99 E450 - Bad rear axle - What years will fit? - Diesel Forum

bradxj83 · 10-03-2009, 03:00 PM

I have a 99 E450 dually and the rear axle needs replaced (bent). It is a cutaway chassis model. I believe it is a dana 80, 4.10 gears. Will an axle out of a E350 cutaway chassis bolt in? How long has Ford been using the cutaway chassis frame? Would an older box truck axle fit.

Thanks

Brad

carringb · 10-03-2009, 04:35 PM

How in the world did you bend that axle?!?!

An E350 axle is not rated as high (7800 pounds) and is also 5" narrower, so it may not work with an E450 body. It will bolt up however.

I believe you have disc brakes, and I'm pretty sure the E450 came out with disc from the get-go. So any E450 axle up to 2007 would fit. '08s have a different brake setup.

What exactly is bent on the axle? Are you sure just that component can't be replace? Bending the axle tubes seems pretty much impossible.

bradxj83 · 10-03-2009, 08:18 PM

I'll have to take some pictures. Before I owned this thing, it had been in a wreck. The wreck sheared the rivets that held the front and rear shackle mounts on the drivers side, causing the axle to go backwards. There is a pretty good sized dent where the pumpkin got into the gas tank. Anyway, the reason why I am pretty sure that the axle is bent is because I have drive it maybe 1,000 miles, and it has worn 2 rear tires down to slicks. The passenger side outer tire did this, and the drivers side inner tire. I am not 100% sure that the axle is bent, but I don't know what else would do that much tire damage in that short amount of time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help

Got Diesel? · 10-03-2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradxj83

I'll have to take some pictures. Before I owned this thing, it had been in a wreck. The wreck sheared the rivets that held the front and rear shackle mounts on the drivers side, causing the axle to go backwards. There is a pretty good sized dent where the pumpkin got into the gas tank. Anyway, the reason why I am pretty sure that the axle is bent is because I have drive it maybe 1,000 miles, and it has worn 2 rear tires down to slicks. The passenger side outer tire did this, and the drivers side inner tire. I am not 100% sure that the axle is bent, but I don't know what else would do that much tire damage in that short amount of time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help

1 bent/crooked frame
2 Mis-aligned axle

I'd be 100% sure the frame is straight and the mounts for the shackles are straight before you point finger in other areas. If it was hit hard enough to "shear" rivets, there is a good chance that energy was transferred into other areas of the truck also.....

Just my .02

blageurt · 10-03-2009, 09:17 PM

I would tend to agree with the Got Diesel , If the axle was bent the bearings would grenade or grind into dust after they blew up ./ Did you take off the diff cover and loo for debris in the oil ? If oil is clean it would be an alignment issue like he said .

carringb · 10-03-2009, 09:29 PM

The pattern the tires wore doesn't make much sense to me. Unless both spindles were bent. Which is possible. It's also possible to replace just the spindles.

Were all the tires the same size and inflated to the same pressure? Even if brands are mixed, that can be enough of a height difference to cause premature wear.

But I agree with the others. I'd verify everything else first. A 4-corner alignment check may be a good start.

u2slow · 10-03-2009, 09:42 PM

The E350 DRW axle is a Dana 70. It is only slightly narrower than the E450 Dana 80.

You'd need to get a 99+ D70 to have discs.

bradxj83 · 10-03-2009, 11:04 PM

I really appreciate the replies. I will do some measuring to make an accurate assessment of whats going on. I can't remember the difference in the numbers but a friend and I measured the distance from the outside edge of the outer tires. We took a measurement and then took another measurement 180 degrees from that mark. I think it was about a 3/4 of an inch difference, but I need to check again. This is where I came up with the bent axle idea, but like caringb said, the damaged spindle theory makes sense. The tires are the same size and the tire wear was only on one half of the tire.

I am dumb for not thinking about popping the cover and talking a look inside to see what going on.

Thanks for the support, I'll let you know my findings

Brad

carringb · 10-03-2009, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2slow

The E350 DRW axle is a Dana 70. It is only slightly narrower than the E450 Dana 80.

