Did a VIN check on my truck 96 F250 HD XLT 5.8 which is where I officially found out it is called a HD. I knew it was HD but thought maybe a previous owner had modified it or it was a special order. One time I used the door sticker info to order front end parts and all parts except upper ball joints came in for a lighter truck. I think my sticker info doesn't represent the front end capacity also. The store I used didn't even have a listing for a 96 F250 HD. I had thought that Ford started making the F250 HD in 97. Is there much of a difference between 96 and 97 F250 HD. I thought I saw a 97 F250 HD with same body style as my 96 while surfing. I always thought Ford officially changed F series body styles going into 97 models. I also noticed on FTE there is a Forum for owners of 97 F250 HD and not one for 96 F250 HD. That is not an issue with me so not looking for a change. Just curious about this whole thing. My truck was assembled in late 95. So is a 96 F250 HD a special order typically?

 

Ford used a couple of different front axles (if you are 4x4) in the past. Some of it is confusing as they look similar. Basically, If you have an "HD" model, it came with the 4600lb. axle, which is the Dana 50. If its a non-HD model, it had a 3600lb axle, which is the Dana 44. The way to identify a Dana 50 is that it has "50" cast into the bottom of the carrier housing. This is the "4600lb" axle.

 

Thanks Thorshammer. That's good info. Yes it is a 4wd.

 

No problem. I went through this same confusion about a month ago with my truck. I was installing a new ring and pinion (changing ratios from 3.55 to 4.10) and decided to rebuild the front axle while I was there. I was replacing the ball joints when I found rockauto had two different upper ball joints listed for the same truck.

There's also a parts quality issue going on too. I bought four Moog greasable ball joints, installed them and went to get an alignment on saturday just for them to tell me the right upper ball joint was bad. I jacked it up when I got home and it was indeed bad, like really bad. I replaced that one with a much better quality raybestos ball joint and am going to repeat the alignment process next weekend.

I also ran into u-joint issues too. The D44 and the D50 share some parts but there are different "grades" of parts also. I found that the parts have part numbers like "XXX-XXXX" and if you find a part the has a higher value in the three digit space, it indicates a better quality piece. Confusing stuff.

I've also found that "Firestone" service centers SUCK. I had this truck aligned less than a year ago and bought the lifetime alignment (as we all know how these trucks are). I had it aligned and had problems with tire wear about 1500 miles into it. It wore out the outer edge of the RH front tire.

After I did all of this work, I brought it in again. I did not disturb the caster/camber sleeves, nor did I touch the steering. They said my RH toe was over 1" too far in. They aligned it, how could it change that much other than them causing the problem??? LOL!

Anyway, "the struggles we endure owning TTB axles".....

 

Not so fast... All 4x4 F250's have either the D44HD or the D50 TTB axle. The 80-85.5 F350 had the D50 only. Supercab F250's have the D50 stock and I'm not sure any regular cab F250 came with the D50, even the diesels. It's been posted before how to tell the two apart from the hubs. The D50 hubs are 4" whereas the D44HD hubs are 3.5". Also the front axle weights will be different. If they're in the 3k range it's the D44HD, if in the 4k range it's the D50.

The main difference between the F250 (LD) and the F250HD is the rear axle. On the light duty it is a semi-floating design where the weight of the truck is supported by the axle shaft itself like the F150. The F250HD and the F350 the weight of the truck is supported by a hub that rides on bearings on a spindle on the axle tube. The axle shaft only transmits power to the wheels.

I believe the frame may be a different thickness and I know the engine calibrations are different. You can't get the 460 in the F250LD for example. Also, catalytic converters showed up on the F250LD long before the F250HD and F350. The F250LD is closer to the F150 and the F250HD is closer to the F350. In fact, it seems to me that the F250HD was marketed to all those RV owners and anyone who needed a real truck for personal use whereas the F350 was a basic work truck. Their real capacities are very similar although their rated capacities do differ.

 

Why not just look for the "50" cast into the differential case????

 

Thanks for the input guys. Good info.

 

I used a moog greasable upper ball joint on my truck. A buddy who is a mechanic is not impressed with moog ball joints. Used raybestos on the lower. I had brought my truck in for four new tires and the mechanic told me I had some issues in the front end. Replaced what they told me was worn out plus a brake job both sides. Picked up 4 tires eventually had them installed a week ago, but didn't get the allignment yet. Getting it done in the near future. Just hoping no other concerns arise in the near future. Keeping me busy.

