Went to the tire shop today with my new truck to get it aligned....and to my surprise they pointed out that the front wheels were 5 lug and the rears were 8? I called the guy that I bought it from and he said that he put a sterling axle in the rear for a better gear ratio since its lifted 4 inches and on 33's , but that the front was not the same??? How do I make both the same bolt pattern? Also, is there a way to make the front and the rear match gear ratios for cheap? He said the rear gear ratio was 10.4 I believe and that the front was 3.? Im lost

 

1/2 ton truck with 1 ton rear end? The rear end is called a 10.5 Sterling, not the fact it is 10.5 ratio. The ring gear is 10.5" in diameter, just like the 9" ford is 9" ring gear, the 8.8 Ford is 8.8" diameter.

I assume it is still twin I beam front end by the 5 lugs. I would just get another 8.8 rear axle with a matching ratio and bolt it back in. That would be the simplest fix. Converting the front end over to 8 lug will be much more involved in my opinion.

What are your plans for the truck?

 

I was thinking of doing the rear Sterling axle swap on my F150 so I could carry more weight. Unlike in your case I was going to leave the axle ratios the same. I ended up buying an F250 instead.

You have a few options:
First (if you do, in fact, have different axle ratios) you could change the rear ring and pinion to get the same ratio as the front. Then, to get the same eight lug axles up front you could put Dana 44HD or Dana 50 knuckles and axles in the front. Changing the front gear ratios is a much more complicated endeavour than changing the rear ratios.

Second You could swap in an entire Dana 44HD or Dana 50 front diff. However, the Dana 44 is a coil spring suspension with radius arms and the Dana 44HD and Dana 50 are leaf spring suspensions.

Third put an 8.8 diff back in the rear so you have 5 lug at both ends. Probably your cheapest option.

I don't think there are 5 lug axles available for the Sterling 10.25 axle. If there was one could use them. Hopefully others with more experience and knowledge will chime in.

 

 

From what I understand the Dana 44 and the Dana 50 are the same from the knuckles in to the pumpkin. They are different from the knuckles out and that's why the knuckles are interchangeable.
Putting an entire Dana 50 into an F150 is a pretty big job. You need to put spring perches on for the leaf springs. If you go with the F150 coil springs then you need to put coil spring buckets on the Dana 50 along with attaching the radius arms somehow. I THINK they attach with the coil spring buckets.

 

This is 4x4 correct? You do know to not use 4 wheel drive with different front gearing compared to the rear?

I would go with what freightrain suggested and get the correct rear axle.
Even if the knuckles do interchange, will the axle shafts be the same diameters and lengths?

 

 

Downhill with a tail wind it would. Pretty much a worthless ratio in a truck with stock tires, let alone 35s.


As stated above the front and rear ratios have to match as close as possible. 3.07 front/3.08 rear in your example. The front axle ratio is typically slightly numerically lower than the rear.

 

Sounds like you got a "Frankentruck" there

To make reasonable recommendations, I'd want to know how you intend to use the truck? Hauling weight in the bed, towing (how big a trailer), run flats or mountains, etc.? There are lots of options including returning it to stock, converting the front end, restoring the 4x4 requiring matching front and rear ratios, and so on.

Remember, just bolting a Sterling axle under an F-150 does not make it an F-350! And the 300, while a decent engine for an F-150 and maybe even a 250, is not going to pull a gooseneck loaded with round bales. Or at least not very fast.

 

 

yes the D50 outers will bolt on the D44.
before you go that route though, you need to find out what rear axle is in the truck.
if it is a sterling 10.5 with 8X170 mm bolt pattern switching to 8 lug front will not help because you will still need to carry two spare tires.

 

Wheel adapters for the front to match the rear would be the absolute easiest thing. Only problem is they bump the wheel out a little, but depending on your wheels this my be a non issue.

Swapping out the rear axle would be a pain, since you'd have to get a longer driveshaft and different u joints, basically requiring a new driveshaft unless you could find one in the jy. Finding driveshafts in the jy is no easy task since they get destroyed from being forklifted around.

 

I have to disagree, for the fact I'm fairly sure there was no 3.07 geared Sterling rears. So he would still have to regear one end of the truck. It is going to be a project either way, but I would go back to an 8.8 with a 3.08 and hold on to the Sterling until I could do a sas. Or find a factory 4.10 8.8 rear , sell the sterling and use that $$ to regear the front to match.

 

There are factory 4.1 8.8s? Swapping the front to 4.1, assuming that's what the rear is, would still be cheaper than an 8.8 and a shaft, unless he could source both from a jy.

 

Yes, Lightnings for sure and some 4x4 trucks got them. And a shaft should be no problem, since the truck would have originally had an 8.8.