Drove an hour south to remove a rear axle from a 2000 Ford Exploder with 160k miles on it. Ford 8.8 with 3.73 gears and factory LSD, $150. The Exploder had a 5.0 V8 w/AWD which I didn't know they came equipped with. Kinda neat.

The guy I bought it from said he parts out 2nd and 3rd gen Explorers about one a week. He said he can buy them for $500 and sell the cats for $800. Pro-level redneck stuff. He rambled off every socket size I would need for each part, we had it pulled in 30 minutes. Side note, this guy lived in town and there was a huge pig living on his back porch. I love Facebook marketplace.

The reason the Explorer 8.8 is desirable is that it is easily narrowed 2.875 inches by cutting that amount off the center of the driver's side axle tube, rewelding it together, then installing a shorter passenger side axle in the shortened driver's side tube. This puts it at about the correct width for small cars such as my Celica. Lots of gearing options, LSD options, factory disc brakes.