Rear swap

[HuskerBII]

I have a '86 XLT w a 7.5" and 3.73's..I just tore it up last weekend and am looking to swap for a 8.8"...I have one from a mustang, but it's a 4-Lug and has 3.28 gears, and the shock mounts are different.

Should I just look for an Explorer 8.8 that's 28 spline with 3.73 gear's or modify the Mustang rear?

-Newbie

[DBrown]

I think it goes with out saying that you are going to have to alter the housing, swap over to 5 lug, and change the gear.....is the rear disk breaks? 31 spline?

if you got the rear for free or had it laying around and had all the junk to make it work then I would say use it. if you have to go and buy shafts, gears, and metal to fab all the stuff together I would look at other options before you jump. if you up grade to the 8.8 you might want to think about getting a FS 8.8 so if you decide to sawp in the SA D44 later the lug paterns will match. I'm a big fan of the 9" also, and you would put the same amount of effort into that swap as what you are looking at for the 8.8. if you are really unsure about what you want to do I would go and grab a junk yard 7.5 with the same gears and run it......you should be able to find one for like $50....its not like anyone thinks their gold or anything. then you have some time to really think and build for the long run.

[ranger5.0]

I think that you will find that trying to swap a mustang rear end in to your rig will be very time consuming and costly. You will probably have better luck finding a Ranger 8 inch rearend with the gears to match. You won't have to flip the spring perches like an Exploder rear end and I think the 3:73's are more available in the Ranger rears since more of them came with stick shifts. A stick shift Exploder is pretty rare. A 8 inch will take a beating far longer than a 7.5.

[Exhauster]

a buddy of mine is parting out a 5 speed exploder