Every time you step on the gas your axles are put under a tremendous amount of torsional stress. From the factory, these housings were typically stuffed with the popular 3. In order to verify a nodular unit, you need to look on the inside of the casting. Many import axle manufacturers rate their axles by how much horsepower they can handle and in numerical stages, such as Stage 1, Stage 2, etc. Only the N-series cases are made out of the stronger, more desirable, nodular iron. There is a huge aftermarket support for this axle design. One of the best upgrades we can recommend for anyone that has increased tire size, is that of a ring and pinion ratio upgrade.
This is a typical axle tag that has been removed from the third member. The 28-tooth axle shafts are typically tapered and cannot be shortened. This sensor is for the anti-lock brake system. The 1960s to 1967s still retain the dimples but also have an oil level plug in the back cover. These axles even have a unique bolt pattern of five on 5 inches. Unfortunately, the same codes were reused in different years.
A: Axles are long metal shafts that physically connect your drive wheels to your differential allowing power to reach the ground. This pinion has the tapered bearings and collapsible spacer in place. The typical 3 inch-diameter tubes can be a bit flimsy in higher-power applications. For those of us that demand substantial power increases and larger tires, there is room for improvement to improve the reliability and performance that they can afford. There were many instances of cuts and scratches from the thin steel tags sticking up on the axles. This bearing is one of the reasons that the 9-inch has the reputation for being bulletproof. There are several reasons for this.
The smaller 8-inch just cannot handle the abuse as its bigger brother can. There were also 8-inch ring gear independent carriers in production. Most of the time, the differences are in shock and spring mounting brackets and, of course, brake hardware. There are three versions with external Ns cast in; note the more curved style on the top right. It is underneath one of the nuts that holds the third member in place.
As always, if you have any questions about which product is right for you and your truck don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an e-mail to and we would be happy to help. We go out of our way to carry every major line of Ford F250 axles, so that whether you are looking for a Ford F250 front axle or a rear axle, we've got it for you. Cost and complexity are two. The first number is the last digit of the model year of the decade, the next digit is a letter and represents the month A is for January, B is for February, and so on , and the last two digits represent the day of the month. The Lincoln Continental style of disc brakes use 11½-inch rotors. The axle model codes are interchangeable, typically the suffixes are different for a revision change but the axle is still interchangeable with one having the previous suffix. It was later used for pick-ups and Broncos.
It was in production on many Ford cars and trucks, first appearing in 1957 and finally replaced by the Salisbury-style 8. Whether your ride is stock or modified, Ford F250 axles and axle components will usually eventually need to be replaced from excessive wear or damage. Since these housings were a series of stamped-steel pieces all welded together, there were many different overall lengths, tubes sections, mounting brackets, and even general constructions over the years see Chapter 5. These third members are the strongest of the production cases and the most desired. Here is an example of a weld repair on a factory original housing.
The top line typically starts with a three-digit axle model code or the prefix of the part number , followed by a dash, and then the suffix. In order to allow for the additional straddle mounted bearing and casting support structure, the hypoid offset needs to be large enough to clear the differential case. If an L is included, it was equipped with a limited-slip differential or Traction- Lok. Some of this information is very important as it is becoming more and more difficult to find documentation on axles and differentials that were built more than 40 years ago. Besides the styling of the Ford Edsel, even the axle shafts were very unusual. There was a desire to have the stronger, larger tubes near the center of the axle but still retain the narrower tube ends for the wheel ends and the unique Shelby suspension brackets.
Written by Joe Palazzolo and Republished with Permission of CarTech Inc. This is a great upgrade component to use for high-power applications or if you are replacing your cartridge. Some tags reference the week of the month instead of the exact day and just use a letter A to E for first through the fifth week of the month. Over the years, these assemblies have proven themselves relatively reliable on moderately used trucks running stock, or close to stock tire size and power output. This chart references the connection between the month codes and the actual month. With their high-volume production, the two biggest quality problems were leaks from poor welds and poor alignment of the housings.