I’m going through the exact dilemma right now. No way i need the 31 spline axles and I’d really rather not cut down the axle. Some guys on here say they’ve run the explorer rear without cutting it down, so the pinion offset, which I believe is the same for the rangers, shouldn’t matter. Plus I wanted a drum rear.
Yes 90-92 was 1” narrower than the 8 3/5 (57 5/8” I think?) and the later models were 1 inch wider. The explorer is a full 2 inches wider. I went looking for an earlier model but couldn’t find one in my junkyards so i took a chance and bought a 3.55 traclok out of a 94 mazda actually. I can verify it is 58 1/2”. Haven’t installed it yet but I’m hopeful it will work for me.
