Rear end from V8 Explorer
 

Has anyone put a rear end from a V8 Explorer into one with a V6?

Hollander Interchange says the V8 and V6 rear ends are not interchangeable. The axle shafts and the pinion yokes are the same part numbers regardless of engine size. A search on the internet reveals lots of hits on Jeep (can I say that word here?) forums where they use either, but they're modifying the rear end anyway. I didn't turn up anything on the Explorer forums where someone had actually done it, only some who said it "should" work. I plan to retain the backing plate and caliper bracket in case that is different between the two, but I can't imagine it is.

The only difference that I can tell from the shop manual is the "wind-up" bar is used with the V8 but not on the V6. So, if that's the case, the V8 rear end should work on a V6 but a V6 rear end won't work on a V8 application. I would have thought that Hollander Interchange would have mentioned this one-way interchangeability.

The reason I ask this is because the junkyard I prefer to work with has only two V8 Explorers in the lot. They are a local junkyard and their prices and policies are much better than the other national chain junkyards nearby.

There's at least two V6 Explorer rear ends sitting at my local yard. Yank-A-Part in Poulsbo, they have decent prices and good service.

Thanks. I'll keep them in mind. It looks like they have a pretty big yard.

They actually have a very nice yard, I have done quite a bit of business with them and plan to do more.

Being you mentioned the traction bar i can assume this is a solid rear axle. No difference between the 6 or 8 cylinders that I know of.

I ended up going somewhere else that had a lot more selection and didn't have to ponder the differences between V6 and V8. Plenty of V6 models to choose from, which was good. Of the dozen I looked at, only one or two were worth the effort of pulling and bringing home. A couple high milers out there (220k+ miles) and plenty with leaky axle seals and/or worn axle bearings. One even had rear discs that were worn down to less than 1/8 inch thick. Pretty obvious that the owner just slapped on new brake pads and didn't want to spend money on rotors. It further confirmed my suspicion that most people don't bother to properly maintain their vehicles.

i've gone the opposite way and put a 4:10 V6 axle into a V8 without issue. drive shaft bolted up and it woke the 5.0 up a little.

there is no difference between the 6 or 8 cylinders that I know of. There is different ratios!

actually the V8's have traction bars that the V6's don't

For my own education, is there one traction bar on each side of the axle or just one traction bar?

Did you notice any difference without the traction bar?

I have two 2005 Ford Explorers one is a V8 the other a V6 I have overhauled the rear end of both of them. The rear end of both connect to the body with large bolts (or the gear box & first shafts) at this point I have been unable to locate a traction bar connected to the gear box of the V6 or V8, I also have a 2002 V8 Explorer and this gearbox looks the same as both 05's. There is a stabilizer bar on all 3 as well you can get a complete axial assembly from Autozone for a very low price if you feel you need any of those parts.
So the long and short of this confusion boils down to a couple of items it takes the same parts (numbers) to overhaul a V6 or V8 Explorer 02 to 05. So you guess are the V6 and V8 gearbox the same or different?

one on each side and no, i noticed no difference without on my V8.

this is for 96-01 second gens only.