While wondering through the local recyclers yard yesterday I came upon an 80's F250 camper special diesel 2wd.The rear axle is either a d60 or d70,full floater,bolt pattern is 8 lug but not sure about the spacing.He wants 125.00 for it and said I could be there when they take it out to make sure I get everything I want.This truck has an auto tranny so I'm thinking it might have 411 gears and maybe a L/S carrier.Also found a D44 front under a 76 or 77 F150 ranger sitting 2 trucks down from the diesel and he wants 150.00 for it.
Now for the questions
1.Will the D60 or D70 have the big axles?
2.What trucks and what parts from those trucks do I need to convert the D44 to the 8 lug pattern?
3.Are these parts worth what the guy wants for them
Oh almost forgot,there are a few dodge's in the yard.If any of them are 4wd is that what I should look at for the parts to make the D44 8 lug or should I just get the front axle from 1 of the dodges,at least I think the dodges are 4wd.Didnt really look at them.I had a dodge car once,hated that loud starter LOL.
Thanx in advance for any and all opnions,or advice.
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:confused:

Beware, That 80's Ford probably has a Sterling Rear axle. Looks similare to Dana 60/70, but the diff cover has a different bolt pattern. The sterling is still a good axle, but has less options for gearing/lockers.
Besides, most automatics don't necessarly have 4.11 gears. Because it is a camper special, it my have that gearing, but most likely it has 3.50's or 3.73's.

There are a few exception, and it might have a Dana 70, but my understanding is that was only available for the F350 Camperspecial with the heavy axle code.

B

Being a diesel, unless it's an 85 or 86, it likley has a D70, and if it's an 85 or 86, it's about 60/40 that it's a D70

could also be a dana 61. i got that in mine, just have to look at the casting. see if it says.

Thanx for the info guy's.I did some searching on this site and found a bunch of info on the d60,d70 and d61 rear axles.As for chioce of lockers I;ll probably weld it in the spider gears.Now I will do some searching about converting the 5 lug d44 to 8 so I will only have to carry 1 spare.
Man does it ever end?I mean do you ever get a truck that you are satisfied with LOL.

The 8 lug conversion is pretty simple. You just need brake mounting plates, spindles, and hubs from a F250.

Thanx for the info sodaboy yj.I thouht I read somewhere that you could use the knuckles and spindles and such from 76-79 dodge.I could be wrong about that cause I been searching and reading a lot of different stuff ever since I got the idea to swap some parts around,it all kinda runs together,LOL.Now that I think about it that was on mr.N's dana page for high steer,I think.

My bet is it's a sterling, possibly a 70.
both are Well worth it it for $125
If it's a 60, i'd pass, no way I would pay $125 for a rear 60.

Hi guy's
I went back to the recycler's today armed wiyh some info I got from rearding stuff on this site,got some B.O.M. #'s,it turns out the d44 I thougjt was under 76 or 77 pu was in reality under a 79.Don't ask how or why I didn't notice the 1st time,I think because I thought I had found the d70 first so my heart was pounding and my vision was blurred,LOL.Any way I thought I had a link to the dana spicer web pg that decodes b.o.m. #'s but now I cant fnd it.So here are the #'s I got from 2 of the 3 axles I looked at,the 3rd axle which is a d60 semi-float had so much undercoat and rust I couldnt get the numbers but the door sticker had a b3 axle code manf. dat of 6/84,and it didnt have the cast running across the top,did have 8 lugs.
d44 tag #s 610049xx5 350 D8TA TL
d70,60 #'s 4-23-481 6052 05 5
Can any of you guy's tell me what these mean,or give me a link to some where that can?
Thanx in advance for any and all help!
This site rocks!

from www.drivetrainsuperstores.com :

610049
DANA 44 REVERSE FRONT
Year 1978
Make FORD
Model F150 1/2 Ton Pick-up w/ Part-Time Transfer Case
Number of axle splines: 30 FULL


605205
DANA 70U REAR
Year 1983
Make FORD
Model F350 Chassis
Number of axle splines: 35 FULL

:grinpimp:

Thanx for reply Dave
I did a google search for Dana and found the same info you did ,but it took me a while cause It said it couldnt find the bom #s I put in so I just started searching by year and model,funny that they used the same axle bom from 83.5-85.
I couldnt find any way to decode the axle ratio tag #s off of the d44.Does the TL on that tag mean that d44 has a trac-loc in it,if it does I'll buy it for sure.My little brother say you can make a cheap locker out of a trac-loc by adding more friction disks and plates,from what I could tell the d70 is an open diff. so some welding will have to be done.
If I do buy both of these how hard is it gona be to round up the stuff to switch the 44 over to 8 lug.I saw a 3/4 ton chevy in the same yard but the cover had 10 bolts,it had 8 lugs.I dont suppose I could use the kuckles and stuff to convert the 44.
Sorry for all the questions you guys have been a great help!