Anyone know the years that have identical rears as the 2002 , or a direct bolt on as 2002, plan on buying complete rear from salvage yard. Appreciate the info thanks

 

Welcome to the forum

Have a look at your drivers door label, at the bottom you will see AXLE, under that, two numbers or a letter and number, thats the axle code you need

Codes seen here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_li...le_codes.shtml

Say you have a 96 code, thats an OPEN, 8.8" axle with 3.73 ring and pinion gears, most common

You may want to replace it with an R6, an 8.8" with 3.73 but Limited Slip, better traction

As far as "what" years you can use, 1993 to 2009 7.5" or 8.8" are direct bolt in, from Ranger or Mazda B-series, engine, trans, or 2WD/4x4 doesn't matter

You do want to match your current Ratio, if its 3.73 then look for that ratio, your speedometer is calibrated for that, but it can be re-calibrated for anything you want
If you have a 4x4 then you MUST match ratio

4.10 ratio is better for towing


One heads up, rear brake size, you will probably have 9" on a 3.0l Ranger but can be 10",

Have a look here at post #4, pictures: https://www.ranger-forums.com/drivet...m-size-135609/

Easy to see which is which, you do not have to match these but it will be easier if you do, i.e. e-brake cable and brake lines fitment