Hi all!
I'm having a little bit of a issue trying to figure out what set of XRF ball joints to order for my truck. It is an Extended cab 96 F-250 4x4 with a Dana 50, and 3850 lbs axle.
it looks like The tire club company that had them are now selling them on ebay. The ones that I see are either for 4600 lbs axle, Dana 60, or 99-newer truck. I'm just trying to make sure I order the right ones, because I'd hate to dig into the tearing the axles down to figure out I ordered the wrong ones.
I did reach out to the seller and let them know what I had, and they sent me a link for ball joints for a 4x4 f-150. https://www.ebay.com/itm/184709081054?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=4sqnCAS2St-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=qcovN6Y2TI6&var=&widget_ver=a rtemis&media=COPY

I just want to make sure these are the right ones for my truck. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Are you sure it’s a 3850# axle? D50 TTB’s are 4,600#. Can you post up a picture of it, and one of the hubs. It should embossed on the bottom of the differential. (Ie. “50”). It should also be on the VIN decal inside the driver door jamb.

Possible it has been swapped out at some point, I’d look at the axle it self to confirm. Post up pics.

 

Sure, from everything I've researched it seems these two shouldn't go together.

 

Yeah, ok. I thought all D50 were 4,600#. Maybe not.. maybe some used a different knuckle. Do you know the history of the truck, modified or swapped out? I’d be curious what a dealer says.

I forgot about this thread…. Have a read through.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-problems.html

Just for kicks post up a pic of the hub, and take a look on the bottom of the differential.. Im curious what is embossed on it.

Edit. both build dates are the same month and year.

 

This is the hub and diff. It does have 50 stamped in it. Should I buy the 4500 axle ball joints and hope they are. XRF doesn't 't seem to list a 3850 part unless it's the f150 joints they sent me a link to.

 

Yeah.. I don’t know to be honest. I only know of the Dana 50 TTB 4,600# axle. Not familiar with this at all, and I can’t find anything online that confirms a 3,850# Dana 50 TTB. Hopefully someone else can chime in on it.

Looks like a 50 hub and locking hub to me, you’d have to pop the cover off to confirm.

Other than what is in the other thread, it’s possible someone swapped in a D50, whole or modified. Other threads I remember saying extended / crew cab 250’s only came with a D50 - I don’t know if that is correct or not. I’d also want to check the axle shafts to see what they are, comparing the yoke (u joint) size (should be a 1350) to confirm they are D50. Lots of guys have modified these trucks over the years, hence why I was asking if you know the history of the truck.

Here’s a couple links. Lots of info, and lots more threads if you Google Dana 50 TTB…
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tb-thread.html
https://www.blueovaltrucks.com/tech-...tb-front-axle/


If it were me, I’d either disassemble, measure and then order.. a pain I know, and maybe not an option to order XRF if down time is an issue. Or take a chance they will work and order up a set.

Or, call Dana Spicer tech line and run this past them, as well as your local dealer. Post up what you find out.

 

According to the Bill Of Material (BOM) list from Dana (610609-3) your truck has a Dana 50 and uses the same parts as the higher Axle weight models as best I can tell. Why the front springs are rated so low is a mystery to me.

The ball joints are Items 37 and 40, referred to as Socket - Upper and Socket - Lower respectively.

See attached BOM file.

 

Interesting.. If you look on Pg 139 of Randy’s post., items #42 and 43 for the knuckles, have no PN.

It refers you to contact vehicle manufacture…

 

This is great info, I'm just glad I'm not the only one stumped with the 3850 axle label.
I bought this truck about 5 years ago, prev person said the truck was used in Forestry, not much more info was given.
I think it will be best to just a break it down and see what I have and go from there. I see Moog joints for both axle weights, but I didn't have good experience with Moog on another vehicle.
I'll report back once I do.

 

Yeah, I’ve had bad luck over the past several yrs with Moog ball joints.. I have one to change out right now that has maybe 10k miles on it, it’s clunking around already..

I used XRF (the whole front end kit) on my 96, everything fit and works well. Don’t have enough miles on it to comment any further, but I’ve yet to read a bad review on them.

Good luck with it, come back and let us know what you find.

edit. Just a thought, but if it was govt truck, maybe a custom fleet order of some type? Who knows..

 

I put xrf joints in my half ton in April 2020. Maybe 50k miles since then? Plenty of bad/rough "roads", usually at gvwr. I've been happy with them. I've had Moogs fail much sooner under the same conditions. Same for Mevotech and Duralast. Hopefully you can get the right parts from xrf.

 

I did find another seller and in the fitment notes it does show f250 4x4 with 3850 axles, so perhaps it is a thing!

 

The door tag on my 1996 F250 4x4 says my front GAWR is 3559 lb (GVWR is 8600 lb) and I have the Dana 50 as well.

Some other posts I have seen, suggest using Dana ball joints. I found a couple web links (of the same part number).

RockAuto

Dana BALL JOINT KIT - DANA 50 700238-2X | Zoro

 

I had to end up going with the 4600 lbs bottom XRF ball joint. 3850 was too small.

 

Did you get a picture of the knuckles when you had it apart? Or any pics of it all?