are they the same?
 

97 and a 04 both rangers are the rear axles the same?

Not necessarily... both years had more than one axle option available.

Are you talking about mounting or gear ratios?

What are you trying to do ?

Donor axle to replace my sloppy old worn down one i got under her now. i know the gears my be different. just didnt know if anything else would be different. the 04 has 4.10 gears that i will switch out to new 3.73 that my truck comes with. just want to know if everything else would bolt up and work.

I believe that the newer axles are slightly wider. But other than that it should be a direct swap.

yes it will bolt up. 93+ are all the same