I was wondering what Rangers had the narrow rear ends? I'm looking for one to use for a 5 bolt swap on my mazda and its just too hard to find older toyotas around here.
first gen rangers have the narrowest axle BUT the center section is offset more then the yota and drive shaft goes on differently. have you checked in to redrilling your axle? just dont get an axle from an 83 model, there small as fuck(6.75) axle were as 84-88 have 7.5s(more aftermarket parts for them) and 89 up your gona have the ugle abs sensor on the rear end.
I would just redrill, but I'm also doing a 302 swap into my mazda and read the stock mazda wouldn't hold up to it. Thats why I was looking for either a Ranger or old Explorer 8.8 or something along that line and don't feel like all the extra costs of narrowing it.
if you want a narrow rearend, definitely stay away from an explorer, they are even wider than a ranger. but, i think the explorer disc brakes will work on a ranger rear end.
Everything I've found so far says that pre 91 was 54" and after 91 was 56", and that around 90 was available with an 8.8 from the 4.0 V6. And that would be a bonus just for looks about the Explorer disc fitting.
most people on here say to switch to toyota rears instead of mazdas, and I always wondered what the difference was between the two, they both come attached to small motors. Is there some way to beef up the mazda rear and just get the axles redrilled?
my 8.8 came out of a stock 4.0 91 ranger with limited slip. it is the narrowest one in the rangers (i believe) and i think they also have disc brake kits for them. picked it up for 100 bucks with a bad wheel stud and 70k miles.