i have an 02 f350 with a build date of 05/02. i have not confirmed by checking the tag or counting the splines but it appears that i have a 32 spline gear box. after 05/02 they were built with 36 spline shafts. is there any strength gains worth the conversion to the 36 spline box? i think that the only other part to change would be the pitman arm. has any one done this? thank you for any thoughts or opinions on this.

 

Subscribing.

 

Do you have a single wheel or Dual rear wheel? That's for the guys who will chime in that know for sure. If it was a 250 you would have a 36 spline. And there isn't much difference in a single 350 and 250 from what I've seen on here.

 

sorry, i have a drw. is there a trick to editing the signature? the gentlemen from redhead said all 2002 f350's came with 36 spline, but in my search for a core, i found that they also came with 32 spline. i think but can't confirm that everything built on or before 05/02 was 32 spline.

 

I'm not a expert on this but I believe he's right, from what I've read on here. You should count the splines between the 4 wide spacers. I counted mine wrong, so be real careful. In fact I counted 32 and ordered that. Red head sent me a 36 and I rechecked mine and sure enough it was 36. To make matters worse I ordered a 32 spline moog pitman arm and had to return that for the 36. But I'm here to tell you, you'll never be sorry if you order the redhead, I can't say enough about mine. I just put all new Moog tie rods and ends and ball joints and hub and bearing assemblies on mine and a rancho RS5410 steering stabilizer. It's so amazing the way it drives it's worth it at almost any price. And when your done, be sure you do the PS flush with Mobil 1 Syn. ATF.

 

Interesting....

For a steering gear, there should not be that much difference going from 32 to 36 spline. It is nothing like the torque that high count axle splines see.

Unless there is also a change in the ratio of the box???

 

One more question, is it a 4x4 or 2x? That, maybe could make a difference, I don't know.

 

In my experience the only ones that have the 32 spline are the early 99's, could be others but not to my knowledge. I swapped mine from a 32 spline to the later 36 spline since mine was starting to wander pretty bad. No difference between the boxes, physically or steering except in my case better because of the worn out box.

 

2002 f350 cc lwb 4wd auto drw, most days, i think my truck has a mind of its own wondering all over the road. not very politely either.

 

Did anyone ever fully answer your questions? I have a 99.5 f350 2wd SRW and it has a 32 spline. In another post you can actually check the pitman arm serial number to verify whether it is a 32 or a 36. I'm wondering if i should just order the 36 spline redhead and get a 36 spline pitman arm. But not sure if there's more to it than that. Did you ever find out?

 

I know the four-wheel drive trucks switched to 36 blinds in March of 99. I believe all four wheel drive trucks have 36. As for two wheel drive trucks, I am not 100% sure. My 2000 f250 two-wheel drive has a 32 spline. It seems that they jumped around with 32 and 36 on the two wheel drive trucks. And of course putting on how old the truck is you never know what somebody else has done so my truck might not have the factory steering gear.

 

The only difference is the number of splines on the steering box end. You can do whatever you want but I wouldn't change my Pittman arm if I didn't have to. If you can't get a 32 spline box, then a Pittman arm change would be in order.