Supersonic Spiders

[gmanpaint]

I am pretty sure that those year Rangers are TTB gears as the Mounty runs standard C/V gears. Also, they might be smaller spline axles. I am not 100% but I think the Rangers didn't go to 28 & 31 splines until they went C/V IFS.

There are stock 2nd gen Ex's with 4.10 gears for an axle swap.

 

[albi1cnobi1]

The 4wd Rangers ran TTB front suspension up to 97. From 98 until 2010 they ran the same front suspension as the Ex's and Mounty's (torsion bars and CV axles), with the exception being 98,99, and 00 having PVM locking hubs. In 2001 Ford switched the Ranger to the same live axle setup as the Explorer. In those years(98,99,00) the only difference is the hub/bearing assembly is not splined like ours and the CV axle is splined on the end where the nut would be on ours. All parts are a direct bolt in to the 2nd gen Ex's and Mounty's.

 

[TBMounty50]

I did some checking and 92-98 Rangers had the 4.10 option.

Thanks, That would leave me with only a '98 axle to search for, slim chance it would be geared with 4.10's. Oh well, I already located three 4.10 2nd gen front diffs in the yard. I'll pull one of those, then axles and hubs from a Ranger, put it all together and they'll never know the difference. Glad you turned me on to these hubs! Sucks though cause I recently replaced both of my hub assemblies.

 

[TBMounty50]

I was just looking at the Ranger style hubs, What about the pre-load on the bearing? I didn't see any kind of nut to retain the shaft or apply pre-load. I was under the assumption that the bearing would come apart without this.

 

[albi1cnobi1]

The bearing is self contained, but there is a retainer clip ring to hold the axle shaft in the bearing. The retainers are a single use part, they are useless after you remove them. So you wont be able to re-use the ones you pull from the yard. I have the Ford part numbers at home I'll post them later, they're about $18-20 apiece.

 

[TBMounty50]

I just thought the bearings needed some sort of support to keep them together. I was basing this on the high torque spec on the axle nut for the 2nd gen.

 

[albi1cnobi1]

These bearings are kind of a large version of a rear axle bearing. Meaning that they require no preload or external "capture" by a nut and washer. They are self contained in the hub assembly. The only thing the axle retainer does is keep the CV shaft from backing out of the hub and bearing. I would also recommend replacing the axle shaft seals on the diff while you're in there. I tried to cheat and it cost me a trip back in later. That also meant another $18 retainer clip. I always tell myself do it right the first time but I looked at the seal and said "Oh it looks fine, it'll be good." Wrong answer, it came back to bite me about a month later in the form of a leak at the diff seal. Just some hard learned wisdom.

 

[TBMounty50]

These bearings are kind of a large version of a rear axle bearing. Meaning that they require no preload or external "capture" by a nut and washer. They are self contained in the hub assembly. The only thing the axle retainer does is keep the CV shaft from backing out of the hub and bearing. I would also recommend replacing the axle shaft seals on the diff while you're in there. I tried to cheat and it cost me a trip back in later. That also meant another $18 retainer clip. I always tell myself do it right the first time but I looked at the seal and said "Oh it looks fine, it'll be good." Wrong answer, it came back to bite me about a month later in the form of a leak at the diff seal. Just some hard learned wisdom.

I know what you mean! I had to replace one already and I'll definately replace them while the housing is out, much easier.