Ok. Here's what I'm workin with. I've got a 4x4 1988 Bronco II with a 2.9L V6 taken and rebuilt from a 1989 Ranger and manual locking hubs on the front axle to get the 4WD going...the transmission is an A4LD with CV joint style driveshaft for the rear axle and a U joint style driveshaft for the front axle coming from the transfer case. My front axle is a Dana 28 with 3.73 gears. My rear axle is a 7.5" with 3.73 gears. I've got 28" tires on the truck now.

I'm wanting to upgrade to a 4.5" Superlift suspesion lift and add 31" tires. Nothing too over the top, but just enough for me. Now, when I add this lift and these big tires, I want to make sure that my 2.9 will be able to push em, but I don't want to work it to death, ya know. I'm wanting to upgrade to both front and rear axles geared at 4.10. NOTE: I've always been the engine-kind-of-guy. I've never worked with axles and differentials and such. I've always kept my head under the hood, so this stuff is like foreign language to me...

I've got 3 questions. 1 concerning my front axle, 1 concerning my rear axle, and the other concerning things in general:

1) FRONT AXLE: I know I've got to get rid of this 3.73 Dana 28, but what kind of Dana has it geared to 4.10? I don't really wanna regear; just swap...now I still want the manual locking hubs to kick in the 4WD. I don't know how I'll be able to find an axle with these manual hubs that will still do the same as my originals, so any suggestions about this particular subject are greatly welcomed...

2) REAR AXLE: I don't know if these rear axles have a name because the only thing I could find on them are the sizes, like 7.5 and 8.8. If there are names, please let me know what they are. But in place of my 3.73 geared 7.5", what size rear axle geared at 4.10 will work?

3) GENERAL QUESTION: Ok. Once I get the answers to the top questions, I'll be hitting the road looking for them. But my concern is finding axles that will interchange with my original ones. Which vehicles will I be able to find those 2 axles from that will interchange perfectly with and what years of the vehicles do I need to look for? I'm looking to customize as little as possible, so if there are any other vehicles (besides a Ranger) that I can pull these other axles from, please let me know...please keep in mind of my manual locking hubs situation, too!

If you can break it all down into layman's terms, that would be like the most awesome thing in the world you could do for me...lol :P

I appreciate everyone's help!

In His Name,
~Allen

 

sent you a PM with a link to a good website full of information on the Bronco II on axle swaps, gears, mods and all that good stuff.

 

As for the stock axle..it's going to be a 7.5. The 3:73 gears you have are fine to run 31's with very little power loss. It's when you go bigger with 33's that you would need to consider regearing for power loss.
I have 4 inch suspension lift, 3 inch body lift on mine running 35x12.50x15 BFG MT/s on mine with 4:10 gearing. I 've been running it offroad regularly for 3 years now with no major problems. The motor in these trucks produces just enough HP and torque to make it a nice offroad truck. The key here is to be LIGHT ON THE PEDAL and things wont snap. Of course that's a different story if you are into romping thru mud holes...then you need to be heavier on the pedal and need to consider different axles.
Direct bolt in axles can be found in the Ford Explorers..early 90's model. They came with the 8.8 rear and dana 35 front. Or if you want to do some heavy modifications..you can swap out that front TTB for a solid axle.
So it all depends on what your overall use of the truck is going to be as far as how deep into mods you want to get.
here is a pic of my truck on the trails..
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Fi/jeffBII.jpg

 

ok..tired of typing and my post not showing up..

Check out the Ranger Station ..

they have all the info you need in the Tech Libary section.

 

Thanks, man. That really helped out a lot.

Ok. So the front Dana 35 and the rear 8.8" from the early model Explorers are BOTH geared to 4.10?

 

...and does the front Dana 35 from those early Explorers have the manual locking hubs?

 

you have to get the axle ratio off the tag to make sure it has the gears you need, just cause its a dana 35 doesnt mean it has a 4.10 ratio. in the little trucks and suvs they used everything from a 308,345,373,410 in the rear. even if its auto locker, you can make it a manuel, just take everything down to the spindle, put all the manuel parts on, (the nuts,thrust bearing, hub etc) and you have a manuel locking assymbly. the first thing i would up grade out of all it is the rear drive shaft, i would either find one that uses universal or have one make, you will grow to loathe the cvc shaft after it breaks a few times. also being the bII has such a short wheel base, make sure you re-pitch the rear pinion angle a bit so it dont bind up as bad. the 2.9 is more than enough to turn the 31's over, your other weakest link will be the a4ld, as these are not fords best automatics on anything, if you want to keep it auto i would try to get a c4 out of a 84-85 bII or ranger. there are some c5 on these trucks as well, they are a c4 with a lock-up torque converter, but if a c4 can handle a 5.0 or bigger, it can take anything the 2.9 throws at it.

 

Thanks frankenbroncoII! That was some helpful info! I really appreciate it very much!

So are there any other Ford models that have front Dana 35 or 44 and rear 8.8" axles that are direct bolt ons for the '88 BII?

 

the only thing i know that used the dana 35 front is the 89-90 BII,90 on rangers, and explorers, but be on the look out, not all these use the dana 35, some are really dana 28s on dana 35 housings. the biggest way to tell what you have is look at the back side of the pumpkin, if its all smooth its a 28, if it has fins its a 35, also the bolt pattern for the pumpkin is different, i wan to say one is a 10 bolt the other is a 12. most of the 4 cyl rangers still use the 7.5 rear even today, the 3.0,4.0 rangers generally tend to have 8.8. the explorers all have 8.8 that i know of but they are sring under axle, to use these you will have to cut the existing spring perches off and relocate to the top, as well as add shock mounts, also the exploror axle is a lil bit wider than ranger/bII axle. also the exploror uses 31 spline axle like the F-150 as the ranger/BII uses 28 sline axles. though some BIIs did come with 8.8 (89-90) most of which only came with 7.5 rears, though the 7.5 will hold up to a 33" tire with lil problems (just a side note the dana 35 is a 7.5 reverse cut ring and pinion) but the dana 35 uses 28 spline axles and is 1/8 in thicker in the shaft, and uses the same u-joints the dana 44 does, it can easily run 33 if you wanted. the dana 28 is a 22 sline axle and uses small u-joints and i wouldnt put anything bigger than a 31 on it. my cousin had an 84 BII with 3 inches of lift and ran 33x12.50 on it and broke the front axle 3 times. the dana 35 are still plentiful at the bone yard and are for the most part a direct replacement. the only draw back the dana has is the radious arms, mosty the shock mount, the dana 28 has a rap-around design where the shock sits in a pocket, the dana 35 just uses a stud. if you dig around on past threads, there is one that talks about a replacement part that advance auto sells the fixes this, unless the lift kit you buy comes with extended arms which fixes the whole problem, also if you run a wide tire, get an offset rim or you will rub the radious arms. though you made have to trim the fender just a bit.

 

yeah..you have to check the tag for the gearing info.. don't think 4:10 gears are a common find..unless it might have had a towing package?

 

Thank ya'll so very much. I've got a lot of help!