what engine is in the Ranger?
what size tires have you run without breakage?
run what you got - people use the excuse for the dana30 all day long - i already have it, and i locked it, and then i bought shafts, then i trussed it, then i blew a ring gear...
if you are scraping the ranger anyway - might as well... re-use the perches and spend the 50.00 or so on paint, welding rod, grinding wheels and throw it under the XJ...
the one thing that no one has mentioned yet is that the ranger rear ends are considerably shorter WMS-WMS than the exploder, which are shorter than the stock rear ends by something like 3"
so look into some wheel spacers...
though if they are too narrow, you might run into the issue of the Toy 8 form the early mini-trucks which are too narrow to even be mounted because out leaf springs are so far out, they would be mounted on the flanges that hold everything on.
the IFS toy 8" is a little wider, but still cant be run without inboarding the leaves...
get out your measuring tape and have a go at it...