I'm in the process of buying a 1984 f250 with the 300-I6 . The rear end is broken, though the cause is unknown. The drive-line spins, but the rear tires don't turn. The seller believes that the axle shaft is broken, but he hasn't confirmed it by taking the axle out. Also, the rear axle doesn't whine or grind when driving with 4H. I can't find an axle tag on the rear end, but I do know the axle model number: E4TW A2A. The door jamb tag said the axle code was "26." You guys have any ideas what might be wrong the axle? Can you guys gain any info off of the model number and door jamb code? Thanks.
PS: First FTE post.

 

The f250's had either a Dana axle or a Ford axle made by Sterling. The Ford axle has the fill plug on the front driver's side, while the Dana has the fill plug in the rear cover.

If you have a full floating axle, you wil have the piece in the middle of the rear wheels that sticks way out with little bolts in it. This is the actual axle, and can be pulled out without even jacking the truck up. So this would be an easy check.

If it's not the axle broke, my guess would be the spider gears or the splines are stripped on the yoke at the front of the rearend where the driveshaft mounts.

 

Franklin, I think only light duty F-250's got a 300-6, so it won't be a full floating rear axle.

 

It's probably a semi-floating. I can try calling good ol' junk yards to see what they have in stock for parts. Can anyone get any info off the door jamb code and axle model #? I can't find much info on it. Thanks.

 

F250 HD's and F350's got the 300, it was the 302 that was LD only.
From the fact that the wheels haven't fallen off and it's driveable in 4-hi, I'd say either it's a full floater, or something is stripped in the rear end. A C-clip semi floater will lose the outer half of a broken axle pretty easily, it'll just walk out of the housing.

 

Hmmm. Well, the drive-line spins and no noise is made in the differential when put into 2H. The wheel hasn't fallen off. Hmm. We will probably have to take it apart and see what's the matter. Hopefully it's something simple/cheap to fix. I also found a site that says the axle is a 3.73 non-ls, but I'm unable find any other specifics about it. Thanks for the replies, guys.

 

The first axle I ever rebuilt was a full-floater on a '77 Chevy dually. That was definitely an interesting experience.

My problem was that a bearing in the outer driver's side tube had completely disintigrated, and the halfshaft had slid out of the center diff. Happened while I was going down the road at about 50 mph, too! I was cruising along, minding my own business when I noticed I was gradually slowing down, even though I was still giving the truck fuel. When I would push the pedal down farther, the speedometer would act like it was a tachometer instead, revving up and back down with the pushes of the pedal.

When I made a turn into a parking lot, it must've slid the axle back in enough to grab the splines, because I could now move forward. However, right after this, I turned again to get into a parking spot, and lost the ability to move any farther.

The point to this story of mine is, on a full floater, you may be able to test if it's a similar problem by jacking the rear of the truck off the ground (chock the front wheels first, please) and trying to move the wheels on each side in and out. If they move, even slightly, this is probably what's wrong. If one will move, push it all the way in and try to turn it. You should be able to tell if it's catching on the splines.

The only other thing I could think of, that I have personally seen, is a halfshaft that has literally twisted itself apart. Another axle I rebuilt was like this, the splines were still in the center diff, but the outer part of the shaft was completely shorn loose. That one was on a semi-floater, though, with the C-clip.

 

Ahh, sorry about your incident with the chevy. I'll see if I can jack the rear end up tomorrow and try your recommendations, Wild. Thanks for the advice, guys.

 

Don't worry about it now, the seller became too impatient and started to get angry, so I decided not to get the truck. Thanks for your help anyways.

 

too bad ,theres lots of good old ford trucks out there ,good luck finding another one