Has anyone heard of a Dana 50 and if so, what can you tell me about them? I am buying a F350 and the guy is telling me that these where extra heavy rear ends. I thought the Dana 60 was the desireable one.
Thanks
Tony

 

Seems to me Dana 50 is the front Diff . The Dana 44 and 50 lived up front , not the rear . Youre right about the Dana 60 having the rear seat .
Paul

 

If it is a newer F350(I think mid 80s and on), you should have the Full floater Sterling 10.25 rear axle assembly. It is a superior rear assembly to the D60 and in my opinion, not only comparable, (as is generaly accepted) but superior to the Dana 70. It is a brutally strong, axle assembly and is gaining a legendary reputation for reliability. All of the major aftermarket products such as R$P ratio changes, LSDs, Lockers, Diff covers , etc. are available for the 10.25. Your F350 should have a reverse cut Dana 60 monobeam front axle which is also an extremely strong and reliable axle assembly in that configuratin and application. The Dana 50 is a TTB front axle used in Ford F250s only, and was available as an upgrade from the Dana 44 HD TTB front axle. Unfortunately no one knows they exist,including Dana/Spicer,There are no aftermarket products available,and only 3 or 4 Gear Ratio options, limited slip was available, (I beleive) from the factory, but none exist from the usual aftermarket sources,(including Dana/Spicer). I personally did not like many things about the dana 50, its hard or impossible to keep aligned, difficult to service, very limited parts availability,(except for a Lincoln Locker which I opted for), and poor truck stance, and appearance(tires appear pigeon toed when parked on hills and off camber situations). Swapped in a D-60 to solve the problem. Try as I did though, to destroy the Piece of Junk through an entire season of Competeive Mud Bogg Races, I could not get the darn thing to give up,(except a Driver Stupidity U-joint failure at the driver side knuckle,(surprisingly it didnt even destroy the shaft or the yoke).
Jeff

 

It's an '87 F350 Crewcab 4X4 with a 460 (non-injected) and a ZF-5 tranny. Axle ratio is 3.55 and the guy claims 15 mpg on highway. It is a Twin I beam front suspension. GVW's are 4000 and some odd lbs. I also looked at a F250 Diesel with a front end GVW of 4550; Kinda backwards to me... How difficult would it be to swap the solid axle 60 onto the twin I beam truck? That is if I could find one. Would the gears out of the 50 change over to the 60 just in case I could find a 60 with different ratio's?
Thanks.

 

I don't know what rear the truck has for sure, but it could be the sterling 10.25". The front axle ... "front end"... is what I'm concerned about. The truck rides ok... but...
Tony

 

Tony,
That seems strange that your potential F350 has the TTB front end. But it seems Im always finding new versions of factory produced offerings, that were not mainline applications. If it has Fords heaviest offering of a HD TTB front axle, then it would be the Dana 50. The swap is extremely easy from a TTB to the Dana 60, Except for as you stated, Finding one(at an affordable price anyway). I am always keeping an eye open for the F350 D60 front axle. If they are in good shape, I almost always purchase them if they are for sale for around $600 Complete, (I have purchased 3 of them, and have freinds who swoop them up as soon as they can afford). You can not swap gears or any other major components between the D50 and D60. Like I mentioned earlier though, the D50 is a sturdy axle if nothing else, but it is a pain in the butt to service it. On another note 15 mpg is very good MPG for a 1 ton 4x4 with a 460, but it does have,(in my opinion) high gears for a 1 ton. The 460 is a very strong motor, but when towing very heavy loads the 3.55 gears will put a huge load on the rest of the drive train. Your 87 would probably have a C6 if it is an automatic, which is a very tough tranny, but has no OD which would seem unusual to obtain 15 mpg. The E4OD on the other hand would not last long pulling heavy loads, (While in OD) with that high of a gear ratio, the OD portion of the E4OD is by most accounts,the weak link in the tranny, as it puts such a load on the torque converter,without affectively locking it up ,(the resulting slippage creates unacceptable heat build up). When I bought my 91 F250 from Ford they Strongly suggested the 4.10 gears for any kind of High Performance pulling needs. I used to get about 10 mpg when pulling( 6000 lbs), over generaly flat terrain. That was with the stock Michelin P235 16R tires, 460 EFI, and 4.10 gears. I would get about 12 mpg(max) unladened. Later,
Jeff

 

Tony,
I forgot that you mentioned the 5 speed manual tranny. The manual would be much more capable of handeling the the 3.55 gear ratio, and heavy loads, (except for maybe periodic clutch replacements, depending on driving habits). We use the 5 speeds in many of our 1 ton Company trucks and they all hold up well. Your gas mileage with a manual though is deffinitely a reflection of your driving style.
Jeff

 

A Dana 50 is the front axle shafts for the new (1998 ) super-duty trucks. I have not previously heard of this being used in a rear axle. I have seen and sold parts for many F-250, F-350, and F-Super duty rear axles, all were Dana 60's, 66's, or 70's with those last two being more rare. Your dealer may be lost, or not, but a 50 is kinda weak for an F-350 considering that the 450 & higher run 70's and 80's now.

 

That's kinda the concensus. Thanks for all the input. One more question. Did the Dana 60 ever come with a 3.55 gear in it. Thus would it be possible to match a Dana 60 front end with the current rear end?
Thanks

 

tylera,
In the original message, I mentioned "rear end". The owner mentioned that both axles matched and then went on to describe the front axle as a Independent suspension... I-beam Dana 50. He didn't actually say that the rear was a Dana 50, but I assumed that because of the way he described the axles.
Tony

 

H8mondays,
It is possible that this was a throw together truck with over-run parts put into it. The 460 with the lighter front end and the extra high rear ends don't add up for much common sense other than a highway cruiser... which would allow for a 351. It is also a 'custom' plain jane model. It seems like it works though as the previous owner used it to pull horse trailer to the extent of wearing an oblong hole in the 2" hitch pin.


>Tony, That seems strange that your potential
>F350 has the TTB front end.
>But it seems Im always finding
>new versions of factory produced offerings,
>that were not mainline applications.

 

 

Tyleraa,
Im not sure where you have gotten some of your info. The Dana 50 has been available on the front of the F250 since at least 91,(it was an option that I purchased when I purchased my 91 F250,and it is listed on my original window sticker. The Dana 60 has not been standard equiptment for the rear axle on F250s or F350s since the Sterling 10.25 was introduced. It(Sterling 10.25) was standard equiptment by 91 on the F250 and was standard as a Full Floating axle on the HD models. I beleive the 10.25 was introduced on the 88 models.
Jeff

 

Yes, I think it may have even been prior to '91. I forgot about the TTB's when I was writing my response. I wouldn't be too surprised to see on in an earlier 6.9L F-250. I thought he was looking for gouge on solid axles.