Believe me I would have rather gone to a D60 or even a D70 rear, but I wanted to keep the Spedo on my 95, so I had to go with the 10.25 due to the tone ring as it picks up the same as the 8.8.

My believe I have a little over $1000 in my lift. But a lot of that was due to having to completely rebuild the front end with new bearings and seals. The biggest cost was having the gears set up properly. I have since learned how and will NEVER pay to have that done again. The rest is basically the same as everyone else:

Axle, coils, extended stainless steel brake lines, new calipers and pads, new rotors, upgraded to Warn hubs, adjustable trackbar from JBG, Urethane 4* C bushings and radius arm bushings, radius arm drop brackets, and a fabricated track bar bracket. The rear was easy as far as the lift and extended brake line, the only issue was with again having the gears set up and extending the driveshaft 1.5".

 

I thought that by 10.25 he was talking about the sterling that is under the newer superduties, and I thought that those had disc brakes.

i just checked my latest 4 Wheel and Off-Road, they had a nice feature on axles and you need a 99 or newer for discs.

is this the same axle, or am i getting two different ones mixed up.

Also, what options are there for rear axles if you want to keep the speedo?

 

1985-1997 heavy duty trucks used a full floating sterling 10.25 drum brake rear axle. the light duty trucks received either a Dana 60 or Sterling 10.25 semi-floater drum rear. the newer superduties use a disc brake sterling 10.50.

o man, dont get me wrong, i was NOT bashin the sterling, thats what i am runnin! all i was saying is that if you have the choice then a D70 may be better due to the larger aftermarket support!

-cutts-

 

is the D70 most commonly found in a 8 lug or 5 lug? probably 8, and will that allow use of the speedo?

and by chance, do you know what axle that might be under that 77 F250 2wd?

 

The difference in the 99 up are the perches and shock mounts are in a different location. 1988-1999 F-250 and F-350's had the 10.25 that is the same dimensions as really 1970-1996 F-150s and full size Broncos. Which is why I went with an 90's era 10.25, less work to put it in.

This is a guess, but I believe the 10.25 can take the same parts. There are conversion kits to change an older 10.25 to disk like the newer ones. And as for options for your 95, I beleive that the 10.25 is the only option other than the stock 8.8 if you want to keep the spedo, again a guess and the only one that I have found that will work.

 

so, with your putting that rear end and the solid axle up front, you have basically made yourself an f250. Is there much difference in the frames between an F150 and a 250?

I see about the differences in the 99 and up, would have been nice not to change it, but oh well.

Kjett, i see you are runnning 4.56s, what are other guys using - i would be running 35 inch tires max, so i was just wondering what a good ratio is. would 4.10s be enough and also what are common gear ratios that are found in these axles that you are swapping in, would be nice if i didnt have to get an axle, and then change the gears

 

With my 4.56's I am right in my power band with 36's and get plenty of low end torque and at highway speeds it doesn't rev much higher than whe it was stock. I originally put 35 Ground Hawgs when I did the lift and there isn't much of a difference except for 1". When I put the 10.25 under the truck I will be keeping the 4.10 and change the front back to 4.10 so I can get a little more wheel spin when in the bogs. I am not sure how it will affect the truck on the road, but to be honest, it will be mainly used off road anyways. I just want to make sure I have the ability to put it on the road if I want to, which is why I was concerned with the tone ring in the rear end.

I guess I have made it into a cross of an old and new 250. But keep in mind that I am still coil sprung like a 150, where the 250 is leaf sprung front. As far as fram differences, there are some, for example the frame horns on my 150 have a corregated section where my brothers 95 F-350 doesn't. The width and lengths are the same though (his is a reg cab long bed, mine extended cab short bed). I really haven't gotten under his to notice any other difference, but I am sure someone here knows.

 

interesting, what year did the superdutys go coil sprung, or are they still leafs, havent looked at a newer one, but they are all still solid axle right? my dads duramax is independant front, i just like the feeling of the strength of a solid axle.

so, do you think 4.10s would be fine with 35s? it wont be a main driver, in the summer i have the bike and there is the fiances mazda also, but then again i didnt buy a truck for mileage, so a few higher RPMs wont be the end of the world

 

With 35s and an auto I would go for 4.56s myself.

 

The superdutys went coils/radius arms in '05, but you'd pay big money for one of those axles. The sterling axles after '99 also have a metric bolt pattern thats different than the older ones.

 

yeah, i wasnt thinking about a newer one, i was just curious.

So, what is the bolt pattern on the pre 99s, and would it work to get a pre 99 sterling with the 8 lug pattern and then what front axle to match the bolt pattern? Is there a solid front that comes stock with the same bolt pattern?

It would be nice if you could also find a matching set that would have the same gears.

I guess what I am asking, what is the front axle that is used on the front of the pre 99 superduties and could you use this front axle on a f150 SAS?

 

The pre '99 250s and 350s all used the same 8 lug pattern that pretty much all other 3/4 and one ton trucks use. 250s from 80-98 used a dana 50 TTB axle. 350s from 80-83or 84 used the same TTB axle, but from 85-98 all 350s had a solid dana 60 with the 8 lug pattern you're looking for. You could either get one of these dana 60s or get a pre 80 250 or 350 axle or swap 8 lug outers on a dana 44, which is all a pre 80 F250 axle is anyway It would all match the sterling rear

 

so, how will the 80-98 D60 swap into the F150, most SAS i hear about are D44s from a late 70s ford. will it be the same swapping in the D60, or is it more work than it is worth.

Sorry about all the questions, just trying to make an informed decision with the best end results.

Thanks for all the good info!

 

Its a little more work, but it would definitely. be worth it if you could afford it The cost would be close to the same except for the axle itself. Expect to pay 2 or 3 times the amount for the 60. There are 2 ways to do it- you could use the leaf spring setup that the 60 already has, but would be more work and not as desirable in my opinion. The other way is to cut off the leaf spring perches and buy some C bushing mounts(bronco graveyard, BC broncos, james duff, or wild horses sell these-can't remember which sell them but a couple of them do, they're about 70bucks I think) you weld these to the 60 and use the radius arms and coils just like you would with the late 70s 44 swap. This is what I really wanted to do on my '93 but I just couldn't afford the 60

 

how pricey is the 60? and would you use the radius arms and other parts off of a late 70s, the 95, or ones from a lift kit designed for the same year D60 Superduty?

Would you say that it might be better or easier to do a 8 lug swap on a late 70s D44, since i will probably be running only 35s?