[Honest Mechanic]

I bought a 98 e350 ELF shuttle with a broken axle, I had no clue when i bought it that it was a Carrara Italian made specialty differential.
I found an axle for $400, but I'm worried about damage to differential as I have no clue what actually happened to break the axle.

I need any advise I can get.
Is there any other differential that will bolt up?
I can get any used ford parts at the junkyards for a decent price.

I know it's possible to convert these to 4x4, would it be possible to swap in a 4x4 diff with a capped off transfer case to rear, like it is set up now?

I'm an idiot, plenty of good rvs out there & I bought this hunk of metal to convert to rv?

 

[djbonsu]

I could be wrong but usualy super high mileage, heat and/or maintenance neglect will break a differential. The seals and bearing will go before the diff does. Is your van a dually rear or single rear wheel axle?

If you can, search for whatever application you have if you want to go the wrecker route but you will most likely have to rebuild/replace the seals and bearings then swap the axle over to your vehicle. Alot of labor...

Another option is take is to a drivetrain shop and have them change the gears for you. If you are thinking of adding a locker, now would be the time to do so to save money on labor.

Good Luck

 

[BirdManE350]

I am into rock crawling and know that it takes quite a lot of force to "break an axle". Can you give more detail as to what exactly is broke?
Sure would help paint a picture for us being asked for advise.

 

[Honest Mechanic]

Single rear wheel, it looks like the spindle nut wound its way off while he was driving, he said he was going about 45 downhill when he heard a pop, he pulled over & found the axle broken (outer 4 inches of outer shaft & spindle warped).
In theory, the differential is still good as the axle was still spinning, but since it is such a rare axle/differential setup I wondered if anybody knew which diff/axles could replace this ridiculous Italian made setup? I found an axle for $400, but not being 100% about damage to differential...makes it a gamble.
Thanks y'all for the replies

 

[Honest Mechanic]

I was thinking I could drop a e350 4x4 differential/axles, then cap off the transfer case>rear axle similar to the way it is setup now.

Or find some super heavy duty front wheel drive ford front end setup, which seems unlikely... Stupid to use this Carrara diff/axles setup, it's so rare that if any part is needed it makes the whole front end worthless.
But, like I said I did comb the earth for the axle & found one deep in the wilderness of Canada.

I don't have pictures, but maybe I can send some in next week.