I am doing this swap as we speak. I got the explorer rearend with 4.10 gears and limited slip out of the junkyard for $250. I cut exactly 3" off the long side. Here are the pictures so far..
Way bigger axle tubes :)
That is coming out nice. Are you putting a slug in the tube or gonna butt weld? I am looking at using a lathe also, but for strength I am going to drill the plug welds, remove the axle tube from the center housing, cut it off/down on a lathe and slide the tube back in the housing, then re-plug weld and then weld the housing to the axle tubes. Am I overthinking this?