 

there are no light duty 9th generation (92-97) f250's guys.
all of them are HD and sport the D50 front axle,be it the reg cab,super or crew cabs.
(yes auto stores ask for and list parts for the d44 even in these years.but the trucks didn't exist like in years before.)

the first post here is a little misleading.if you read it wrong,you would think the poster is implying his '96 is badged like the '97 9th gen model year being officially called heavy duty.it's not.it's been simply discovered to be the HD like all the 92-96 f250's are.

the only reason the '97 model year was badged HD was because there was also a (10th gen) new body style of the same year,which did have a LD f250 (then thankfully,ford renamed those trucks heavy f150's instead latter.)


im having great success with federal mogul's moog problem solver ball joints and tire rods on my truck.-just checking my records on chip truck.49k issue free problems so far.don't let the plow fool you.it's just for personal use.just 3-4 (family/neighbors) drives per storm.the truck is used commercially,but the d50 isn't.

 

Cause I can spot the hubs a mile away without crawling under...

 

What he said.

The F-250HD originally came out (I think in the early '80s) as a way to get a 3/4 ton truck over the 8,400 lb GVWR limit (everything under that needed catalytic converters, over didn't). This was much the same as the 6,600 lb GVWR 1/2 tons that cane out in the '70s when the limit was 6,200 lbs.

Somewhere along the line Ford dropped the "standard" F-250 and all F-250s at that point were HDs. I'm thinking that was around '92 but I could be off a bit.

But from the point that the F-250 HD appeared until '96 it was never badged as an HD. As FORDF250HDXLT said, that was only done in '97 to distinguish the F-250 with the old body style (the HD) from the F-250 with the new body style. That was definitely not a Better Idea, so, as FORDF250HDXLT also said, the F-250 NBS became the F-150 7,700 in '98 and the F-250HD went back to just being an F-250 when the Super Duties came out in '99.

As far as front axles go, I'm not sure what you can tell from them as far as HD or not goes. I know both the Dana 44HD and the Dana 50 were used in F-250s. I think both went into HDs, and maybe only the 44HD went into the "standard" F-250s. But if you're getting front end parts you're going to need to know what front axle you have, not whether you have an F-250 or an F-250HD.

 

I don't get much up into the 92+ stuff, but I know the butterface years (87-91) still had the LD F250 - I have one. I also know that all the RC F250HD's I've seen in that era have the D44HD. Not sure if that changed with 92+ but I suspect at some point ford would have wanted to use up old stock.

 

My truck has the 4" hub which I am gathering has the D50 axle, but door sticker shows axle weight at 3850 and that should be a bit higher in the 4000 range, shouldn't it? When I ordered ball joints and tie rod ends based on that number (3850) everything I received was lighter duty (not the right size for fitment).

I appreciate all the info and am enjoying the discussion and learning about the history of these trucks. Good learning experience. Thanks to all for the feedback.

 

Ok, just checked, my Supercab's are around 3,900. I guess it's the F350 that's in the 4k range.

Not sure about the parts other than part stores suck...

I once had an 87 Dakota and tried to get rear brake parts. They gave me 9" drums and 10" shoes and that's all the computer listed. The guy wasn't much help other than to say "that's what the computer lists..." Turns out the 4cyl trucks got 9" drums and the 6 got the 10". They had the right parts listed for an 89.

What parts are you looking for? There are a few of us that can dig up the Ford part numbers for stuff. The parts catalog I have is up to 89 but a lot of the parts are still valid up to 97.

 

for IFS trucks, the easiest way to tell what front axle is in it is by the size of the locking hubs. because they will not interchange. D-44 hub will only fit a D-44, D50-60 hub will only fit the D-50-60.

on the older trucks, the LD-HD was determined by semi floating axle(LD) or full floating axle(HD)
LD trucks only came with the D-44 front axle, HD trucks could have either.
we had 2 89 F-250 HD trucks at the body shop, 1 serial number apart in the VIN's. both had 8800 GVWR, 5.8 engines, and automatic transmissions. one had a D-44, the other had a D-50.
all diesel F-250's came with the D-50