Needing a new rear end, I went and got myself an Expo 8.8 with disc brakes. Got meself an L/S diff! Brad, you said good luck finding a 4.10 Expo at Harry's? I saw over a dozen of them lol. So here begins my swap!

Looked around, found this axle.




The red is there for the cashier to see that it's a 4x4 rear.

And thanks to my buddy for letting me borrow his sawzall, I got it out pretty damn easy! Got the calipers too. I have some new pads and rotors on order for next weekend, and gonna order up some leaf perches and shock mounts.

Now for a quick question... What should I do to connect my soft brake lines to my hard lines? Cut it back a little and new fittings? Or just make it fit? Also, there was a 3rd shock absorber and a counterweight on the passenger side of the differential. What's that for??? Can I get rid of it? Or will it mess with something to take it off?

 

Where did you get this axle at? I need one too... I'm in Northern VA and willing to drive for the right price...how much did you pay for this one? If you don't mind me asking.

 

It's no problem, I got it at Harry's U Pull It in Hazleton, PA. The axle and calipers came to $118 total.

 

Sounds like a road trip to me! Thanks a bunch!!!!

 

No problem, let me know when you're coming up. I'll meet you down there and we can pull it out.

 

Nice! Depending on when I get my paycheck (Just started a few weeks ago...) and when I have a day off, I'll let you know. Also, what tools should I bring up?

 

if it wasnt 6 hours id be there right now!

 

Don't be taking my axle now!

 

Ladies, ladies! There's plenty to go around! Haha. I brought a metric socket set, a BFH, battery operated sawzall, a pipe (for leverage), WD-40 and a breaker bar. You'll need splined sockets to get the driveshaft off, they're a specialty bolt so an ordinary socket won't work.

06Ranger, how fast are you driving? Lmao. I can make it to the Lake Ontario border in NY in about 3.5 hours lol But hey, if you're up to it come down anyways! I had a buddy come up from West Virginia (a 7 hour one way trip) for a good friend of mine to do body work on his truck.

 

They arent a "specialty" socket. They're just a 12 point socket.

 

Ditch all explorer brake lines. Grab two passenger side explorer soft lines(don't forget new banjo bolts and copper washers), couple lengths of 3/16 brake line, couple all-thread unions, and bolts. Weld unions to perches, bolt on soft lines to calipers and perch mounts. Bend the lines, cut, flare, tighten. Optional: paint hardlines.

You could use the factory line from your Ranger, cut it short near the perches, flare 'em, and use the new softlines, but I found the earlier mentioned way of doing it to be more cleanly done.



My pic above shows my setup. I've added a spacer to at the "Y" compensate for my additional lift. Without that spacer, the new lines would be far more clean. Also note: pic shows locker wires hangin' loose after just being installed.

The reason you'll want to ditch the Explorer lines from the axle is because the Explorer "Y" is off the driver side of the axle. The Ranger is on top of the differential. Explorer line from frame to axle is shorter than Ranger as well. Expo's are spring under and the expo lines work fine on a spring under application (IE 5" drop). Not so much on a spring over application, especially when you add 2.5" stock blocks to the mix (IE your Ranger, my Ranger, any 4x4 Ranger).



Ditch it all. Not needed/used.



Or 12pt combination wrenches. Believe it's 12mm. Grab a 12mm and a 13mm and double wrench them for extra leverage. No need for specialty sockets. (EDIT: Brinker beat me to it. lol.)

 

I tried using 12 points on it. Didn't work, just started slipping off. Thanks for the info Shane. One other thing, what's the sensor for in the differential?

 

Speed sensor, I believe. My truck has one in the same spot.

 

Ah, okay. I'm guessing the "banjo bolts" are the ones that hold the line to the caliper? If you know what I mean...?

 

Were you using a standard or metric 12 point? Pretty sure they're a 12mm so if you were using a 1/2" that's probably why!

 

That's what they are.

 

Okay, awesome. I'll probably have about 500 more questions throughout the swap lol And yeah, I used a 12 mm

 

The axle I bought had brand new hoses on it so I just used them. Worked well for me.

 

Brad, did you use the Expo setup for the brakes? I see you have the soft line going up towards the bed. And I'm just gonna reuse my spring perches and shock mounts because I don't have $140 to fork out for the perches and mounts from ruff stuff.

 

Yup. used the stock explorer set-up. Dont forget to buy new u-bolts.

 

Yeah, I used a sawzall to cut through the old ones lol So I'll need em. Probably if I'm off work tomorrow I'll take it up my buddy's and cut the old **** off. Can I just run without the rear swaybar? Or do I need to remount my current one?

 

i dont think rangers have a rear sway bar

 

There's one on the front of my axle....I think. I'll get a pic tomorrow unless someone else has some insight? I'm almost positive it does. If not, then disregard that last question.

 

i know the expos have a rear sway bar but i dont recall ever seeing a sway bar on the rear end of my ranger

 

I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it up... I swear it does lol