I recently bought the Sterling 10.25 out of a 94' F-350. Theres a small electrical plug on the housing held on by 1 bolt and im not sure if its for anti-lock brakes or for my Speedo.

My first question is What is this plug for?

Second, If its for anti-lock brakes, do i just not plug anything into it?

Third, If its for Speedo, how does it hook up?

If anyone can help me out here, id be very appriciative...

 

I'm sure it is probably just for the Anti lock brakes. Just leave it alone.

 

1994 F350 has an electronic dash. Speed sensor mounted on rear axle is read by computer, relays info to speedometer.

 

Yup - VSS = vehicle speed sensor. It reads a tone ring in the axle & is for the speedo but also controls part of the shift points function for the newer auto trans I believe as well.

As was said - just leave it there & ignore it. Doing so with the one on mine

 

Thanks for the info guys

 

they make plugs to block it off if you wanna go all trail bling.

 

Since we're on the topic of axle swaps, what is needed to do this swap? Do the perches line up right with the right pinion angle? What about the u joint? Brakes? There are plenty of axles here in AZ. Thanks.

 

From what I hear. The Sterling 10.25 should drop in where the Dana 60/70 used to be in these old trucks. But, I've been known to be wrong in some cases so measure to make sure.

 

the perches should be the correct width since the 10.25 was found primarily on F250's that share the frame width of the wide frame 70's trucks. It won't fit on any truck with a d70 since they all had narrow frames, not without cutting off the perches and moving them in. You'll have to use u bolts correct to the tube diameter, I can't remember what it is anymore. The yoke, iirc, is different, so you'll have to have your shaft redone. If you get one, you'd do well to get the shaft from the truck just in case if you don't have a way to measure to ensure its the same joint.
brakes should be ok since most are drum, however, they were also available with discs on some of the vans. Not sure if the vans had the same frame width either.
They aren't that strong and aftermarket parts tend to be expensive so that have never really become that popular of an axle.

 

Sterlings came on vans with disks? I thought those were all dana axles?

And sterlings not strong? Not sure I agree with that one.

 

Well, they are strong.. but I mean if you have a 60 they aren't that much stronger. And if you have a 70 some argue the 70's are stronger. But probably about the same. So its just one of those things, its a step up, but not much of a step up. Really better off going with a 10.5 or an 80. Parts aren't any more expensive for either of those two (and you can actually find more aftermarket stuff for them) and they are stronger. And if youre junkyard shopping, no more expensive...

And yeah sterling 10.25's came on some of the vans with discs, I was told they were rare but I've actually seen a few (driving around, not in junkyards). Its a very deep rotor. You can order the rotor from napa, people order them to do the chevy caliper disc conversion.
Some of the RV's I've seen built on E350 chassis also had them, just from what I've seen. But I don't know what rear ends those use, since they are dually.

 

Couple things. Sterlings are much much stronger than D60s. More on the level of a D80. I've got parts from both here in the garage to prove it and the D60 parts are grenaded. The strength differences between the Sterling 10.25 and 10.5s are negligible. A quarter inch in ring gear diameter really doesn't make that big of a difference and the differentials, bearings, and axleshafts are the same. In fact, many builders use 10.25 gears in 10.5 housings because they have superior pinion bearings. Basically, the 10.25 is just as tough as the 10.5. The main differences are the factory disc brakes, the wheel bolt pattern, and the fact that the 10.5s are 3" wider. I installed a 10.5 in my '75 after destroying the D60 because I needed something that would hold up to my engine and I was sick of not having a parking brake with the disc swap on the D60. I did have to change the bolt pattern from 8 on 170 mm to 8 on 6.5" and cut off the sperches and reposition them but that's minor. It's been a great upgrade.

As far as Sterlings in vans goes, I did a bunch of research to see if they existed since the vans used the old wheel bolt pattern but never found any reference to them. They must be really, really rare.

 

they aren't that rare. I know they came on all the "chateau" vans. I've seen a few of them with my own eyes. Napa also lists them in their parts catalog. Ruff stuff's chevy caliper kits I believe even tell you the napa part number.

I've had all of them too. I know its a step up from the 60 but not worth stepping up to IMO... if youre breaking a 60 it won't be long before you break a stock sterling, and if you upgrade either it starts to be a wash. And the biggest reason not to is because of the lack of things like spools, and the cost of detroits, and the almost total lack of factory gearing above 4.10's.

compared to something like a 14bolt or even a 70 or 80 its all double the price. I mean hell you can get a 14b with 4.56's and a detroit locker for $500 ready to rock.

If your yard is like mine and all rears are $66, I'd skip the 10.25 for something better. I had one and I got rid of it as soon as i could, once I realized how much it was gonna cost to get a traction limiting device and new gears in it, and what a pain it would be to swap discs on.

 

Better get you eyes checked because no E250/350, E(Super Duty) came with a Sterling rear axle, Dana rear axles only.

There's no Ford truck parts catalog listing, and...no E100/150/250/350 & E350 Super Duty thru 2013 has metric wheels.

And, there's no such thing as a specific to DRW's only rear axle for any E/F250/350 & E/F350 Super Duty. What makes the difference is the rear hubs/drums or hubs/rotors that are specific to DRW's.
E350 rolling chassis were used by UPS at one time, but every Class C Motorhome, ambulance, people mover and etc body I've seen since 1975 that has an Econoline front end...is not a rolling chassis.

All these are Cut-Away's. FoMoCo cuts the cargo van body off behind the front seats.

 

" It won't fit on any truck with a d70 since they all had narrow frames " Not " all " Dana 70's were for a narrow width frame. The ones with the narrow spring pad width were for the drw Dana 70. Ford used plenty of srw 70's in pickups. I have a 70-U case under mine which is the smooth case. They are stronger than a 60, bigger housing, ring & pinion and axle shafts, which is what breaks in the first place in a 60. They also have a larger inner wheel bearing.