does it still have the full 8 foot bed? If so your gross weight is so high do to the extra body and what not Plus you have a big block under the hood. That's a shot from a standard cab truck. 89 F250 W/ 351W, C6 reg cab, 8 foot bed gvwr of 8900

There is a lot of mystery on how they rated the truck in this gen. honest. And there are so many still floating around that were special order trucks with odd set ups. I have only seen a hand full with the factory helper springs. Guy across the street had a F250 with a 460 and red cab. Bought it off the local RV place up the road. It was rated at like 9300 or something close and was still single rear wheel. ** Shrug** I think that's why they made the super duty line .... helps standardize things. How many times you walk in the parts store and need to know 50 things about your truck to buy simple stuff for it? LOL Its like needing a medical history now a days.

 

it doesn't matter what front axle you have.
you can have a f250HD with a D44 or a D50.

it doesn't matter if your truck was ordered with aux springs or not.in fact most f250HD trucks do not.

ALL diesel f250's (doesn't matter which year) are HD.(sterling full floater w/GVWR over 8500 lbs.-or call it a lower sitting f350 w/ a TTB if you'd rather lol because that's what it is.)

if your GVWR is over 8500 lbs you have a full floating axle that looks like this:


AND your GVWR WILL BE 8501 + lbs.you will NOT see that rear axle sitting under an F250LD (from the factory.)


if you don't see that large hunk of metal sticking out of your rear axle.your GVWR will be under 8501 lbs,and you'll have a LD f250

an f250HD is basically an F350 truck with a TTB (either D44 or D50-depending on the year,and cab configuration.-but matters not as to if its a LD or HD.)
now,due to the D50's reverse arched springs,this means the truck sits lower than the F350 truck (which has the D60 front) so to accommodate the front end height difference,a 2" rear block under the leafs springs is present as apposed to the F350's 4" rear block to match the D60's ride height.

you'll notice at parts stores when asking for brakes or rear axle parts etc.they will ask if the GVWR is under or over 8500 lbs.
that's because the F250HD has the same axle/rear leaf springs(perhaps no overloads from the factory,but easily added-and quite reasonable at your local salvage yard.most commonly seen on f350's so look for them there)/frame/springs etc.-everything as the F350 except for whats mentioned above (and of course without the DRW option-at least factory. )

i hope this simplifies things.

 

I need to check my axle codes, but short of that how can you tell a D50 from a D44? My 89 is +8,501 GVWR, 10.25" rear, and inverted leaf front suspension. I'm not all hot and bothered about the HD designation (except maybe if I ever think about selling it to get more $$), but I would like to know if I have D44 or D50...oh, it is TTB.

 

the locking hub on a D-44 is smaller than the mounting flange.
the locking hub on a D-50, D-60 is the same size as the mounting flange.
D-44 front axle:

D-50, D-60 front end:

 

Not sure all the front axles had this or not but mine has 50 on the diff in raised letters. It is a 97 f250. I also had an 89 150 that was the same way only 44 of course.

 

My '89 F-250 4x4 has the 1 1/16 lug nuts. Does this mean I have the 44?

Also, were there ever limited slip front differentials offered on the '80-97 trucks? I heard that it was an option. It would be cool if my beater had that, all I know is that it pushes snow good.

 

yup. the 86.5 D60 i got to put in the 88 when i did the 4X4 single wheel pickup conversion has a factory limited slip in it

 

8501+ is HD period.. I have a 94 F250 reg cab 4wd, sticker says 8600 GVWR, it has the sterling full float with the extended rear hub and is quite a bit higher than a LD F250.

 

Well from everything I gather from this post it can sometimes be a crap shoot if you have a HD or not. I always just assumed a HD meant it had the extra leafs and maybe a heavier axles. From running the info from the VIN code mine is a HD but I dont have the extra leafs in the rear. So far all I am sure of up front is it isnt a D44. I am glad I ran across this thread. All in all I learned a lot. Glad there are a lot of Blue Oval Guru's in here.

 

i have always considered the F250 ld-hd difference nothing more than a sticker on the rear fender after the 87 model year.
in 86, you could buy a true F250 ld, it came with an 8 lug 9 inch rear.

but by 87, all F-250 4X4's pretty much came with a sterling 10.5 rear full floating rear axle

 

My 93 reg cab,460,5sp has the full floating rear sterling axle, d50 front and 8600+gvrw. My neighbor has an 88 250 reg cab, 300,5sp that has the semi floating light duty rear end, d44 front and 7200? (sticker is dinged) gvrw.
Seems to be a crap shoot as to what they made.

 

The springs (which I bet are a different rate or more of them in a pack perhaps) could be one component of it.

But like I said before: A true HD 8600lb GVWR F250 will have a full floating rear axle with huge hubs that stick out a good 3 inches from the wheel itself. it is the same rear used by the SRW (single rear wheel) F350 and with the correct wheels or adapters can use dual rear wheels. This is not to be confused with the smaller light duty axle that is used on some F250s which is semi floating-not full floating like the F250HD and F350 SRW. A full floater is MUCH stronger than a semi float based on design. hence why the trucks rated for more weight.

This article will explain more about the differences between full and semi floating axles: http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0112...les/index.html

 

not really.just some incorrect information posted.
it's quite easy to tell the LD from HD really.
f350 and f250 HD both came from the factory with exact same 5 main leaf spring pack.
just because your f250hd (again,most don't have them.they had to be ordered extra on the f250hd's) doesn't have an aux spring,doesn't mean you cant add one easy enough if you need it,and doesn't mean its an hd/or ld if it has an overload spring or not.the truck is much different/don't focus to much on just springs.



its not a crap shoot.
it's what the original owner ordered or bought off the lot.-many owners simply don't understand there are two f250 trucks to chose from that's all.

perhaps it was unwise of ford to offer two vastly different trucks and call them both "f250".but it's quite easy to tell the two apart.

don't let some incorrect information posted in thread so far,confuse you.
(no offense intended to anyone.we'll all just trying to help.)

 

I have the original sale's brochure for the 1988 model year. It seems to me that minimum 8600 GVWR on the drivers door jam, is the easiest way to determine if she's HD or not...notice item 5 below the chart, that explains why so many of us are confused about the front axle, because there was an option on the front axle for the LT, only if the purchaser also ordered the heavy duty suspension. And so, the 8600 rating should be the easy judge on any doubts, as to HD or LT.

 

After looking down that sheet there I can see a few things that stand out between the two as well. I see a difference in the original tires used, The HD used a 235 and the LD used a 215 and the HD were only a 5 speed standard or a 3 speed auto trans no auto with OD offered.

But I guess the easiest way is to look at the GVWR and see if it 8501 or more. Or the Vin code 3rd letter F = light duty F250 7,001 - 8,000 G = reg. F250 8,001 - 8,500 and H= F250 HD or light duty F350 8,501- 9,000 ( the VIN info is from LMC catalog so if it wrong tell them! LOL )