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By
Jim Allen
(From
Off-Road Adventures
Magazine)
Taking
a ’96 Ford Ranger From Bone Stock to Trail Brawler
We
complete the Ranger’s drivetrain improvements in this installment by
performing a rear axle swap and updating the front hubs. Last time, we
finished up the gear swaps and locker installs This time, we want to show
how the similar-but-not-the-same Explorer axle was installed and show the
brick-simple addition of manual Warn hubs for strength and reliability.
At
purchase, one of the Ranger’s original automatic hubs was inop... a
common occurrence for hi-miler Rangers. Warn’s hub conversion kit
eliminates these weak and troublesome automatic hubs. The kit is fairly
inexpensive and easy to install. According to Jim Oaks and many other
Ranger experts, the automatic hubs are a serious liability on TTB Rangers
and their replacement is close to “Job One” for a trail buildup at any
level. Not all Rangers came with the automatic hubs, usually those with
the electrically actuated transfer cases.
The
late TTB Rangers (’90-97) with 4.0L engines use an 8.8-inch rear axle,
which sounds gnarly for a compact truck, but in fact it’s the wimpy
version with 28-spline axle shafts and drum brakes. The shafts are no
bigger than the 7.5-inch Ford axle used behind smaller engines. The
28-spline 8.8 unit holds up OK with tires up to 33 inches, but offers
almost no strength reserve in hard work situations. The general swap tips
you will see could apply to replacing a 7.5-inch Ford with an Explorer
axle.
It’s
possible to upgrade to 31 spline shafts in the old housing by changing the
necessary internal diff parts (31-spline side gears or a 31-spline locker)
and ordering custom shafts. Still, many owners find the swap route a more
cost effective choice and use complete ’95-01 Explorer rear axles, which
are common and cheap. These units come with disc brakes, have larger axle
tubes (3.25 vs 3.0-inches) and 31-spline shafts. The other advantage is
that, because of the disc brakes, the dangers of losing a wheel if the
axle shaft breaks is reduced. How?
All
8.8s use c-clip axle shafts. On the drum version, should you break a
shaft, the wheel, brake drum and shaft will simply slide out of the tube.
The truck is virtually immobile at that point. The caliper and brake rotor
on the disc brake axle will keep the shaft from sliding out. No, you
can’t drive it home at 70 mph, but at least you can slowly move the rig
to a better location for repairs, or onto a trailer.
Oaks
scrounged up a ’95 Explorer rear axle, did the prep work and his master
welder buddy “Ozzy” Osborne assisted in torching off the old mounting
brackets, and welding the new spring perches and shock mounts onto the 8.8
housing for the swap. The driveshaft required no changes. The e-brake
cables will require changes, but in our case, Oaks opted for a hydraulic
line lock, so we can’t detail that for you, but other owners have
adapted the Explorer cables to the Ranger and Lokar Performance Products
has universal cables.
In
most cases where rear drums are changed to discs, the master cylinder
should be changed to an Explorer disc brake unit. According to Oaks, the
exception is when the Ranger has rear ABS brakes. In the case of rear ABS,
the master cylinders are the same. Our Ranger was set because it had rear
ABS.
As
a final touch, Oaks added the TRS heavy duty diff cover to the package.
This cover is made of 1/4 inch plate and was designed by Ranger
enthusiasts for Ranger enthusiasts.
Buy
Warn Hubs from www.4wheelparts.com.
Warn
Manual Hub Install
Tools
Required:
Wrench
Rating:
Ratings
Explanation
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1.
The old and the new. The hub comes separate from the spindle nut kit.
You can buy the nuts and washer from Ford also or from Warn. These are
the same parts as used on the Dana 35 trucks with manual hubs.
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2.
Remove all the old hub parts to the outer bearing. You will need a
2-3/8 inch spindle nut wrench to remove the old nut. Now is probably a
good time to clean and repack the wheel bearings and replace the hub
seal. In our case, new brake rotors were installed.
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3.
Install the inner nut (the one with the guide pin). These nuts require
a four-prong spanner type spindle nut wrench. Tighten the nut to 35
lbs-ft while rotating the hub to seat the bearing. Back the nut off 90
degrees (about 1/4-turn).
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2.
Remove all the old hub parts to the outer bearing. You will need a
2-3/8 inch spindle nut wrench to remove the old nut. Now is probably a
good time to clean and repack the wheel bearings and replace the hub
seal. In our case, new brake rotors were installed.
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3.
Install the inner nut (the one with the guide pin). These nuts require
a four-prong spanner type spindle nut wrench. Tighten the nut to 35
lbs-ft while rotating the hub to seat the bearing. Back the nut off 90
degrees (about 1/4-turn).
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4.
Install the lockwasher. The slotted part engages in the spindle and
the guide pin should engage in one of the holes. If not, try flipping
it over. If still a no-go, you may slightly tighten the nut enough
until the pin engages a hole.
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5.
Install the outer locknut and torque it to 85-135 lbs-ft.
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6.
You will need to reinstall the thrust washer and c-clip from the
automatic hub.
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7.
Install the new hub by slipping it over the wheel studs. The wheel
holds the hub on. You’re done!
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Explorer
Rear Axle Swap
Tools
Required:
Wrench
Rating:
Ratings
Explanation
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1.
There’s a 20-25 percent difference in strength between this Explorer
8.8 and the Ranger 8.8. The bigger 31-spline axle accounts for most of
that, but the 3.25-inch tubes also help. The disc brakes are an
overall vehicle enhancement. The TRS cover eliminates worries of the
thin stock cover getting punched, plus it holds an extra quart of oil
for cooling.
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2.
Here’s the at-home method of dropping and installing an axle. After
supporting the vehicle with stands and letting the axle hang, use two
floor jacks as shown to hold the unit up as you unzip all the
attachments. Start with things like cables and hoses, etc., ending up
with the u-bolts.
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3.
The Explorer axle mounts with the springs under the axle and the
Ranger mounts in spring over configuration. The shocks also mount in
different locations. After torching or cutting off all unnecessary
brackets, Oaks uses a grinder to clean off the area where the new
spring perch will be welded to the tube.
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4.
The Explorer’s perch to perch distance was the same as the
Ranger’s, but the new perch needed to mount on the opposite side of
the tube. Oaks left the old perch in place. Setting the pinion angle
is vital to getting a vibration-free driveshaft. There are two ways to
do this. If you know the correct angle (in this case 6 degrees, i.e.
the pinion was angled up six degrees from the level of the spring
perch), you can level the pinion and simply set the perch at six
degrees using a dial protractor (cheap and available at Sears or other
tool stores) and weld it into place. The other way is to actually
install the axle with the perches loose and the u-bolts not fully
tightened. Center the axle on the springs, hook up the driveshaft,
rotate the axle inside the u-bolts until you get the right driveshaft
and pinion angles, tack-weld the perches in place then remove the axle
to do the final welds. This latter method also works with determining
shock mount locations.
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5.
Welding the perches and the shock mounts must be carefully done so as
not to overheat the tube and possibly distort it. The best way to do
that is to weld about an inch at a time, let it cool then weld another
inch on the opposite side and let it cool again. Repeat this until you
have it fully welded.
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6.
The new axle bolts up just like the old one, though you will need new
3.25 u-bolts and spring plates to replace the Explorer’s 3-inch
pieces. The shock mounts were welded on after the axle was installed
so as to get the correct position. The brakes were installed after the
axle was installed using new or rebuilt parts from a local auto parts
store.
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Sources
Check
Out:
Check
Out Off-Road
Adventures Magazine.
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