For anyone with a 2001-approx vintage E-350 diesel, do you know what axle you have?
I need my diff rebuilt, and was in the market for a Detroit True Trac to upgrade it. Based on my axle tag, the axle shop said it's a Dana 60, either 30 or 35 spline, and gave 2 different Eaton part numbers for the True Trac.
Well, according to Eaton's parts list, those part numbers don't fit a Ford van of my year -- nowhere near it -- and actually one of the part numbers we got from the axle shop was wrong. But after supposing what part they actually meant, the diffs would still fit a much older Ford truck/van, supposedly.
After my mechanic actually pulled an axle, he found it to be 32-spline, and a different diameter than both of the other two options. This confused both of us even more, because Eaton's parts list did not even include a 32 spline axle for a Ford one-ton truck/van.
After actually calling Ford to verify what this truck was built with, we were told it's a ....... Dana 70 with a 10.5" ring gear. BTW -- I have a C9 axle code, 3.55 LS, full float.
So now that my plans have been foiled, I'm letting the axle shop just rebuild it like a factory LS, same as it was, and let them find whatever parts they need, to avoid the risk of ordering the wrong part.
Does anyone else know if a Dana 70 is the common rear axle for a 2000-2003 E350?
Is it a window (passenger) van? Because some, not all, of them came with Dana 70 as well as some cutaway SRW's. All the rest came with Dana 60 HD, semi float, open or limited slip diff., unless they were cutaway DRW's. You can put a 10.5 in a 60 housing as well. For the record, my Dana BOM indicates Dana 60 HD Semi Floating 3.55 ratio, Std (open) diff., door sticker rear axle code: 39
Msnunes, if it is 32 spline, I'm guessing it might be the elusive Dana 70 U! Great axle, what you need for positive ID on a Dana axle is the BOM (Bill of Material) number. When viewing the rear housing cover and fill plug, look 6-12" to the right of the housing. There you will see numbers stamped into the back of the round axle. You may have to lightly scrape axle paint, crud, etc. to see them. If necessary, wipe with Xlene, Acetone, or whatever to remove paint. The BOM # will be something like this 606189-2.
This example BOM # 606020-2 may work fine for looking up your Dana Parts. This one is from: FORD Dana 70 U
Go to: www2.dana.com
to look them up using your BOM. Then in the BOM search option you can use 606189-1 for STD Type differential (open) or 606020-2 for P/L Type diff. In some cases, the BOM is also stamped into the tag on your cover too. Not as reliable since the 60 & 70 covers are interchangeable. Or go here: https://www.ringpinion.com/diffwiza...parts_online&gclid=CO7u4r_WtcwCFYSDaQodqp0K8Q
Then enter: Dana 70 U
Options should come up for 32 spline lockers, etc., 4.10 and down parts should all be same. Hope this helps. Good luck!
My van is a 4/00 build, C9 axle code as well.
My axle tag say's, 606522-2. That is (if my source is correct) a DANA 60, 3.55, 32 spline, 9.75 ring, with Trac Loc.
Here are the photos of data from our 2000 E-350.
I ordered it w/ LS and a 3.55 gear.
Looks like from the other comments, it is a DANA 60.
Had a heck of a time finding the correct axle seal, none of the guys @ the local Ford parts counter could come up with the correct seal, had to bring in the old, melted one to get a match!
My van was an empty cargo van to start. The stamp on my axle is (given from my mechanic) -- 606604-2-LS. And had I looked this up myself earlier I would see that it is in fact a Dana 60 for a certain age range of E-vans --- Dana 60 BOM Numbers | Dana 60 Identification
Like I said, the axle shop said it's a Dana 60, but Ford said it's a Dana 70 with 10.5" ring, per my VIN. Eaton's chart doesn't list that 70 at all, but it does show a 9.75" Dana 60, but for very old models, but not 32 spline either. I guess I'm very limited on options here.
I only wanted to find this out ahead of time to order the True Trac myself and save some money, but it looks like I'll let the axle shop rebuild it like stock. Thanks for the help!
Another E350 van owner who wanted to do the same thing as you discovered that no TrueTrac is available for the 32 spline Dana 60, but is readily available for the more common 35 spline axles. So he swapped axles. The 35 spline axles are longer than the van's application, so he ordered long spline versions and cut them down to size. He was then able to complete his axle with a true TrueTrac limited slip.
I have TrueTrac in my current truck, and had Trac-Lok in my previous truck. The TrueTrac definitely works better, so if it isn't too late to change your mind, you might look into what E350John did a few years ago, as described in the link.
Bingo! I was just about to add this same info. True trac can be had BUT like NYB said, you have to change the axles as the dana 60 come from factory with 32 spline axle shafts.
Any Dana 60 housing can be slightly modified (a-little grinding in the right places to accept the larger gear. A larger capacity cover solves clearance issues on the cover side.
Yeah.. with all the customization I've done on this truck, I don't think I need a True Trac that bad as it turns out. I've made it over 200K on the stock one, even after I wore it out, I think it's good enough. If it was easier, I was ready to do it..
Back again. After 1000 miles on the rebuilt rear end, I have chatter again, or what sounds like clutch binding, while turning in reverse, and somewhat less while moving forward. For the most part it goes away after a bit, but I am noticing it happening more during the day even after driving a while. Again, this just started after about 1000 miles -- with it operating smoothly before this.
Supposedly, it has Dino 75w-90 in it, with friction modifier. Since this started again, we've topped off the diff again (needed about a 1/4 of a quart) and added another 4 oz of friction mod. No change. My mechanic called the axle shop who didn't offer any particular cause for this, which I thought was strange ... since this is what they do for a living.
Can friction modifier wear out? Or can the break-in of the rear end cause FM to fail or contaminate the oil in general such that it will no longer perform properly?
I'm also starting to think that the oil they used may not be right. My owner's manual says that "Ford axles" and "Traction Lok" axles require synthetic 75w-140 and get that from the factory. Then later is says that "DANA conventional and limited slip" axles require 80w-90 oil. If I look up my actual axle code (above -- and use the Dana link I provided) which says I have a "DANA Trac-Lok" (not confusing at all....) it says to use 80w90 mineral oil OR 75w140 synthetic but that they recommend 75w-90 synthetic for all Dana 60s.
I could have provided some synthetic 75w140 for them to use, but I didn't question any of this because it's been 15 years and things could have changed since then, esp with modern parts, and I figured an axle shop should know what it's doing. Not that they don't, but then why didn't they tell us (me) to expect something like this, or at least offer what could be causing it on a brand new rebuild?
It's probably good you did not supply oil, otherwise you'd get the blame. I would think the shop would stand behind their work. I know when I had mine rebuilt I was going to hop on highway for 2 hours drive, & shop said no-way! The rear needs break-in. so I had to keep it under 45mph & took US1 back home. (long drive)
Yeah, no one said anything about a break-in period either, even though I mentioned maybe we should drain the oil after some amount of time. Of course, my mechanic is away until the 11th, so I won't be able to do anything until then...
IIRC I had to stop here & there to let cool a bit (heat cycle?) I wouldn't think it would cool much, being such a mass, unless it was over night.
Quite a bit of break-in info, https://duckduckgo.com/?q=is+there+break+in+for+differentials%3F&t=ffsb&ia=web but not sure if it is only for new gears or I suppose if new bearings are installed, it probably alters original gear pattern, even though it is re-shimmed & pattern is taken.
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