Ranger or Explorer 8.8 for 1987 Ford Bronco II

[BlackWiddow]

My brother in law just bought a 1987 Bronco II with a bad ring and pinion and I am trying to find him a 8.8 from a Explorer or Ranger. The gear ratio is 3.73 in the front and needs to match for the rear. If you have a 8.8 or that will bolt up, post it up and give me a price. Would prefer it to be in the vicinity of Davis\Weber county area, but just depends on where you are.

 

[skiboarder]

An 8.8 will not bolt in. Explorers have a spring under. The Broncoii is a spring over. You will have to cut the old perches off and weld new ones on. It is easy to do. Plus you will have to do the shock mounts as well. The hardest will be doing the drive shaft. You will have to set up a new rear drive shaft. There is a way to do this with an existing explorer front and rear driveshaft. Or you can order a new one. Anything else that needs to be hooked up is easy.
Transwest by smith and edwards. has some explorers. Also a1 on 18th below washington has a good assortment.

 

[BlackWiddow]

Ok, so the explorers and rangers are spring under? hhhmmm did not know that....all the Bronco II forums Iv'e looked at said it was a direct swap. thank you for the info. Does anybody have a 7.5 with 3.73 then?

 

[skiboarder]

think the ranger are spring over. But they are not the 31 spline like the explorer.
of those places I mentioned have BroncoIIs. I am sure that there are a couple of them with 3.73s. Most people I know with ranger based vehicles (RBVs) have already done the swap. Those two places and ksl would be a good place to start. I does suck it's winter tough. I will check for one though with our group.

 

[TJDukit]

Rangers are spring over but the perches would still need to be moved.

 

[B2-Bomber]

i'll text my buddy rico and see if he still has his 7.5 diff for you widdow. if not i know another guy who could easily be swayed into doing an 8.8 swap on his, and see if he would just hurry and do it and see if he will get his 7.5" to you.

Anything else that needs to be hooked up is easy

not always, sean remember rico's 8.8 swap into his bII? the e-brake cables are nowhere near close to the same. either

to clarify the total B.S. that goes around the BII forums
when i did rico's 8.8 swap, i found these items need changing to swap an 8.8 into a bII
1) old spring perches cut off (you can't leave them on because the explorer springs were closer together so the under perch interferes with the U-bolt)
2) new u-bolts for the larger axle tube
3) new (or modified) u-bolt plate because the explorer had the lower shock mount in the plate, it hits the frame when installed on the top side
4) new driveshaft
5) new lower shock mounts welded on
6) new spring perches welded on
7) the e-brake cables are not the same, still haven't had a chance to work out how to connect them

so long story short do you want to do the exact same amount of work as swapping in a dana 60, just to have an 8.8 to show for it? if so the internet forums will point you in a direction on how to do it

the ironic thing is that the explorer Dana35 twin traction beam front diff literally is a direct bolt in, but the longer snout only needs the front d/s to be shortened 1", GRS shortened rico's for $38.00 out the door

 

[Gravy]

rangers will have 28 spline shafts and some even have the smaller ring (7.5") axle.
Unless you get a later ranger. Ford likes to mix it up.

Explorer is the way to go. Every one I've ever pulled was 4.10 or 3.73

You should be able to swap the backing plates to get the ebrake to work.

And a 60 is way more work: new wheels, new width, new ratio, new pinion yoke, etc....

 

[B2-Bomber]

a 60 is way more work: new wheels, new width, new ratio, new pinion yoke, etc....

obiviously I was exagerating a bit.

but regardless of all of that, it is not a "direct bolt-in" like the forums would have you believe

 

[skiboarder]

Forgot about rico's ebrake. Mine hooked up no problem. Mine is a 89 tough. I was going to do the same thing rob and ask rico and wade but, hadn't gotten to it yet. Rob is right. The BII forums have alot of BS going on. If you have any questions Rob or I have done alot of stuff to our broncos. I will speak for both of us. We would be happy to answer your questions without the BS on those forums.

 

[BlackWiddow]

Ok thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Skiboarder, my brother in law isn't too far away from you, just up 20'th above Harrison. He has looked at A-1 and found a 7.5 for 150, but just needs the help getting it out and in the new truck. Or if anybody knows how to setup a ring and pinion, if they had a spare set of 3.73's and would help, that would work also, the ring and pinion is just stripped. He isn't really the mechanically inclined type, he kinda knows how to do stuff, just doesn't want to sit in the snow and pull one from A-1. He has a xtra BII, just doesn't want to have to pull the rear out of it and it be a paperweight, wants to have both of them for emergency's. I just can't seem to get the time or gas money to get out there to help him.

 

[skiboarder]

I am hella busy right now. I should be slow in a couple of weeks. I will get in touch and we can see what I can do then.