and paint her new :D

 

Did I misinterpret your answer Sonic_03 when I read it as you saying the expo and ranger axles are the same width?

To clear it up, the explorer axle is in fact wider than the ranger's. Depending on year the explorer is 1.5 - 3 inches wider, or .75 to 1.5 wider on each side.

If you're definately looking for the Explorer axles with disk brakes (95+ I believe, could be 96+), that axle will I believe will be 1.5" wider total than blackbetty's rear end. (I actually forget when the ranger axles got wider, but that info is in my axle swap sticky on RPS)

This actually looks better IMO than the stock rear ends when lifted as it puts the rear track width closer to the fronts. I think it looks silly when you see those huge lifted full size trucks going down the road with the front tires sticking out farther from the fenders than the rear ones... the rangers suffer the same problems. The expo axle drastically helps with this.

 

in STOCK form a 8.8 is stronger than a 9"....the way to surpass the 8.8 in strength with the 9" is to put in a nodular center section in the 9"......and the 9" is about 6" (3" per side) wider than the Ranger 8.8....

 

FW 9" and a FW D44 would be sexy...

 

Sonic was talking about the 9 inch being wider, the expo and ranger rears being the same.

 

they so damn close youll never notice it..like i said go fine a rear end out of an 02-03 Level 2 ranger and then you wont have a problem at all..might want an arm and a leg for one..expos ARE way easier to ghet your hands on..hell we paid 80$ for one with disc!!

 

really? that would be quite a steal if i could get one from my wreckers for that cheap!

 

Yeah... I've heard the difference is enough to screw up alignment measurements. As long as you know the Expo's axle is a hair wider, you'll be fine. And I pretty much agree with everything people have said. Unless your getting a V8 dropped in soon, no point in getting a 9" and beefin' it up. The 8.8" will hold up fine against the 4.0.

 

the 8.8 will hold up against any v8 also......if you remember correctly it is a 8.8 in the F-150's now a days......and they run the 5.4 v8's...

 

There was an obvious difference on my 94 lowered ranger.

I would think based on the bigger trucks and how badly it shows the rear tires don't stick out as far, a ranger, lifted with bigger/wider tires on the stock rear axle would definatly show its narrower track in the rear.

 

then you plan for it..get a diff backspacing on a set of rims..or like i said get a level 2 rear end ! 8.8s are in everything they'll handle any $hit and abuse makes sure they have oil in them and your good to go!

 

Thats where I think one of us is confused. The 8.8's in the Rangers have all been narrower than the explorers. Be it a 7.5 or 8.8 in a ranger it was either 1.5" or 3" narrower with respect to years. As far as I know, the Level II 8.8's are the same width as all other Ranger 8.8's, they simply have a higher spline count and better differentials, so getting one of them doesn't help with the wider track width. My 94 had the 8.8 in it stock, and I swapped to the explorer rear end with obvious track width widening.

Your idea of different back spaced rims would work of course, though you'd never be able to properly rotate the tires.