Estimated cost to swap axles? (nothing special, stock)

[Daven]

Hey guys. As some of you know, i sold my ranger a while back to a family friend. Well its back up for sale as he never got to fixing it, but this time it has a parts truck to go with it. Only thing that was wrong with it in the first place was the rear spider gears. I dont have the cash, but my buddy needs a winter truck while his mustang is in storage, so he might pick the truck up and sell me it cheap in the spring. Damn cool if he does because i've wanted it back pretty much since i got rid of it lol.

Anyways, if he did buy the truck he would have ol' Rambo ('89) with the bad rear end, and the parts truck ('86) with the good rear end. So what do you guys think it would take/cost to swap the axles and be good to go again? What about shop charges incase we cant find a decent backyard guy?

Thanks guys

 

[06RangerXLT]

i did an axle swap with 2 jack stands, a floor jack and a socket set. Its very easy, and a direct bolt up. Cost if you do it, Free. there is no setup either, the leafs have pins the axle fits into.

if you cant do that yourself, stay away from anything mechanical! LOL

 

[Daven]

i did an axle swap with 2 jack stands, a floor jack and a socket set. Its very easy, and a direct bolt up. Cost if you do it, Free. there is no setup either, the leafs have pins the axle fits into.

if you cant do that yourself, stay away from anything mechanical! LOL

Lol im sure we could do it ourselves. But his car is in his garage, so we might not have a place to do it unless we do it in the snow But IF we had to get a mechanic to do it, how many hours would you think it would take them? lol

 

[Gotta_gofast]

It shouldn't take more than a few hours.... especially with a buddy. Hell, it wouldn't even be that big of a deal to do it in the snow.

And tell your pussy buddy to move the car out of the garage for an hour or two. lol

 

[brinker88]

I think you're all overlooking the fact that the rearend just needs spiders which is a 45 minute job if that...

Put axle on jack stands

remove diff cover

remove center pin

remove axles

remove spider gears

reinstall everything....

 

[Gotta_gofast]

I think you're all overlooking the fact that the rearend just needs spiders which is a 45 minute job if that...

Yes and no. What exactly happened to the spider gears? Chances are the spider gears are in more than one piece. I'd be worried that small shrapnel destroyed other components. BUT.... its worth a close inspection. If nothing else is damaged then go for it.

 

[Daven]

It shouldn't take more than a few hours.... especially with a buddy. Hell, it wouldn't even be that big of a deal to do it in the snow.

And tell your pussy buddy to move the car out of the garage for an hour or two. lol

Lol He cant dude! he has wide summer tires on the b!tch and tried getting it out once when it first snowed. He said as soon as he backed out into the snow he got stuck instantly lol. Took him and his buddy forever to get it back up the little incline to the garage

Yes and no. What exactly happened to the spider gears? Chances are the spider gears are in more than one piece. I'd be worried that small shrapnel destroyed other components. BUT.... its worth a close inspection. If nothing else is damaged then go for it.

Well idk for sure what killed it, but i have my suspisions. It was still drivable when i sold it, it was just slipping (Clunking) more and more as i drove. But not too long before that i had let another buddy of mine drive the truck and we were on the highway... He was gearing down to what he thought was 3rd... it wasnt. He put it in 1st doing 70km/h when i beleive the 1st gear redlined at just over 40km/h lol. And thinking back it seemed like it was skipping like that untill i realised what he had done and threw it out of gear. We had no idea what was happening, and i dont think he will be driving my next standard vehicle...He's probably the reason it crapped out on me... (different friend lol)

But since i have the complete parts truck, i figured it would be easier to just swap whole axles.. no? lol

 

[06RangerXLT]

yes. 2 hours max to swap axles. 2 ppl, in a driveway.

did mine by myself in 3 hours with a dif service and all new seals.

 

[Daven]

Ok. So what all would we need to do it ourselves? Between me and him, no previous experience lol. His dad might be able to help Haynes manual it? haha

 

[clvanhorn]

put jackstands under frame. take out driveshaft. unbolt brake line from axle. cut axle u-bolts off(you might be able to get the nuts off, but it would be really quick to cut them off with a whiz wheel). roll axle out of the way. enter new axle. reinstall. missing anything guys?

EDIT: don't forget to disconnect the ebrake cables and shocks, but that should be pretty easy/obvious.

 

[bobbywalter]

put jackstands under frame. take out driveshaft. unbolt brake line from axle. cut axle u-bolts off(you might be able to get the nuts off, but it would be really quick to cut them off with a whiz wheel). roll axle out of the way. enter new axle. reinstall. missing anything guys?

EDIT: don't forget to disconnect the ebrake cables and shocks, but that should be pretty easy/obvious.

this guy is just like me.....save for this question.....do you want rear brakes??....


in my end of the rust belt, those vintage rigs will need new line from the rubber to the wheel cylinders and wheel cylinders because the bleeders will be grown into them.

thats if the drums dont die upon removal attempts.

then you really need to look at the driveshaft flanges and size type.


likely a 1210 on the older truck and 1310 on the later truck..

several ways to deal with that.

 

[91ranger4x4]

I Agree with bobbywalter, brakelines suck if you live anywhere near the rustbelt. had a popped line on my 91, never fails in between frame and gas tank. turned in to 2 wheel cylinders, and the driverside line on the axle.