Axle Swap
 

Hey guys,

I am faced with a perplexing problem. I got in my truck the other morning to hear and feel some clanking in the rear end. After inspection I have learned that somehow the whole rear end is fried meaning ring, pinion and planetary's. I have a 99 ranger 4x4 with 3.0 sitting on 33's with all stock suspension. I have figured out that I have a 3.73 ratio with 7.5 ring. Thing is I want to make this beefier. I want to go to a 4.10 rear end but am concerned about when I put the truck into 4wd will this mess up the front end at all? Hell most of the time I don't get to put it in 4wd. None the less is this feasible. It also seems that doing a full axle swap not just removing and replacing gears but actually swapping the housing complete is going to be easiest for me. I plan to do it this weekend. Thanks for any help. By the way anyone know where I can get a used axle in SO Cal at all. I have had no luck at all.

lets see to start with Ide get a ford 8.8 axle out of an explorer with disc brakes. tehy also come with 31 spline axles which are the strongest, the only think that you will have to change is the leaf spring perches because exploders are sprung under axles and rangers are sprung over axles. all that requires though is the cutting off the old perches and reweld some new perches on and some new shock towers which also isnt bad because that give you an excuse to relocate them and get more droop!

front gear ratio has to match the BACK!!!! nuff sayed. not its not hard to swap out a rear end thought did mine in about 8 hours and took my time. and get a 8.8 not a 7.5

Hey guys thanks for the responses. I will be searching out the 8.8 hopefully it is available at a relatively good price. Is there any advice one might have on getting the axle to line up properly? I would hate to put in a good axle and wind up with some driveline problems down the road. I am figuring on just making good measurements.

i've got 4.10s and i wish i had less....

33's will fix that :eek:

i have a complete front diff with 4.10 in it that will be for sale pretty soon.

goin straight axle redranger? i bet it will be pretty easy with that RCD coil-over lift.

how would that make it easy??????????

^^^i didnt mean it would actually be eay. wut i meant is it would be easier since his front suspension is setup with coil-overs up front and not torsion bars so there may be less work to do, but heck...maybe im stupid.

its not gonna change hardly anything, the only difference is that he would have to unbolt the torsion bar skid plate and bracketry. that take all of 5 minutes. and he wont be able to reuse his shocks either.

Well the axle swap went really well surprisingly after getting the wrong one and going back to get the right one. I swapped it out in about 5hrs. I have a remaining problem when I give it too much gas or too much torque is applied to the drive line. I am hearing u-joint noise going in reverse and in first. Has anyone done anything to beef up their driveline? I am just wondering if there is any sort of beefier u-joint or driveline available. Thanks for any and all help.

Assuming that the installation was done properly and the clank problem is new since the axle installation, you are more likely talking about gear lash in the ring and pinion rather than a noise caused by faulty u-joints.

If it's a rumble instead of a clank, you may have a problem with the pinion angle.

I think 4.10 is to high for muddin...:masked:

I should clarify this is not a new noise and I did not just change gears I did a whole axle swap. It was making this noise before I did the axle swap. I am pretty sure of myself on the bad u joints

If you do decide to get some new ones, it would be good to stay with name brand parts and look for some with zerk fittings.

would having and bad u-joint cuase you to have driveline vibration?

yea i am. nope the rcd lift is sold next week im taking it off and delivering it.

i am going to run leafs up front

brent where did you get the axle? i live right near you and would love to get an 8.8 in my truck

Go to www.car-parts.com and find the axle you want at LKQ in Sante Fe Springs, then call them up and see what they can do for you.

I wish I had actually gotten an 8.8 for my truck. I picked up a used 7.5 with 3.73 gears out of basically San Pedro for $400 from a company called Team Truck Dismantling. I couldn't find a whole solid axle for the rear end in southern california that I could put my fingers on. Most people wanted me to bring them the axle and they would rebuild it from there. When the time comes I will be putting the 8.8 with 4.10's in it. That will be another couple of months though as I now have a good rear end. I gotta tell ya swapping the rear end was a breeze everything lined up perfectly and I think I am fortunate or something but the truck is already sprung under the leaf springs. Anyways took me 5hrs from start to finish. Not bad