I have a 1993 E350 club wagon with a 460 engine. The differential / rear-end went out. What other years are available for me to yank out and replace it with? Are disc brakes available from other donor vehicles? Yes I'm new lol. Don't beat me up to bad!

 

You'll want to stick with a Diff out of a E350 van. If you want a disc brake rear end you'll need one out of a 99 or newer. I'm swapping one of them into my 89 E350. But if converting to rear disc brakes you'll need to do some other modifications. You'll need a different master cylinder and probably do something with a proportioning valve or the ABS unit itself.

Also if you do go for the disc brake diff. Just know that there was a semi-floating and a full floating rear diff in the 99+ E350's. If you don't know, the full floating diff has the large hubs that stick out past the wheels ( the semi-floaters don't ) .

Here's a picture of the diff I bought for mine.




Otherwise if you don't want to deal with the rear disc brake swap then you should be good with any 92-98 E350 rear diff. Just make sure to get one with the gears you want.

 

The disc brake diff appeals to me. Has anyone done this completely? If I know all the parts I need I can source them all in one day and try and knock it out on a weekend if possible. Does the disc diff have the same 8 Bolt wheel pattern or did it change? Thank you for the above response. Oh what the difference on the full float and the other?

Gracias thank you

 

I'm still gathering parts for my swap. I'm sure someone has done the swap before.

All the 8 lug Ford van diffs are the same bolt pattern ( 8 x 6.5" ) . The trucks went to a metric bolt pattern in the late 90's.

The full floating diffs are much stronger. The load is carried on the diff housing and they have two hub bearings per side. The semi floaters all the load is carried on the axle shafts themselves. And they only have a single axle bearing per side.

 

One thing to keep in mind here is the discs don't increase the braking capacity as much as you'd think. The only real advantage is when the drums get over heated, that's the only time drums loose over discs. In 99% of driving, they never get used enough to get over heated. Also the parking brakes are located inside the rotors and are a bitch to replace when they wear out. You have to pull the whole hub assembly and axles to access the parking brake shoes (mini drum brakes) My 99 SD F250 has rear discs and I wish it didn't. My parking brakes do not work. I have to leave it in gear (6 speed manual) to park. I replaced one side's shoes hoping that would be enough to hold it, but it didn't. Took me a half day to change those shoes. If you're going to tow heavy loads in the mountains or drive hard with lots of hard stops, that's the only way you'll justify the swap.

 

Yes but the parking brake doesn't need to be replaced very often. And the disc brake pads are a whole lot easier to change then the shoes on a drum brake rear.

And I always leave my manual transmission equipped vehicles in gear when I park.

 

With a diesel you tend to leave it idling more often, for short periods, so you don't have that option. And rear brakes, be it drum or discs don't wear out Like the fronts do. I just replaced the rear shoes on my 96 E150 two weeks ago they they had 130k on them. Chances are with a swap, you'll never touch the rear brakes again once done. Like I said, you'll go through far more headaches doing it than you'll earn in benefits. Been there, done that

 

fordman75..
You recommend getting the master cylinder from the donor vehicle as well as the abs unit? Think im gonna do the disc brake diff. I dont like messing with drums lol. Yeah im lazy.. I do not plan on towing what so ever. So I believe I am safe doing the swap. Do the disc brake diff just bolt up, any mods needed on it?
Any others out there that have done this swap that dont mind sharing what other parts I may need. Thanks in advance.

 

I think all the disc brake axles are metric bolt pattern and will require different rear wheels. You'll need to change the front discs to match if you want to rotate tires. Not sure if front spindles changed in those years for rotors to fit.

 

Pretty sure that's just on the 1/2 tons.

 

I would recommend getting as many of the parts off the donor as possible including master cylinder & brake booster. I don't know what your van has for a proportioning valve/abs unit. I doubt the abs unit out of the newer van would work in yours. Mine's an older one with no abs. So I'm just going to add a aftermarket adjustable proportioning valve. I haven't checked on the 92+ vans for doing this swap. So you'll have to do some investigating on your own for the rest of the brake parts. I know I was going to use a 99 Master on my 89 but it wouldn't fit the 89 booster. But the 89 is a different animal then the 92+.

You will probably want to get the parking brake cables, spring plates( just in case ) and the driveshaft off the donor too. The 99+ uses a drive plate style pinion yoke on the diff. So you need at least the matching companion flange off the driveshaft. I just got the whole drive shaft when I bought the diff for mine. When doing a swap like this there will always be some little parts that will need to be modified or replaced. You can plan and plan, but something always pops up.I would recommend purchasing a good quality new set of U-bolts for the donor vehicle. I personally don't like re-using the old U-bolts.




Nope that is the trucks. All 8 lug E250/E350 vans are 8 x 6.5" through out the entire Econoline production.

I've got that disc brake diff, that I posted the picture of, sitting in my garage. And the wheels off my 89 E350 and my 96 E250 both fit it. Now if it was a Superduty truck diff that wouldn't be the case. They were a metric bolt pattern.

 

8.8' s never went metric

 

I have a 93 E350 with a 7.3 diesel motor and blew up and I called the Fords only junkyard and I heard you can go up to late in the years... Newer late early I forget which means which...lol .... They put a 2003 disc brake rear in my van.... According to my transmission guy he had to change the yolk for the drive shaft on the diff...... My question is did you have any breaking problems after doing your swap ? If so did you make any changes to your master cylinder or your RABS proportioning valve unit and did you have any brake sticking issues after doing a rear diff swap ? Thanks

 

Mines a 2003 e350 or 250 diff with Disc n 373 gears NOW ..... I'm curious and it's already in the truck and it's been running just fine..... Except for the brakes sticking which I had a problem with after two car accidents.... The brake booster was damaged after two heavy impacts standing on my brake pedal on impact with both of them..... So I bought a new master cylinder stock 93... My big worry is the RABs Unit Removal...... Will it affect anything.... I have a wilwood proportioning valve I plan on mm
putting in its place so I can get more fluid to help relax the calipers.... I believe that's the problem because the disc brakes and the newer units have a larger bore.... Anyway getting ready to do the whole job but concerned about the proportioning valve or Rab's unit with the removal of..... It will affect anything computer related
Mine is a 1993 e350 7.3 ...had the Full Floater ....aholes at Fords Only In Anaheim sent the semi ...i asked for the Super Duty and they sent It Out $900 delivered .....i swapped everything in an 84 toy 4x4 ..motor,Trans ,Rear Diff .....so i was Bummed i Had No Where to Work to Do It ...$2500.00 for diff n Swap on Van was More than i Hoped....think he had to Change the Yoke at Diff as Well ..... Anyways.....i Don't see the 1999 Master Cylinder for My Van Bolting right UP so Im skipping it n going back to A Stock ONE again.... already put a new Booster, Master before.....so just worried it has Some Kinda Computer Connection and May Mess something UP ....Gotta Handle this Cause Can't Afford Mechanics and Been My Own Most Of My Life .......Thanks For Any And All Knowledge.Appreciated

 

I was searching these posts and Ended Up swapping a 2003 disc 373 diff for my old 7.3 e350 drum diff .......What Year did U end Up With and Did U Have any Brake Issues Or System Changes ?