what have you guys done about the master cylinder if you had disc in front and drum in the back and now have 4 wheel disc. thanks Ed ke6bnl this is what I am doing in my 85 s10 with a 96 explorer 8.8 disc rear.
If you can use a master from a vehichle with 4 wheel disc brakes and use the proportioning valve from the explorer. It should still work ok to use your master cyl and the explorer proportioning valve.
i got mine from a 92. drums, open 3.27s. the tubes are differnt lengths, but the pinion is in the center...i just had to shorten my f-100s driveshaft once i put the flange/yoke on the rearend. they use the same u-joint, so thats handy...it was just a touch narrow though, i had to cut my bedsides, even running 7" wheels.
I just traded straight across for the 96 8.8 explorer 3.73 posi for the s10 rear end therefore I do not have the explorer proportioning valve, I would guess I could use an adjustable proportional valve istead.
old thread, update: the explorer with 4.9 V8 has different rotors, $100 vs $20 for the others! check rockauto!
I had one shortened on the long side for a customers 50 Ford worked great! Use two short side axles and shorten the tube by 3". Jim Ford
Haven't seen this thread in a long time. I have more info from the last time I posted. The Explorer axle is 59.5" wide wheel mount surface to wheel mount surface. All have 1.31" diameter 31 spline axles. The pinion is offset 2" to the drivers side. They have 11.25" discs with integrated drum parking brakes. They have 3.25" diameter axles tubes. The axles lengths are 27.625" on passenger side and 30.5" on the driver side. You can cut and narrow the long side to install the short side length axle to do a cheap narrowing job. You can also knock out the plug holding the long tube in and install a short tube without doing any cutting. Doing either will net a 2.875" narrower axle and almost center the pinion. Welding around the circumference of the axle to the housing adds strength if you have big power. Any 8.8 R&P will fit it. Ford's gear sets are the best quality (still made in the Sterling Axle Plant in the good ol' USA) and you can get them in the following ratio's 2.73, 3.08, 3.15, 3.27, 3.31, 3.55, 3.73, 4.10 and 4.56. The 2.73's can be bought from any Ford dealership, but the rest are all available from any of a large number of Ford Racing Parts retailers. Everyone else's R&P's are made in China.
If you shorten one axle tube and use another short axle, it'll be about right width. My 97 Explorer is 3.73:1, 31 splines with traction lock and disc brakes. Swap the OEM tin cover and upgrade to an alloy rear cover. OEM track, wheel mounting to wheel mounting surface width: 59.5" Drivers side axle shaft length: 30.688" Passenger side axle shaft length: 27.813" Axle shaft length difference: 2.875" This means cutting 2.875" out of the drivers/long side axle tube, resulting in an overall axle width of about 56.5". Conventional pinion flanges and ratios are readily available. Plenty of information out there, http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Ford-8_8-axle.shtml
Depending on which driveshaft you use and the u joints it uses, the bolt on flange from an explorer uses 3 1/8 wide u joints. The flange from a f-150 uses 3 5/8 wide u joints. I'm using a gm driveshaft and the f-150 bolt on flange , I used a conversion ujoint that worked for me to match the 2 together.
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