The Ford Explorer 8.8 rearend is a very common and probably the best bang for the buck s10 rear end swap for a good reason, its dirt cheap, nearly a direct bolt in, extremely common at every U pull and Salvage yard, has 31 spline axles and disc brakes, comes in 3.73 or 4.10 ratios, and comes with an EXTREMELY strong factory LSD commonly. Plus wheels for many GM and Ford cars come in the proper backspace for an S10/Blazer. No GM pattern discs exist for an 8.8 yet, so you must redrill your set if running a GM wheel and redrilling or buying axles
-----These are a Direct bolt in with just 1 brake adapter fitting, the 8.8 U-bolts, and slotting the U bolt holes on the s10 axle perches (or if you are buying Cal-Tracs you can skip this step). This rear end can handle 1000+whp with zero issue on a prepped drag strip and is less than 20lbs more than the stock 7.5 10 bolt.
----They DO NOT NEED CUT to fit an s10... almost any Mustang, Corvette, or Camaro wheel of the past 15 years comes in the correct backspacing to work with an uncut 8.8 in an s10. The pumpkin being offset DOES NOT MATTER...and NO you DO NOT use different wheels on each side, the amount of axle tube that sticks out on each side of the leafs are the same. The pumpkin can be offset literally anywhere between the leafs and not affect anything
----PARTS LIST
1. Any 8.8 out of a 1995-2001 Explorer SUV, or 2002-2004 Explorer Sport-Trac “pickup” 2. 8.8 U-bolts and nuts off the donor vehicle, or new replacements 3. Dorman #785434 brake adapter fitting 4. Slot your u bolt holes ¼" diagonally outward....luckily Cal Tracs come this way from the factory now STANDARD, so if you order them you can skip this step
----Overall Rear End Widths, measured WMS to WMS All rear end widths are WMS to WMS where the face of the wheel mounts NOT axle flange to axle flange
S10 rear end....28 spline 7.5, 30spline 8.5
-82-04 s10 2wd- 54.5"
-82-04 s10 4wd- 58.5"
-96-04 ZR-2 rear end width 62.5" Explorer 8.8.... ALL are 31 spline
-95-01 Explorer UNCUT disc brake rear end 59.5"
-95-01 Explorer CUT (w/ 2 pass side axles) rear end 56.5" -02-04 Explorer Sport-Trac 59.5 (same as above) ----How to tell rear end ratios and if it has a LSD (check picture 2)
These rear ends all came from the factory with a tag that tells the ratio and whether or not it has a LSD, see pic #2 for examples. 3L73 = 3.73, LSD...."4 10" = 4.10 open diff....etc. ----Backspace of wheel you will need with this swap
Wheel diameter doesnt matter for fitment, 15" is used ONLY as an example. Cut (in this case) means you cut the 8.8 to use 2 short passenger side axles. Also....Every inch you add or take away in the wheel width means you need to do the same to the backspace to fit the same. So 1" wider wheel means 1" more backspace, and 1" less wide rim means 1" less wide BS..... Or 0.5" means 0.5" more/less ----stock s10 2wd rear end -15x10" 5.5 bs -15x8" 3.5 bs
--- s10 with UN-CUT 8.8
-15x10" 7 TO 7.5 bs (same as many mustangs/camaros use) -15x9" 6.5 bs (same as many mustangs/camaros use)
-15x8" 5.5 bs
---s10 with CUT 8.8
-15x10" 6.5" bs -15x9" 5.5 bs
-15x8" 4.5 to 5" bs
-----TIRE WIDTHS....
-28x10.5 or 275 street tires fit s10s fine, and 2nd gens with perfect wheel backpace can fit 285s tucked all the way up into the fender
-anything 27 up to 30 inches tall looks good and fits nice on a 2nd gen, 1st gen more like 27 to 29.5
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