ford rear end

I would run an 8 1/4 instead of all of the messing around. The 8 1/4 Mopar and 8.8 Ford have the same size pinion (1.625) and the '98 and down axles are basically the same size (27 spline Mopar, 28 spline Ford). If you get a '99 up Explorer rear end then you get the 31 spline axles so this would be the only advantage to me. But still not worth it. I have never had an axle break on a car I ran, but I have broken a pinion once.

Chuck