axles pro and cons?? needing tips

[danger132ranger]

First off new to this site, but liking it a lot so far it helped me figure a lot of stuff out. I drive a 96 ranger xlt exta cap 4.0 auto sadly with a 6in rough country lift and 33x12.5x 15 pro comp rims. My question now is about good axles and there pros and cons and tips to build them, here is a list of ones i got so far.
90s cherokee front and rear- plan on sas the front to my ranger.
and i picked up a rear 7.5 with 4.10 limited slip off a buddy.
I know the 8.8 i have is much stronger but its open diff, could i swap the limited slip parts from the 7.5 in to the 8.8?? or could it swap into my ttb axle up front??
I do lots of types of wheeling from hill climbing to trail riding and i also daily drive the truck as well.

Any advise will help Thanks

 

[4x4junkie]

Are you looking at moving to bigger tires like 37s or something? I ask because your stock D35 & 8.8" is generally good for 35s (and you're only at 33s). Cherokee stuff is a huge step backward, especially given the heavier weight of your Ranger.

To answer your limited slip question, no, the L/S parts are not interchangeable between a 7.5" and your 8.8" diff (same goes for the D35 front axle).

 

[danger132ranger]

i want to go to 35s, but mostly i want the solid axle in the front with a locker and a limited slip in the rear, just was wondering if the parts would interchange since the 7.5 is a ford axle, but kinda figured it wouldnt tho.

 

[kryptonitecb]

The 7.5 won't interchange with an 8.8. And a d30 from a jeep is weaker than a ttb d35. If you want a step up I would recommend a d44 or go all the way with a d60.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Why, may I ask, are you so set on doing a straight axle in the front?

 

[danger132ranger]

couple reasons, one the area i go play in with my truck is mostly mud pits and trails, and i think it be a better fit for the truck. and two the TTB i have now hasnt let me down yet besides wheel bearing but it is eatting up my tires pretty bad and i havent found a cheap way to fix it yet. lol and doesnt let the truck flex all that well.

any one know what 99 explorer front end gears can fit into??
like dana 35 TTB?

 

[railman]

any one know what 99 explorer front end gears can fit into??
like dana 35 TTB?

a Mountanier or 98 plus Ranger...

Ford changed to a low pinion when they went SLA....so the gears are not interchangeable with a TTB truck....

as stated earlier, stick with the 8.8 in the rear....instead of an L/S, why not go with a lunch box locker???

as for the D30 up front....goin to 35's and a front locker is begging for trouble...

as said before, skip the D30 if you just have to SAS and goto a D44 or a D60...

l8r, John

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

any one know what 99 explorer front end gears can fit into??
like dana 35 TTB?

The SLA D35 (98+ Ranger, 95+ Explorer) is different than the TTB, gears will not interchange.

Personally I would love to ditch the TTB for a solid as well. No more constantly varying alignment mud plow... since it takes a fair amount of doing I doubt I will get to that for awhile if ever though.

I know a couple guys on here that have went to a Jeep D30 and they seem to be happy with it. I do agree the Jeep rear would be a step in the wrong direction though, I would rather go with an Explorer 8.8 if I was in a swapping mood. Even the Jeep guys are swapping them in.

 

[cdawall]

You would be surprised at the strength of a D30. It uses reasonably strong shafts and the same 297x (760x) joints as the D35 TTB and D44. That is the normal weak point of all the axles. Plenty of 35's locked on D30's floating around. Heck I wheel with 3 different guys on D30's locked on 36's. I have only seen one break and he blew the ujoint.


I know all the horror stories. Built D30's blowing up ring gears on 36/37's. Shit happens most of those fails would have blown something else on D44 or D35TTB.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I wheel with a guy that had a Commanche with 36" SX's on it with a lunchbox locker in it. I was running 36" SX's with a lunchbox on my D35. He was constantly blowing up U joints which was killing axles. I never had any of these issues.

 

[cdawall]

I wheel with a guy that had a Commanche with 36" SX's on it with a lunchbox locker in it. I was running 36" SX's with a lunchbox on my D35. He was constantly blowing up U joints which was killing axles. I never had any of these issues.

That is an advantage to TTB's. I would bet a D44 solid axle would have done the same thing since he blew ujoints. Its also possible he hadn't welded the caps or modded full circle caps to fit that's a common fail point of D30s.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Its also possible he hadn't welded the caps or modded full circle caps to fit that's a common fail point of D30s.

And TTB D35s.

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/May06/dana35_ujoint_snapring.htm

 

[cdawall]

And TTB D35s.

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/May06/dana35_ujoint_snapring.htm

Yep it is also commonly known fact that TTB shafts tend to last longer than a similar solid axle shaft.

 

[4x4junkie]

couple reasons, one the area i go play in with my truck is mostly mud pits and trails, and i think it be a better fit for the truck. and two the TTB i have now hasnt let me down yet besides wheel bearing but it is eatting up my tires pretty bad and i havent found a cheap way to fix it yet. lol and doesnt let the truck flex all that well.

Read here
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm

Here
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Fall2003/MaximumFlexForTheTTB.htm

and here.
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29


Should be able to solve your tire & flex issues, no SAS needed.
Bearing issues in most cases can be solved by using Timken brand bearings (accept no substitutes) and proper preloading (15 inch-lbs on the inner nut, no more, no less).

Yep it is also commonly known fact that TTB shafts tend to last longer than a similar solid axle shaft.

I never heard of this... Structurally they're exactly the same. What would make the TTB shaft last longer?

 

[cdawall]

I never heard of this... Structurally they're exactly the same. What would make the TTB shaft last longer?

Something I have heard on various go arounds on pirate 4x4. The only reasoning I can honestly think that would cause the shafts to last is a TTB removes housing flex. You can watch a D30 longside tube bend when the vehicle is flexing.