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Is the Dana S135 better/stronger than the Dana 80? Yes. The Dana 80 has an 11.25" ring gear and is rated up to 11,000 lbs GAWR.
And there is no interchangeability in the Ford dually pick up between a Dana 80 and a Dana 135, without .....
That is a lot of good information. I do plan to stay with the Dana 80, but it is nice to know that if my case was trash, that there are other options.
Thank you.
Does anyone know if there are options for the Dana 80. Good, Better, Best. Not application
Application
915a567 is for gear sets 3.73, 3.54, 3.22...
915a450 is for gear sets 4.10, 4.30, 4.88
Since I am planning to go with 3.73... I will need 915a567. Is there a upgrade to this??
Is there a 915a-XYZ has an extra something or another that will increase longevity, reliability and driveability ?
My examples are after I purchased an AIS system, I learned that the 6.0 airbox supposedly moves more air...
After having, what I thought was top of the line (MOOG) ball joints installed (which are failing after six months), I was told that other brands are much better and that MOOG has quality issues.
Does Truetrac have a better option for a Dana 80 (with 3.73 gear), other than 915a567?
you can use the 4.10 and up carrier with a 3.73 THIN ring and pinion set. Ford shipped F350 duallys this way if ordered with a 3.73 in some years. I was looking into options for my F450 dana 80 4.88 but decided on 4.10 for my needs.
you can use the 4.10 and up carrier with a 3.73 THIN ring and pinion set. Ford shipped F350 duallys this way if ordered with a 3.73 in some years. I was looking into options for my F450 dana 80 4.88 but decided on 4.10 for my needs.
Thank you for that.
I am hearing nice things about the Truetrac plus with my LS, I get stuck on wet grass and sometimes I have to engage 4x4 to get out.
Plus with 286+ on the equipment, I am okay with getting a new carrier.
My truck is an F350 2wd and it came with 3.73's and an open diff...WTH was ford thinking? Anyway, I regeared to 4:10's and put in a true trac...HUGE difference. No more getting stuck on wet grass.
Here's a link for the true trac...YES, that's the real price although I got it for $250! . YES- it is brand new! YES- that's really the price! Absolutely no problem with over 5k miles. I could not find it any cheaper than this, although he did raise price $100 since I bought it.
I have a Dana 80 in my f450 with the truetrac. I’m looking to buy a s135s rear end to put in my truck. I am trying to figure out if it has the truetrac in it or not as I would like to have a Truetrac in the 135 as well. I’ll attach the label.
Originally Posted by Y2KW57
Is the Dana S135 better/stronger than the Dana 80? Yes. The Dana 80 has an 11.25" ring gear and is rated up to 11,000 lbs GAWR. The Dana 135 has a much larger 14.25" ring gear and is rated up to 13,500 lbs GAWR with the 135 banjo housing, and up to 15,500 lbs GAWR with the 150 banjo housing, which is 1 mm thicker, but uses all the same internal carrier, R&P, and axle parts as the 135.
There is no interchangeability in parts between the Dana 80 and the Dana 135. So a TrueTrac for a Dana 135 will not work in a Dana 80.
And there is no interchangeability in the Ford dually pick up between a Dana 80 and a Dana 135, without some serious and significant cutting and welding to the axle housing of the 135, which could weaken it, depending on the how the welding was performed, as the axle housing is HSLA (high strength, low alloy) steel. And even then, it wouldn't work unless you ditched the duallys in favor of super singles with a wheel bearing killing dish offset, due to the 135 axle being fitted exclusively to narrow frame chassis cabs.
There are, however, versions of the newer Dana S110 axle that will bolt up to a dually pick up frame, as long as you simultaneously change the springs and ubolt style to go from a round tube to a square tube axle, and as long as you source the 110 axle from an F-450 pickup truck, rather than from an F-450/550 chassis cab. The pickup version of the S110 and even newer S130 axles are designed for the wider apart frame rails of the pickups.
But swapping axles to a 110 isn't worth it. The Dana 80 is plenty stout, and there are more aftermarket doodads available for the 80 than there are for the S110, S130, or S135.
I have a Dana 80 in my f450 with the truetrac. I’m looking to buy a s135s rear end to put in my truck. I am trying to figure out if it has the truetrac in it or not as I would like to have a Truetrac in the 135 as well. I’ll attach the label.
The axle label shown in the photo above does not appear have a TrueTrac installed.
Where the label says Model "S135S" above the "00488" Ratio, it would say "S135SL" if it had a TrueTrac installed.
The appended "L" stands for Limited Slip.
The label on my S135 axle with a TrueTrac states "S135SL" in the same location where the label above says "S135S".
thank you very much for the reply, I appreciate it!
Originally Posted by Y2KW57
The axle label shown in the photo above does not appear have a TrueTrac installed.
