So, it's been a while since I've been on here but I have made a bit of progress. I have a rear axle out of a '96 Explorer, and I have it to the proper length now I believe. Now, I'm looking at getting the axle shafts. There in lies my confusion. I put the differential back into the pumpkin, and used the one long side shaft that I kept to see how things measure up. If I'm doing my measurements right, the new shafts need to be 30 1/4" long. This puts them a bit away from the differential center pin, so as not to hit it. I did my measurements from the surface on the axle shaft where the brake rotor will mate up, to the center of the pin (the measurement to the center of the pin is a bit longer, which is where I came to the 30 1/4" mark if that makes any sense.) I tried to call Moser to order axle shafts, and he told me that I needed to instead measure after the brake rotors are on, saying they would somehow change the axle shaft length. That doesn't make sense to me. I know it could change my wheel offset, which I had planned on figuring out when I get the axle assembly together.

So, what am I missing in this? I can take some pics of everything if it helps.

 

Not sure what Moser is talking about, as rotors are fixed, and calipers float. The axles should be in the tube, and the center pin installed with C clips, so the measurement will be made correctly. There's no way to adjust the axle length to fit a rotor, as the c clips and pin will determine axle length.
Did you do the short side swap, or did you do the tubes to a certain length that requires two new axle shafts? If you did the short side swap, then the length is 2.875" different. Some people need wider axles than the stock 59.5", and go to a long side swap, which adds 2.875" to the length of the short side.
Driver's side axle is 30.688" and passenger side axle is 27.813" long, on a stock 8.8" Ford with disc brakes.

 

What I ended up doing was have the short side extended 3" to match the length of the long side. At first, I was going to get new axles with the Chevy lug pattern on it, but dealing with redrilling brakes and such is something I don't want to deal with. So I'm going to just keep the Ford lug pattern. I ordered brakes for it from JC Whitney and they're on the way. The only thing I noticed when I test fit the dust shield/caliper shuttle is that if the shaft is all the way in, than it looks like part of the parking brake assembly would hit the shaft flange.

 

Extending the short side 3" is a bit long for using a stock axle. I believe it needs to be lengthened 2 7/8" to be exact for the long side axle swap.
Are you using the stock brakes for the Explorer, or something different? The stock setup should all bolt right on, and not have any issues. I would think that any local parts house would have brakes cheaper than JC Whitney, and in stock.
I feel like I may be missing something, or not quite understanding what you've got going on? I've used these Explorer 8.8's in drum or disc form and never had any troubles with stock components, regardless of going narrower, or wider.

 

I'm going to use the stock brake setup (it came with discs which is a plus). The local parts places didn't have all of the components I wanted in stock. I chucked literally just about everything but the calipers (for the core charge) and the dust cover/caliper shuttle. So I am ordering most everything. The prices for some reason aren't all that great locally either, and shipping was free with Whitney.

It isn't making sense to me either for the axles going back in. The stock side axle housing has the same issue as when I put it on the rewelded side (which further doesn't make sense since I didn't touch it, save for taking the brakes off and such.) If my measurements are right, both sides will require the same length axle shaft. I'll have to take some pics sometime tomorrow and show the clearances of the axle shaft to the differential pin and the parking brake part on the dust cover.

I just want to make sure I get the right size, and every place I call doesn't seem to get what I'm doing. One local drive line place asked me who told me that axle will fit in a 2nd gen Camaro, then said no one there would be able to help me after I told him just about everyone online.

 

Yeah, a picture might help. I just put one with disc brakes in my buddy's '69 Nova, and I can take pictures of the brake setup in stock form. Maybe it's just a case of something not assembled just right.

 

I got to take some pics today. I'll separate it out to make it easier to sort:

Here are the stock long side axle shaft measurements: https://imgur.com/a/91rzm

Here are pics and measurement of the welded side: https://imgur.com/a/wUQCy

Here are the pics of the non welded (stock long) side: https://imgur.com/a/uAoyF

On the welded side one, I couldn't get a measurement pic, but measuring from the same point (center pin) to the outer edge, I get 29 and 5/8.

From the pics, you can see a bit of the silver showing from the axle shaft. Eliminating that bit of showing metal will result in hitting that part on the dust cover which is part of the parking brake assembly. You can also see that it hits the center pin on both sides, which I'm assuming isn't something it is supposed to do.

 

The axles should be very close to the center pin, with almost no end play at all. If they aren't extremely tight tolerances, then you'll have uneven wear and braking issues at the calipers. The rotors would float in and out if the pin wasn't extremely close tolerance to the axles. End play needs to be under .030" to be within spec.
The bare part showing at the end isn't a problem, as there's plenty of machined surface still riding on the bearings. Until you have all the parts, and assemble them, it's hard to tell any more than just end play.

 

So I'm probably fine with stock long side length then. I was thinking it shouldn't touch the center pin, as I would think the rubbing on the end and pin would cause issues. It's hard to see in the pics, but the c clip installed on the shaft on either side would leave no play at all. The clip channel is pretty well right on the edge of the inside wall. Thank you for your help!

 

If you an get the pin in easily, then your rear axle is set up correctly. If it wont go in without pushing hard, that's a problem. Should slide into position easily. If it didn't, then a very small surface cut on the end of that axle will give a few thousandths clearance.
The axles don't turn against the pin, except when one axle loses traction with the other, or when cornering tightly. The posi unit holds the axles to drive together, and clutches slipping are the only time it can turn against the pin. They're hard enough to take that occasional slipping without pin or axle damage.