Hey everyone, I have a 90 Ranger with the 2.3L and a 5 speed. Last night my rear end locked up on me. I was told it was probably the pinion gear. I'm not that experienced with rear ends so I thought I would just get the whole rear end at a junk yard and replace it.

Can I get an 8.8" that directly bolts in? I would prefer something a little stronger.

Thanks

 

You sure can, find you a junked V-6 ranger, 3.0 maybe, the 4.0 for sure will be an 8.8. Also 4x4's are 8.8. I've seen 3.0's with both the 7.5 and 8.8, so double check if it's a 3.0 unless it's a 4x4 with a 3.0. Also with the 4 banger, your at least going to want 3:73 if not a 4:10 gear ratio. In the late 90's the 4:10 and 3:73 started being alot more common is ranger 4x4's. My 96 ranger 4x4 had 3:27, so from 97 and down you could get about any gear ratio in a 4x4. I had a 2000 and a 04 ranger 4x4's and they both had 4:10's.

 

I took another look at my truck last night. Lifted the rear and took the driveshaft off. When I grabbed the pinion shaft and started turning, it would turn maybe a quarter of a turn then lock up against something.

The axle code on the door was 84 which would be 3.45 ratio but there was no info on the axle. I understand a higher gear ratio will give me more power and torque but won't it also decrease my mpg? I don't really use the truck for serious truck work. Just occasionally hauling stuff in the bed. It has stock size tires - P195 75R 15 and no lift. Would switching to 4.10 really be helpful?


Thanks in advance!

 

The offset is well worth it on a 4 cylinder, with 3:27's or a gear like that will cause you to burn the clutch on take off, also will labor the engine in city driving trying to reach the power band constantly using more gas. The only time a high gear would save you money would be freeway driving. Even 3:45 is a bit high for a 4 cylinder. Ford starting putting 3:73's as the base gear with the 4:10's as an option in the 4 cylinder ranger to get better mpg believe it or not. Most people do a lot of city type driving and the engine is labored less with steeper gears like a 4:10. It would also help lowend torque if you were to be pulling something or even taking off with a heavy load. It will help your clutch to last longer as well. If you had a 250 hp V-8, you could easily run a 3:27 as the added hp will make up for the torque loss from the gears, but when you only have 120 hp, you need all the help you can get to get a 3,000 pound truck rolling, less labor on the engine and strain on the clutch. I hope it makes sense, as it's sorta hard to explain, but gears are a torque multiplier and a 4 cylinder lacks torqe as it is in the lower power band where you need it, the steeper gears will help in this area and will improve mpg unless you do all highway driving.

 

Well it's been busy the last couple of weeks but I did manage to get another rear end from the junkyard. The one I got was a 7.5 not an 8.8 like I was looking for. Plus the gears are the same as what my ranger has in it now. I would have liked to have gotten 4.10s but as it is, I will probably be looking for a new truck sometime next year anyways so this will work for now.

I did run into one problem. The flange on the new rear end is smaller than the flange on my old rear end. The driveshaft won't mate up to it. I'm thinking if I can find the truck I got this rear end out of I will get the flange of the driveshaft from that truck. Otherwise, what would I be looking at to replace the flange on the differential with my old one?


Thanks

 

You "can" swap the flanges from your old axle to the new one.
You just have to be a bit careful to get the nut on tight without overtightening it so much that you mash down on the crush sleeve.
I have done it to replace leaking pinion seals a number of times and never had a problem. But if you do do it you might as well replace the pinion seal while you have it exposed.
In any case make sure you clean up the area of the flange with some scotch brite pads or something like it where it contacts the seal and lightly coat it and the inner surface of the seal with some grease so it doesn't start off dry.


BTW replacing the 7.5" with the usual 8.8" rear only buys you a bigger set of gears. Virtually everything else inside both axles is interchangable in similar generation trucks. Even the axles and their end brearings are the same.
The only truely differnt 8.8" rear that's ever been installed in Rangers is the one that's installed in the newer (2000 and up) FX4 models. These are not the usual 28 spline axle units, but the bigger 31 spline that's usually used in the Explorers and lighter versions of the F series and E series trucks. But even that one shares the same pinion bearing sizes.