Looking to swap my axle. Main reasons are id like rear disk brakes and to go from 3.73 to the 4.10 ratio. I have found two axles for a fair price compared to what it would cost me to swap both onto my current axle. So heres my question the 7.5" i found only has 24K on it and the 8.8 has 85k my question is do you guys really think its worth it to get the 8.8 since i don't tow anything too heavy and I've had no trouble with my current 7.5" so id rather have the low mileage but open to suggestions. Also i found the axle from a 2010 ranger will that cause any problems with my 2003 ABS sensor in the reared or are they the same?

Thanks,
Chris

 

Just wanting opinions. I want to be able to justify the extra hundred bucks and higher mileage of going with the 8.8 over the 7.5 if its not a huge difference the extra mileage and money just doesn't seem worth it to me i know there are some strength differences but is it really worth that difference?

 

I mean is this axle 8.8 an open or lsd? 31 spline? I would only really worry about mileage on a lsd, not really on an open unless it was really high mileage or got some pretty nasty usage. I got 200,000m out of my 8.8, no problems. 7.5 is fine for regular use. Although I prefer more heavy duty stuff even though I don't use it for heavy duty stuff lol.

 

id do the 8.8 just for the sake of having a limited slip rear end, disk brakes, and a better gear ratio. From a performance aspect, it would be great.

Mileage isn't THAT big of an issue, since its fairly cheap to rebuild axles. My biggest concern would be the condition of the gearset inside the axle, so it would be a good idea to open it up and check how the gears are wearing. Look for shavings in the oil, examine the ends of the axle to see if the seals are weeping, etc.

 

Yeah thats what I'm looking at they are both open diffs i just get leary of high mileage stuff around here I've noticed maintenance is not a high priority i just don't want to end up with someones 84000m neglect when theres a 24000m unit available I'm pretty stringent on my maintenance practices. They both have disk brakes so other than ring size there pretty much identical as far as parts. Ill definitely pull the cover on both to see but the 7.5 is such a good deal its almost impossible to walk away from and because of the low mileage the yard is offering a better warranty on it. Also my reason for going with a complete swap is i don't want to completely rebuild it the rebuild kit is almost as expensive as what they want for the axle itself i don't mind replacing seals and what not but if I'm going to end up tearing it down ill just swap the stuff into my current reared. Definitely appreciate the input guys i have very little experience with rear ends in these trucks as far as strength and reliability so i appreciate the info!

 

The 7.5 sounds like deal, and installing it would be so much easier than swapping the brakes and gears onto and into the one you have. While 8.8's are beefier, 7.5's are certainly long wearing and dependable rear ends too. Since you're not going to be carrying much of a load, with the low miles on the 7.5 it would be my choice too.

 

Awesome thanks I'm pretty much sold on the 7.5 i just have to make sure i can recalibrate my speedo for the gears the 5 speed swap has reaked havoc on my PCM and its maxed out on the settings so i have to find a speedo correction box that hasn't been discontinued to make sure everything works. Looks like i have my tax refund project here.

 

you should be ok with another 7.5. I blew mine with my 3.0L truck that only had 71k but i also had 33s on it with a limited slip

 

Ok definitely decided on the 7.5 since i don't want to modify an expo reared to fit i have found a few threads online discussing the strength differences between the ranger axles (according to ford the ranger 8.8 is not the same as expo 8.8 and provides marginal increase in strength over 7.5) so since my little 3.0 is no 300hp monster I've decided the small amount of increase is not worth the money so 7.5 it will be and should have it here in a few weeks thanks for the info guys.