I soaked the brake shoes in brake cleaner over night. That got rid of all the oil and I had no problems after. These were riveted shoes too, not sure if the bonded ones will survive the soak.



I'll be doing my 89 F250's 10.25 axle for the same reason, just hope the new shoes are not oil soaked........ they are bonded type.

 

The door tag, under the "Axle" listing. I know C9 is LS, I'll have to look in my owners manual to see what other ones are.

 

If you have an axle tag there will be an 'L' instead of a '.' in the ratio.
i.e. a LS 4.10 will read 4L10.

 

99% of the rearend tags I have seen have the hole punched right through the first number. So most of the time a 4.10 limited slip will look like L10, a 3.55 limited slip will be L55. You might see part of the first number sometimes.

 

Jim is correct about how the tag should read 3L50. I doubt the door tag will designate LS or open. They usually just designate ratios and GWR.

 

The door tag just says 39. Where's the axle tag at?

 

According to the shop manual it's indicated by the axle code on the door.
For instance, H9 is a Ford 3.55 3750lb limited slip. But the manual doesn't list my C9 as one of the code options, whereas my owners manual lists the C9 as a Ford 6250lb 3.55 but doesn't indicate LS.
But this does Ford Axle Code Chart .: Articles

 

39 appears to be an open 3.55 gearset.

What rear end ratio is in my Ford , do I have positraction? - Drivetrain.com

 

Axle tag indicates open rear end... thanks guys for the help!

I'm getting ready to drop it off at the shop. I checked the axle vent tube and could blow air through it but it felt restricted. Pulled the hose and the nipple and cleaned some grease out of it but it wasn't too bad. I ended up replacing the hose.

PB Blaster really helped in removing the vent hose nipple on the axle. Got to love living in a salt free state

I topped the axle off, it was half a quart low... when I get the truck back I'll pull the cover and clean the inside of it out.

 

Let us know what they end up charging you & what they find. I hate the Sterling 12.5 rear end. The seals are a real problem as far as leaking. DON"T RUN SYNTHETIC OIL in your 86. You'll be doing seals & brakes again.
I replaced seals twice in 60,000 miles on my 86 F250 4x4 & brakes once. One post talked about sleeves. That is a true statement. Good seals are not cheap for this rear end. I hope they give you a 12,000 mile or 1 year warranty. Just my two cents.
Craig

 

When you pick it up ask them what they did about lube in the bearings since it will all be lost when they change the seals. The hubs are lubed from the diff gear oil.
When I did mine I filled the diff, put one wheel on and lowered the opposite side until the brake drum was nearly sitting on the ground and left it like that for about 15-20 min, periodically rotating the hub. The repeated the process for the other side (after refilling the diff when it was level). Once done with the other side I then filled the diff again. I also used Lubriplate 105 assembly grease on the bearings when I installed them.

 

I talked to the mechanic and that's pretty much what he said he does. They are going to use the Timken 370047A seals as well.

For the record, the seals in the truck now were put on by Les Schwab in 2005 at 122k(it now has 138k on it)... if anyone can screw up a job it's them.

Hopefully the next time this needs done I'll have a garage and not be in an apartment

 

Those expensive Timken seals fix the leaks. And you can pack the bearings with a little grease to tide them over till the oil makes it's way out to the bearings.

 

That's what I would do Franklin. When the bearings get hot and the gear oil makes it way down there they will be fine. The grease wont hurt anything.

 

I know a lot of people just use some axle grease, but I use the Lubriplate because not all bearing grease and gear oils are compatible, whereas assembly grease is formulated to mix with oil.
I don't know what, if any, harmful affects occur from using incompatible lubricants but I have the Lubriplate on hand so figure why take a chance. I'd probably even buy some if I didn't have it.