Hello,
My 1998 Expedition was recently T-boned, as a Honda Civic hit directly into the passenger side rear tire. Surprisingly there was very little body damage, but the rear wheel snapped right off the axle as the truck did a 180. I am looking to get a full axle assembly from my local auto salvage yard as well as a replacement rim.

The axle ID tag on the damaged axle on my truck is S935C1

I could not find a S935C1 at my local salvage yard, but they have S935E, S935F & S935J axles available.

Does anyone know the difference between these axles? From my limited research, it appears that the E. F & J are are grouped together, and the C, C1 & D are in a separate group, but I am not sure what the differences are....

Also, I have never changed out an axle before. Does anyone know where I can get a guide or if there are any special tool/tricks to doing this. It looks pretty straightfwd from looking underneath the vehicle.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug

 

Rather than seek a code I would determine what axle you have by model and ratio. Sometimes the tags include manufacture date info that is worthless for your search crating more confusion than help. Your engine determines which axle you have, the 4.6L models have the 8.8" rear and the 5.4L models use the 9.75" rear. Then check your door tag for the gear ratio, which is a letter code. You only need to match model and ratio. If yours did not come with the LSD you might want to seek one that does in the same ratio. If you have 2wd you could even pick a new ratio if you like without have to change the front axle.

 

Thanks for the insight. I do have the LSD axle currently, and I will definately try to get another axle with LSD as well. I know I have the 9.75 ring gear and the 373 ratio. My engine is the 5.4L

I am still a little hung up on the codes as I called my local dealer and they werent sure what the difference between the codes was either, but they warned that I should try to get a matching code, and the different suffix letters in the codes may be related to a different pattern in how the axle is mounted. They also said that it could something as insignificant as a plant code - wher the axle was mfg, (or date code as you mentioned).

I am a little unsure as to where to go at this point as I would hate to purchase the wrong axle and be stuck with it, due to the no-return policy at the salvage yards.

Any other suggestions?

 

The dealer is just trying to scare you into paying one of their "professionals" to do the work. There are precious few service writers that have repair experience that goes beyond oil changes.

The 3.73 ratio is a little less common, and might be tougher to find. You should be able to find a 3.55 LSD pretty easily and you could swap out the ring and pinion cheaply while the axle is out of the vehicle.

All of the salvage yards I have ever dealt with have very easy return policies. If you have one telling you no returns, that is a big red flag, shop elsewhere.

There are a few differences, air suspension vs coil springs. I would bet the mounts for the springs are different. F-150s use the same axle but mounts are different there as well because they use leaf springs.

Any competant driveline shop can weld the proper brackets on the axle you purchase, it is a simple common practice to do so. The axles themselves are interchangeable. So if you can find the more common F-150 axles for less $$ you could have the mounting brackets fitted. Lots of ways to go about this.

I expect that it will take some leg work and phone time to track down the exact match, but in the end this is the bolt in solution. I still wouldn't bother with the tag. You may have to scour the salvage yards yourself because I am not so sure they all properly inventory axles by gear ratio all the time.

Good Luck

 

the code are like a vin#. I can enter the code in the computer and come up with a parts list for that axle. the dealer is right the different letter could be as simple as the month built. If the axle you are looking @ came out of and expedition, has a 3.73 lsd than you sould be fine.