1985 Ford F-250 Rear End
 

I'm having trouble finding out what rear end I have on my truck. It is a 1985 F-250 Diesel 2 wheel drive. I'm pretty sure that it is a Dana 70 but I am wanting some confirmation before I buy parts for it. The decal on the door says the axle code is 73 which I am pretty sure tells me that I have 5:13 gears but can someone confirm this? I'm not sure what axles came out with the truck. It has a pinion seal leak that needs to be replaced. Would it benefit me to go ahead and rebuild the rear end while I am already in there? The truck has about 250,000 miles on it but I am not hearing any grinding noises coming from it so I am not sure if I will just be creating more work for myself by fixing it when its not broke. Thanks in advance for any help. :-drink

The 85 camefrom the factory with a sterling 10.25 rear axel. Where is the fill plug located? On the front driver side is where the sterling's is located the dada's was on the cover if I remember right.

Look for the big 70 on the left side of the housing. :-D

I second the front drivers side fill plug for the Sterling and rear cover for the Dana axle.

Sterling 10.25" and Dana 70 look a lot alike.

Thanks for the help. The fill plug is on the cover so from what you said...it is a Dana 70. I appreciate the help.

73 axle on my 85 spec sheet says 6300 pound capacity Dana with 3.54 gears.

Thanks Dave! Would you guys know where to find a good pinion seal kit? And would it be worth my while to rebuild the whole thing since I am going to have it torn apart anyways? I can find the pinion seal at any parts store but for some reason I can't find the crush sleeves. Any help is always appreciated. Thanks in advance again. :-drink

Does it say which Dana though, i.e. the Dana 60 or the Dana 70?

I have this same question as well. My door pillar says 73 for axle, and my truck is still stock from 1985. So it is either a Dana 60 or Dana 70, correct?

Stock the trucks had Sterling rear axles.

If your truck has a Dana, one of two things have happened.
Either the truck was a special order owner optioned truck or it has been replaced by someone somewhere along the line.

For the rear axle I am going to guess most likely a 70, but there are a few 60's out there.

Try this link

http://www2.dana.com/expert/

Click light axle, then Literature and catalogs and you will find was to identify which axle you have.

My 81 one ton 4x4 gaser had a danna 60-1 with 4.10 gears realy expencive ended up puting a d 60 in it

From what I have heard, early 1985 trucks would have gotten the D60 while mid 1985 ford switched to the 10.25. I've also never heard of a D70 under a 2wd 3/4 ton truck. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but I've only heard of D70's in the 1 ton or larger trucks, usually duallies.

if its a diesel its probably a dana 70U as thats all i have ever found in diesel fords 85 and down.. now in 86 and up i found a sterling 10.25 to be common..

the dana 70u will have a smooth housing not ribbed.. and they are the best axle out there by far.. i would only run a d70u or a 14bolt if i had choice of any lite truck axles..

will look like this

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4631/im002453.jpg

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7828/d70c.jpg

Well my dad did have it custom ordered directly from Ford back in 85, but there is hardly anything custom on the truck other than the rare two-tone paint job. I still have the window sticker that came with the truck. Let me go find that.

I have seen older posts by NumberDummy that said the 1985 f250 trucks could have had the Dana 60, Dana 61-1, Dana 70, Dana 70u, and the Sterling 10.25.

Ok guys, I ran out and got the paperwork for the custom order, and I cleaned off the axle ID Badge. I also found the window sticker with the Ford Custom Order Form.

Here are the axle numbers on the Ford Custom Order Form. Please decipher for me. Thanks.

Axle = 73
Front Axle = D200G
Rear Axle = D906C

The Axle ID Badge reads this
3.54 ^E5TA YB
605247-1

Based on the Axle Badge Number of 605247-1 while using the above Dana site, my axle was the Dana 70u axle. Pretty interesting stuff. I assume my gearing is 3.54 based on the badge info?

Well I learned something new. I was just over on oilbuners and saw another 1985 F-250 4x4 with a D70 rear.