4.5 bolt front hubs/rear axles to 5.5 bolt front hubs/rear axles?

I'm thinking about swapping out the 4.5 axles and 4.5 front hubs from a 2000
explorer (electric xfer case and locked front hubs) to 5.5 axles and 5.5
manual locking front hubs. For the rear I can simply redrill the current
axles or purchase axles drilled for 5.5 bolt pattern. Any ideas on how to
change the front to 5.5 manual locking from hubs tied to the IFS? Also
anyone know of an inexpensive front differential lock for a 2000 ford IFS
explorer? At a future date I'll switch out the electric xfer case for a
manual shift atlas unit. I like the explorer over the chevy/jeep variants
but I'm not finding the amount of support from the off roader parts makers.
Any good technical websites for explorers/rangers?

Sounds like an ambitious project.... Google up "serious explorations" and
you find something.

"zion_curtain" > wrote in message
...
> I'm thinking about swapping out the 4.5 axles and 4.5 front hubs from a
2000
> explorer (electric xfer case and locked front hubs) to 5.5 axles and 5.5
> manual locking front hubs. For the rear I can simply redrill the current
> axles or purchase axles drilled for 5.5 bolt pattern. Any ideas on how to
> change the front to 5.5 manual locking from hubs tied to the IFS? Also
> anyone know of an inexpensive front differential lock for a 2000 ford IFS
> explorer? At a future date I'll switch out the electric xfer case for a
> manual shift atlas unit. I like the explorer over the chevy/jeep variants
> but I'm not finding the amount of support from the off roader parts
makers.
> Any good technical websites for explorers/rangers?
>
>