My Ranger has 141k Miles....the drum breaks in the rear are shot to death...springs inside are broken and everything...Im just runnin on front disk breaks...now, I was thinking about buying the rear straight axle...(8.8) from my 4x4 shop...it would be from a 99 explorer...I want the disk breaks and 1/3 mileage that it has on it haha...will it fit right in?...

btw...the entire rear axle is like...$300-$350 he said

 

this should answer most of your questions on that

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=11725

 

thats a 94...I have a 98-00 *1999*...and why would I have to take off the bed? cant I do it without taking off my bed?

 

If you want your truck at stock height after you swap axles you will need to cut the spring perches off of the Explorer axle and weld new ones on top of the axle at the correct pinion angle. Swapping springs with the Explorer will also put it close to stock height instead of flipping the spring perches. You will probably want to weld shock mounts onto the Explorer axle as well...unless you don't mind not having shocks in the back.

 

Swap works the same way for a 99 as a 94. You can do it with the bed on the truck but it will be much easier without it on there.

 

it will take too much work for me to get my bed off...also, what happens about the perches since I dont care bout stock height, its already 7.5 inches lifted...what will happen if I dont do the perches...do I HAVE to weld in order to do this swap?

 

takin a bed off isn't that hard if you have 2 people

 

Your choices are to bolt the axle on top of the springs as the Explorer axle is designed to do, or cut the perches off and weld new ones on top so that you can bolt it up under the axle like your axle is now. It sounds like you will need to weld new perches on.

Taking the time and effort to unbolt the fuel fill neck and the 6 bolts in the bed will save you a lot of time and effort later on.

 

Oh yea, and since you are a 4x4, you will need to make sure the gear ratio of that Explorer axle you found is the same as what you have now.

 

waiiiiiiit....does this mean, if I dont care bout welding the perches....my axle will sit UNDERNEATH the leaf springs? aka raising the back end???

 

Your axle already sits underneath the leaf springs. The Explorer axle will not sit under the leaf springs unless you flip the perches...aka likely incompatible with your lift and making your rear sit a whole lot closer to the ground than it is now.

EDIT: Well, incompatible if you have blocks on the back...

 

yes, to swap an explorer axle into a ranger, unless you are lowering the truck, you WILL need to weld new spring perches on top of the axle with the axle at the correct pinion angle so it can bolt up under the springs instead of over the spring like it is in the explorers. and you will also need to weld on shock mount tabs in the correct places to run shocks.

 

Sorry Im so dumb when it comes to this stuff and I keep asking dumb questions...Im tryin to learn...how easy is it to weld new spring perches on top of the axle with the axle at the correct pinion angle and how do I know when its at the right angle?

 

Go read here for a little while: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index.htm

These in particular should help you:
http://www.drivetrain.com/driveline_angle_problem.html
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...ngPerches.html
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...plorer8_8.html

 

I just got the new axle...eveything that I've read so far looks like its too much ****ing work...Im just gonna have to pay someone to install it...how ****in stupid...I dont have a welder or anything so **** it...maybe I'll get it done this weekend

 

I think you payed way too much for the axle, how much did it end up costing?

 

Probably should have read all that stuff before you spent money on the axle. Theres a reason that SSBC sells a rear-disc conversion for $1000.. its because their kit is alot easier than swapping an Explorer axle!

 

the axle was $350 even...I wanted the axle for the disk breaks yes..but the axle only has 50k miles...my current axle has 150k...

 

it's a used axle - how can they guarantee it only have 50K on it
if you are not doing the conversion yourself you should get your money back and go with the SSBC kit
after all the money paid to do the welding etc... you might be close to the kit price
a pair of brand new disks are worth a couple of hundred dollars alone

 

If your truck did not have rear disk brakes before, and you are now installing rear disks, then you need to either have the brake master cylinder recalibrated for the rear disks, or get and install the Explorer's master cylinder.

How does the "kit" mentioned address the recalibration?

 

if you buy the ssbc conversion kit do you still need to get the master cylinder redone

 

you dont have to change the master at all, there are many people running with the stock ranger master and an explorer rear. if the rear grabs too much and is too touchy you can easily install a proportioning valve into the rear line and dial the pressure down a little bit to it and get it exactly where you like it.

 

I want an expo axle soooo bad

 

guys...my axle with 150k miles on it is about to BLOW!!! whether or not the 50k is in perfect condition, I could bet my life on it that its better then what I have now! and I opened it up and it looked all nice and pretty inside lol...but oh well..its used..yes, but its better then the one I have now..