about a year ago I bought another rear end, after looking at it I realized I realized I bought an 8.8 and not another 7.5. I looked at some videos and it looks like I will have to do some welding and what not. Can anyone run me through this process looks like I'm in way over my head. I could use proper measurements and any other parts or tools I will need.

 

What year and vehicle is the 8.8 out of ?
And what is it going into ?

 

7.5" and 8.8" axles from Rangers or Mazda B-series are interchangeable, plug and play

Explorer 8.8" axles needed to have the spring perches and shock mounts cut off and rewelded on at a different location, seen here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...lorer8_8.shtml

Explorer axle was stronger, 31 spline, Rangers are 28 spline, so if you are running 33" or larger tires they are good to use, but no other benefit
Some Explorer rear axles also had Disc brakes, which is a good upgrade, thats a judgement call

If you don't need the Explorer axle then sell it and get a plug and play Ranger/Mazda rear axle

 

OK thank you. It did come out of another ranger so I guess it does have the 28 spline. And I should be fine. Also I have a yellow dot where the drives haft connects to rear differential. Out Of curiosity It's my understanding that is factory standard for representation of the gear ratio. Yellow is 4.10?

 

OK thank you. It did come out of another ranger so I guess it does have the 28 spline. And I should be fine. Also I have a yellow dot where the drives haft connects to rear differential. Out Of curiosity It's my understanding that is factory standard for representation of the gear ratio. Yellow is 4.10?

 

Never heard the yellow dot thing

Just put a mark on the pinion flange(driveshaft plate) and put another mark on one of the axle ends or drum if it still has brakes

The Ratio is how many times you have to turn the pinion to get one full rotation of a wheel(axle end)
So if you turn the pinion 3 and 1/2 turns to one full turn of the axle then its 3.50 ratio
Rangers usually came with a 3.73 ratio, but 4.10 was popular as well

Yours may still have the axle tag, have a read here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...le_codes.shtml

If you turn one axle and the other axle spins in the opposite direction its an OPEN differential, if it turns the same direction then its a Limited Slip(L/S)

 

Thanks anyways Ron, unfortunately my tag is missing, I am aware of how to find out what it is I just was curious if you knew of the markings, I only say something since I'm a little more familiar with Toyotas, they do that on the the third members for their rear differential. Blue being 529 and red is 410 so on and so forth.