rear axle swap

[renegade1]

hey guys - i have a 99 explorer sport 2wd and the rear axle is (from what ive read on here) a ford 8.8 and looking at my door code i have 3.29 open dif. i wheel the truck a bit and while i dont have the money for a 4wdswap until after school, i was thinking for $150 i could get the rear axle from a 4door v8 from a junkyard. im pretty sure it would be no problem to find one with the 3.73 limited slip. i know its not a HUGE step in ratio but it might help pushing the 31s and with towing the camper - plus being only 2wd a limited slip would help ALOT!
so my questions
-will the axle from the 4door 2nd gen bolt up to my 99 sport no problem?
-will it make a huge difference in gas milage going from 3.29 to 3.73 (im now running 31x10.5s and the door sticker suggests 235x75r15)

any help/ suggestions/ information is appreciated! thanks guys

 

[tgreene92]

yes it will bolt right in as long as you get an 8.8 from a 2nd gen with disc brakes. You should also grab the leaf pack from the four door and use that in place of your stock mono-leaf setup, it will improve ride quality as well as give you a sturdier leaf setup for towing. as far as the gears, 3.73's would be the correct ratio to run with 31's, but if you can find an ex with 4.10 gears which also came stock in the explorer 8.8's id run those they'll help with towing and mpg's even more, The lower gears will help with gas mileage, will it make a huge difference, well that depends on what huge is to you. the only downside to the 4.10's is that you might lose some giddy up at higher speeds.

 

[renegade1]

thanx for the reply! i already have four dour leaf springs in her... not sure what they were thinking when they put monoleafs. mine would wrap like crazy and sagged almost flat. 4dr pack = much better. and im thinking ill be able to just take the brake calipers/lines on the truck and bolt them up onto the new axle no problem