soa made easy?

[hllywud662]

just a thought, but wouldnt it be easier to swap a complet ranger axle under a first gen ex than to do a spring over??? would the spring perches etc be in the proper location??? anyone done/tried this??? have decided in the best interest of my wallet to add a 3" bl and remove/motivate any sheetmetal that disagrees with my 33x12.5s.... want to save some money for 4.56s... the 4.0 needs some help as its not the v8 im used to in my 93 f150.... gettin the crazy idea to scrap the truck and shove the motor in the lil ex after a 347 stroker treatment....

 

[FROADER]

Ranger axles are weaker with their 27 spline shafts compared to the Explorer's 31 spline.

 

[Tbars4]

...If you click on the "How to" in my signature you will find a good thread on SOA...

...A ranger axle is shorter than an Explorer axle and no, the perches do not line up...Some of the Ranger axles are only 7.5 compared to the 8.8 which is stock in the Explorer...

..As far as your motor swap and power...Do you know what gears are in your X???...and, you might want to put in your budget a tranny swap if you have the A4ld and you are wanting to put more power in front of it...

 

[hllywud662]

should be able to fill the ranger axle with the ex's internals shouldnt i? plan to eventually put some built 44s under it, but the ranger axles are dime a dozen round here... i have found ranger rear axles for $50... just a thought

 

[hllywud662]

it has 3.73s at the moment. if i do drop the ol 302 in, i'll attempt to put the aode in as well, but the not so calibrated eye tells me the tranny tunnel will need massive work to make room...

 

[FROADER]

As tbars mentioned above, the ranger perches don't line up, so you'll be welding perches on anyway, so why not use the stock stronger axle? The Ranger axle swap isn't an "SOA made easy."

 

[Tbars4]

...My best suggestion would be to do a search on 302 swaps and read up...

...Swapping Explorer axle parts into a Ranger rear end won't work due to sizing differences...

...There is always a reason for used axles to be a dime a dozen, they are the ones that aren't in demand...You might want to find a second gen Explorer axle that has disc brakes and SOA it...

 

[hllywud662]

thanks guys. i'm in the market for a 3" bl... they seem to be goin for bout $150... if anyone has a used one, i'm all bout savin some money...

 

[ford8.8]

should be able to fill the ranger axle with the ex's internals shouldnt i? plan to eventually put some built 44s under it, but the ranger axles are dime a dozen round here... i have found ranger rear axles for $50... just a thought

8.8 is as strong or stronger than a 44

 

[rustbucketMI]

i have an old GM 10 bolt if you want. Not nearly as strong as the 8.8 but if you break it you dont have to worry about it being expensive.

 

[ford8.8]

what kind of 8.8 does an f150 have i know it won't match up to the explorer but j/w.

 

[Tbars4]

...This should cover everything needed to know about an Ford 8.8 rear end..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2114813#post2114813

 

[94Jo]

I could have swore someone swapped a ranger and navajo rear axles directly. The ranger wanted a drop and the mazda wanted a lift and they swapped them in a few hours, just needed new shock mounts. Hopefully someone knows what im talking about, i will try to find the thread.

EDIT: here it is http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226739&highlight=navajo+ranger

 

[Riddle_Rob]

Yep. My ranger is sportin an Explorer rear end. Everything bolted up without any troubles. It is 1.5" wider then my ranger 7.5" but it's ok. Goin backwards though... I wouldn't do it.