1999 Explorer Sport Rear Axle? Wth is it!? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1999 Explorer Sport Rear Axle? Wth is it!?

Aidans99EXSport

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January 26, 2011
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City, State
Rochester Hills Michigan
Year, Model & Trim Level
1999 Explorer Sport
I've read a few places stating that almost all rangers and explorers were equip with an 8.8 Ford Axle, yet Wikipedia only states that the first generation explorer was equip with them, giving absolutely no information about the following 4 generations to come. I have a 1999 Explorer Sport 4wd 4.0L V6 SOHC, and if i have this 8.8 axle, it essentially saves me a ton of hassle being that I won't have to swap the rear axle to support 35 inch tires and spacers.. Supposedly its a slight step up from the dana 44 on the jeeps, so i assume it could take a decent beating off the road? Just wondering, although mine has been frozen in ice for about 4 days hahaha, so i'm not sure mines in the worlds best condition at this point but hey. Go hard till it breaks right?


Thanks
 



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Yes you have a 31 spline ford 8.8 in the rear, and a dana 35 in the front. The 8.8 will handle 35's with no problems, but you will be pushing the limits of the dana 35. They will put up with them but you'll be replacing ball joints, hubs, and cv axles on a regular basis. To figure out what gears are in it now you can look for the axle code on the drivers door sticker and compare it to the chart linked below.

http://www.explorerforum.com/ntrprize/Axle.htm
 






Thanks a ton, after posting this i actually found a chart: http://coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml

dunno if it will be useful to anybody else but i decided to get off my ass and look. Yes! I see now i have the 8.8! Fantastic. Couldn't get a very good picture of the front one though, due to the fact its 3am and snowing heavily outside haha, so thanks for the help on the front. Since your saying the front won't handle 35's very well it seems evident I'll be forced to SAS :( Any suggestions on what to swap it out for?

Thanks much
 


















Actually. Not trying to prove you wrong by any means, but I've continued to read, and saw that Wikipedia states:

Four-wheel drive front axles were the TTB ("Twin Traction Beam") Dana 35 with some Dana 44-spec components.

Leading me to believe its a bit stronger then a 35. That chart i posted earlier, states this:

DANA 44-IF
The Ford-version Dana 44 Twin-Traction-Beam setup is similar to other 44s (ring gear diameters are identical), but there are no axle tubes and the "cover" is actually the suspension arm. It's standard in the front of any TTB-equipped Ford except the 1987 and newer F-250HD, which uses a Dana 50.

Above wiki states that 4wd explorers are equipped with the TTB setup, and this chart says the Dana44IF is standard on the front of any TTB equipped ford.

Stronger then a 35 maybe?
 






The 91-94 explorers were equipped with a dana 35 TTB, and the bronco II's before them were equipped with a dana 28TTB, not all ford TTB setups were dana 44's. My guess is that wiki was talking about the full size trucks. Your 99 explorer is not TTB, it's a more traditional IFS setup with a dana 35 center section and cv axles.
 






Ahhhhh shoot :/ Alright well thank you for the clarification! I guess I'm just trying my best to avoid the SAS at all costs, seeing as neither myself nor my friends know anything about welding or fabrication which seems to be a fairly large part of the SAS process. From the looks of that forum you sent me to earlier, there is a lot more work involved in putting a stronger axle in the front instead of just, pulling mine out, and replacing it with a stronger axle. I'm now starting to see why I was discouraged from trying down this road with an Explorer and not a Jeep.... :/
 






https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=244912

https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254004

i posted these links for you to look through as both of the above run 35 inch tires, but both achieved this in different ways,
The first one is done with the body lift and tt and lift springs,.plus coilovers (which you do not have to do),
The second one has a Superlift 4 inch lift kit , plus tt and shackles, (also with coilovers, again , not necessary),,


As stated 35's are on the upper edge of what can be run with the D35 front , but also take into mind that both of them are regeared to work with the larger tires,,,
 






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