Where the label says Model "S135S" above the "00488" Ratio, it would say "S135SL" if it had a TrueTrac installed.
The appended "L" stands for Limited Slip.
The label on my S135 axle with a TrueTrac states "S135SL" in the same location where the label above says "S135S".
Is it an F-450 pickup (wider frame, with a slight hump over the rear axle, a midship fuel tank, and staggered shocks) or an F-450 chassis cab (narrower frame with no hump over the rear axle, and with fuel tank aft of axle)?
Your axle selection depends critically on whether your F-450 frame is a wide frame or a narrow frame.
it is a 2004 flat frame no hump with tank rear of axle.
Originally Posted by Y2KW57
What model year F-450 do you have?
Is it an F-450 pickup (wider frame, with a slight hump over the rear axle, a midship fuel tank, and staggered shocks) or an F-450 chassis cab (narrower frame with no hump over the rear axle, and with fuel tank aft of axle)?
Your axle selection depends critically on whether your F-450 frame is a wide frame or a narrow frame.
what particular truetrac will I need to get for this axle? I googled and the price is all over the place and is listing different spine counts.
I will be selling my Dana 80 with a truetrac. Whats a good price to ask for my axle? Trying to offset the cost of the s135.
Good luck with all three of those endeavors.
Your existing Dana 80 isn't wide enough to retrofit into a DRW pickup.
It is also not wide enough for Ford Class C motorhome owners with an E-Series cutaway chassis looking to upgrade from a Dana 70.
While your market my be limited in over the road applications, there is the off-road, rock crawling Jeep, Yota, and buggy world that might take an interest.
The cost of an S135SL built a la carte is very steep.
An empty bare banjo housing costs $4K, without the differential, ring & pinion, axles, or wheel ends. And you'll have to fabricate the cleats for the shocks and sway bar, and know how to weld on HSLA steel without the axle later stress cracking in the heat effected zone.
The bare carrier costs another $4K, and there are different carriers for different ranges of gear ratios, so you have to pick the right carrier for the gear ratio you want to run.
And then there is the elusive TrueTrac you are actually asking about. I found one just now at "Just Differentials" for $2,650.00. For just the TrueTrac unit. But it still won't fit in any Dana S135 you might find for a Ford, because the TrueTrac unit that Just Differentials is advertising is for a 3.91 to 4.44 gear ratio, which uses a different carrier (third member) than the 4.63 to 5.38 ratio carrier that Ford used in the F-550 and F-53 stripped chassis. But at least you have an idea of what you might expect to pay for the right hen's tooth, should you ever happen to find it.
You are infinitely better off financially speaking to just buy a used axle, or the entire truck, already equipped with the TrueTrac from the factory.
To address your question about spline count... the S135 axles in the Ford application are 36 spline, the axle shaft thickness is 1.84", the pinion gear shaft is 34 spline, the driven yoke is for a 1480 / SPL-55 U-Joint.
The bigger issue is getting a part number for the TrueTrac that Dana installed in OEM production S135SL axles manufactured for Ford applications.
Back at that time, the Detroit TrueTrac was owned by a company called Tractech, Inc., which also owned the Detroit Locker, also known as the Detroit "No Spin", and was also an option in various versions of Dana S135 axles back then.
If the S135 had a Detroit Locker / No Spin, then the area of the label on the axle that I previously called your attention to would say "S135SN", where the appended "N" is Dana's designation for "NoSpin".
If you want to add the NoSpin differential after the fact, the Spicer part number is 360CN100.
The Tractech Inc part number for the Detroit Locker No Spin is 250S-166.
But I don't recommend the Detroit Locker No Spin for typical street driving.
The problems that you are going to run into with the locating the Detroit TrueTrac for the Dana S135 application are:
- Rarity: there was no market in the commercial world for incurring the expense of rebuilding an S135 simply to add limited slip
- Mergers / Acquisitions / Divestment / Dissolution of ownership in Detroit TrueTrac technology: The changing of hands in ownership of TrueTrac, and conflicting business interests with successive owners, as well as the development of competitive products, combined with the rarity of demand for this particular axle application, is likely a constellation of factors that when combined, make it more difficult to find what you are looking for.
Tractech somehow became entwined with the joint venture between Dana/Spicer and Eaton once known as RoadRanger (now defunct, as is Tractech). Without getting into all the business dealings, the Dana is no longer a supplier of the TrueTrac, and no longer installs TrueTrac in axles after parting ways with Eaton, which was acquired by Meritor, which are both now owned by Cummins.
In the meantime, Dana developed their own helical gear driven limited slip, and called it the same name as their friction disk limited slip, to really confuse the consumer. I have never seen a Dana part number for the Detroit TrueTrac for any ratio or carrier version of the S135SL.
The Tractech supplier part number for the Detroit TrueTrac fitting the 36 spline axles of a 4.63, 4.88, & 5.38 ratio S135SL, is 918A433.