You'd need to get a 99+ D70 to have discs.

It's 5" narrower.

Using E350 rear brakes would probably require an E350 master cylinder. The E350 caliper pistons are smaller, therefore the master cylinder diameter should be sized accordingly.

I'm pretty sure the hubs are the same however, so maybe the spindles are too.

Got Diesel? · 10-03-2009, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradxj83

I really appreciate the replies. I will do some measuring to make an accurate assessment of whats going on. I can't remember the difference in the numbers but a friend and I measured the distance from the outside edge of the outer tires. We took a measurement and then took another measurement 180 degrees from that mark. I think it was about a 3/4 of an inch difference, but I need to check again. This is where I came up with the bent axle idea, but like caringb said, the damaged spindle theory makes sense. The tires are the same size and the tire wear was only on one half of the tire.

I am dumb for not thinking about popping the cover and talking a look inside to see what going on.

Thanks for the support, I'll let you know my findings

Brad

I don't know man, if it were mine, and I were in your shoes, I would consult a auto body shop. They would have frame specs and have a good idea of damaged parts. From here, it sounds like you're unsure about the cause of the wear and am about to "lob" parts at it. I hear where you're coming from but to replace a complete rear end just seams extreme.

I can only imagine what the tire look like (as you haven't posted any pictures) but if the rear end is out of alignment, it could be the equivalent of dragging the tires sideways as you drive at speed.

Good Luck

u2slow · 10-04-2009, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carringb

It's 5" narrower.

Not a chance. I picked up the E450 rear end for my E350. According to Dana's axles specs it is approx. 2" wider - 1" per side. Not really a big deal.

bradxj83 · 10-04-2009, 10:07 AM

I'm going to take a hard look at it today, pull the diff cover, possibly pull the hubs and look and see what I have. Good comment on the difference in master cylinders, I didn't think about that one.

bradxj83 · 10-04-2009, 10:11 AM

Also, if the axle assembly what perfectly fine, but the axle was not positioned perpendicular to the frame rails, wouldn't the vehicle "dog track"?

The weird thing is that this truck drove straight down the road smoothly. Thats why I didn't notice the tire wear until it caught my eye one day.

The cool thing is that I was getting 11 mpg while burning the rubber of the rear tires. Just think of the improvement when I actually get it correct.

I hope to get some pictures of the situation on today.

carringb · 10-04-2009, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2slow

Not a chance. I picked up the E450 rear end for my E350. According to Dana's axles specs it is approx. 2" wider - 1" per side. Not really a big deal.

I'm not sure what you picked up, but I don't think it was an E450 axle. Did you pick up a Dana 80? The E450 axle is actually a "Modified Dana 78HD".

Here's the specs straight form Ford. It doesn't matter what year.

Flange to Flange width:

E350 DRW : 73.2"
E450: 77.7"

That's a difference of 4.5"

https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas..._pdf/62-63.pdf
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas.../bb_pdf/64.pdf

sdwarf36 · 10-07-2009, 11:01 PM

You can have bent axle tubes and all the bearings + gears will be fine. ( I've raced dirt cars for years-done it plenty of times.)
If the rear axle was just ****ed eyed in the frame-then it would just dogtrack.

2 things you can do easily:
Check the "toe" of the rear. Take 2 straight pieces of sq. tubing or angle iron apx 2ft longer than the diameter of the tire. Set the bars with 1ft past each side of the wheel with the bar setting on top of a couple of beer cans. (or whatever you have so the bars on both sides of the truck will be even. Hold the bars tight to the tires and use 2 tape measures an equal distance from the tire-it the distance is any more than 1/8" off from front to back of the tire-you got problems.
String the truck. Take a long piece of string and tie off one end to something behind the rear tire. (the shock would work) run the string from the back wheels toward the front across the wheel centerline. Line the string up so it touches the sidewall on the rear of the back tire and front sidewall of the front tire. See if the string touches the front of the rear tire. Do both sides--if it misses the front of the left-and back of the right, (or the other way) you rear is crooked in the frame.