Alrighty well the other day I was driving and hit a nice pothole and heard a terrible grinding noise the bearing failed and took one of my avm's with it. So... I'm not going to be going that route again. Anyway I know I need 01 & up ranger axles and bearings, but could I potentially get away with using expo axles and bearings? If so which years could I use?

 

Yes you can, i just swapped out the bearings and axles from my 97 mountaineer 5.0 into my 2000. there is a grease seal/shield on the ranger that you have to knock out of the hub right behind the bearing unit.

the abs sensor plugged right in and is working fine. so i'm gonna say 97+ should work

 

Well I pretty much found this, it says that you can use axles from 95-01 Expo's. The main reason I'm asking is because the junkyards that I go to I see lots of Expo's but not really many new rangers. I'm gonna try to pull the stuff out of the yard if possible. If not I'll buy new. 1998-2000 Ford Ranger PVH Hub Swap To Live Axle

 

I did it on mine and gknights. Took the cv axles and and front hubs out of Explorers. Bolted right in, no modifications needed. You're gonna need a 1 1/4" or 32mm socket for the hub nuts. You can purchase the hubs on Ebay brand new for around $40 a piece free shipping. It's the route I went, got 40,000 miles on them currently and their still doing good.

 

How many miles on the expo shafts? I found some today actually, didn't grab em. Could get em around $15 each used but I want some with less than 100k lol.

 

Please don't tell me you're trying to use used bearings/hubs and CV's???

Something you could also consider is a 03+ knuckle swap. Bigger rotors and no need to modify the old knuckles.

I'm a believer in you get what you pay for when it comes to bearings. Timken FTW.

 

I'm not going with the cheap bearings, I'm more then likely going to get used axles. I see explorer axles with +250,xxx miles on them all the time. I found some with 54k which is not to bad. I'm not buying new chinese axles. I refuse to give them any of my dollars. Also prolly gonna go with skf bearings. Anyone have any exp with them? I'm assuming I need the outter tie rods and spindles for the swap?

 

spindles and rotors, hmm seems like a good idea. I'm assuming it's going to throw my alignment out of wack also. Wonder If I'll notice a difference. This thing of mine is becoming a money pit lol.

 

85% of timken bearings are manufactured in china now

genuine SKF bearings are still manufactured in skf plants

open the box and read the inner bearing race , you are looking for either FRANCE or SWTZERLAND ( switzerland being the better choice )

SKF are the top automotive bearing manufacturer in the world , but the bearings are not cheap

hence ----- quality = cost

 

That's good to know, yeah I've been reading they are pretty much top of the line.