The Ford Basic part number for NON-conventional differentials (aka Limited Slip) is "4026". This basic number would have to be preceded by a prefix (such as F81Z, or, 3C3Z, etc) and a suffix (letters only) to narrow down what would apply to Ford's F-550 applications. However, I don't think you will find this part at Ford, since this axle was discontinued 20 years ago.
You are absolutely a wealth of information and extremely kind to have taken the time to send that info. I appreciate it.
the s135s I am getting for $1000 complete with the springs and hangers and everything.
I do frequently go off road, especially around my farm to which is why I want the traction.
So it looks like I need to explore other options vs a truetrac for the 135. I sure can’t spend $2500 on one, so I need to explore other options.
Originally Posted by Y2KW57
Good luck with all three of those endeavors.
Your existing Dana 80 isn't wide enough to retrofit into a DRW pickup.
It is also not wide enough for Ford Class C motorhome owners with an E-Series cutaway chassis looking to upgrade from a Dana 70.
While your market my be limited in over the road applications, there is the off-road, rock crawling Jeep, Yota, and buggy world that might take an interest.
The cost of an S135SL built a la carte is very steep.
An empty bare banjo housing costs $4K, without the differential, ring & pinion, axles, or wheel ends. And you'll have to fabricate the cleats for the shocks and sway bar, and know how to weld on HSLA steel without the axle later stress cracking in the heat effected zone.
The bare carrier costs another $4K, and there are different carriers for different ranges of gear ratios, so you have to pick the right carrier for the gear ratio you want to run.
And then there is the elusive TrueTrac you are actually asking about. I found one just now at "Just Differentials" for $2,650.00. For just the TrueTrac unit. But it still won't fit in any Dana S135 you might find for a Ford, because the TrueTrac unit that Just Differentials is advertising is for a 3.91 to 4.44 gear ratio, which uses a different carrier (third member) than the 4.63 to 5.38 ratio carrier that Ford used in the F-550 and F-53 stripped chassis. But at least you have an idea of what you might expect to pay for the right hen's tooth, should you ever happen to find it.
You are infinitely better off financially speaking to just buy a used axle, or the entire truck, already equipped with the TrueTrac from the factory.
To address your question about spline count... the S135 axles in the Ford application are 36 spline, the axle shaft thickness is 1.84", the pinion gear shaft is 34 spline, the driven yoke is for a 1480 / SPL-55 U-Joint.
The bigger issue is getting a part number for the TrueTrac that Dana installed in OEM production S135SL axles manufactured for Ford applications.
Back at that time, the Detroit TrueTrac was owned by a company called Tractech, Inc., which also owned the Detroit Locker, also known as the Detroit "No Spin", and was also an option in various versions of Dana S135 axles back then.
If the S135 had a Detroit Locker / No Spin, then the area of the label on the axle that I previously called your attention to would say "S135SN", where the appended "N" is Dana's designation for "NoSpin".
If you want to add the NoSpin differential after the fact, the Spicer part number is 360CN100.
The Tractech Inc part number for the Detroit Locker No Spin is 250S-166.
But I don't recommend the Detroit Locker No Spin for typical street driving.
The problems that you are going to run into with the locating the Detroit TrueTrac for the Dana S135 application are:
- Rarity: there was no market in the commercial world for incurring the expense of rebuilding an S135 simply to add limited slip
- Mergers / Acquisitions / Divestment / Dissolution of ownership in Detroit TrueTrac technology: The changing of hands in ownership of TrueTrac, and conflicting business interests with successive owners, as well as the development of competitive products, combined with the rarity of demand for this particular axle application, is likely a constellation of factors that when combined, make it more difficult to find what you are looking for.
Tractech somehow became entwined with the joint venture between Dana/Spicer and Eaton once known as RoadRanger (now defunct, as is Tractech). Without getting into all the business dealings, the Dana is no longer a supplier of the TrueTrac, and no longer installs TrueTrac in axles after parting ways with Eaton, which was acquired by Meritor, which are both now owned by Cummins.
In the meantime, Dana developed their own helical gear driven limited slip, and called it the same name as their friction disk limited slip, to really confuse the consumer. I have never seen a Dana part number for the Detroit TrueTrac for any ratio or carrier version of the S135SL.
The Tractech supplier part number for the Detroit TrueTrac fitting the 36 spline axles of a 4.63, 4.88, & 5.38 ratio S135SL, is 918A433.
The Ford Basic part number for NON-conventional differentials (aka Limited Slip) is "4026". This basic number would have to be preceded by a prefix (such as F81Z, or, 3C3Z, etc) and a suffix (letters only) to narrow down what would apply to Ford's F-550 applications. However, I don't think you will find this part at Ford, since this axle was discontinued 20 years ago.
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