Went to pick up new bearings and seals today for my axle, being an 8.8" according to the tag on the diff cover. Get the parts ready to go in and they are too big. Go back to the store and size up the old bearings with those for a 7.5", perfect fit. How can that be? Parts stores have wrong part numbers?

 

Believe it or not, it's a very common issue with parts stores. Even though the 7.5 and 8.8 in the ranger have different size carriers, the axle shafts are both 28 spline and the same size. For some odd reason, part stores list the bearing for a 31 spline 8.8 found in explorers and Fx4 level 2 trucks as the only bearing for an 8.8, rather than specifying 31 spline vs 28 spline shafts.

 

I figured it had something to do with spline count. Even told them it was a 28 spline and they looked at me as if I was speaking another language, probably wasn't an option to select. Its irritating when it makes a quick job become even longer running back and forth.