Axle identification help

[Redemption Road]

Hey all, I reached a point where my vision and brain are getting a bit fuzzy with axle ID and caliper/rotor issues on my axle swap.

Some background: installing a MG 4x conversion with presumably 2005 front and rear axles from a salvage yard donor. I specifically went with the same year axles to avoid any vanzilla issues when approaching future maintenance needs. Acquired both through ebay listings from distant salvage yards and not totally sure I know what I have now. Both axles were listed as from a 2005 F250 with door tags shown as well as photos of the donor vehicles, both were F250 trucks. I verified ratios met my needs and made the grab.

REAR Axle
There are some subtle differences in these axles, I think between an F250 and an Excursion. Starting to think my rear came from an Excursion although was listed as F250. I had ordered a complete rotor, caliper/bracket and pad set for both front and rear for 2005 F250. When installing the rear rotor It made contact with the axle assembly. After some research between 2004 and 2005 F250 and 2005 Excursion, the rotor height is noticeably different. The 2005 F250 height is 126mm while the 2004 F250 AND 2005 Excursion is 98.5mm. So guessing I have either 04 F250 or 05 Excursion axle.

Rear axle donor door tag.

Old vs new rotor (glad a saved the old before dumping)

Lastly is this a 10.5 Sterling? And does that require wheel spacers? I am thinking so as there is about a 3" width shortage between front and rear, front being wider.

FRONT Axle
The listing and tag that shipped with axle clearly shows as a 2005 F250. Seeing as how the brake kit I purchased was for this model/year, it should all fit no problem. Before I tear into may parts stash and start fitting things up is there a way to identify the axle model/year. I did not find any tags on the axle so needing some help.

Front axle donor door tag.

 

[CaulkinsCo.]

Just a guess but the new rotor looks like it goes on the front.

As for years I think they just changed the shock mounts. I'm looking to upgrade to a new axle with the e locker so hopefully someone can correct me if wrong on that.

 

[Betarocker]

The 2005 and newer Sterlings have a wider hub to match the wider front D60. Wheels have more backspace to keep them tucked in.

16" wheels confirm its a 2004 or older axle. Minimum wheel diameter for 2005+ is 17". Newer rotors are 0.6"(14mm) larger. Old one looks correct for that axle, the new one looks correct for the advertised axle. It will not work.

You'll need to use 1" wheel spacers (not a fan of them) on the rear to match track width.

Get the matching year rear axle. 2005-2010 will work.

 

[CaulkinsCo.]

After reading the above disregard what I wrote, that makes perfect sense.

 

[RVflyfish]

You can measure your WMS to WMS axle width to double check. '99-'04 Sterlings are narrower; around 69" I think. The '05 and up are something like 2.5-3" wider. Chris at Ujoint used to have the info on his axle page but I don't see it on the new site.

 

[Redemption Road]

CaulkinsCo - trust me on that, I did a few double takes on the rotors thinking the same, double checked the part/numbers a few days back to confirm I wasn't going nuts.

Betarocker - nice catch on the wheel specs from the door tags. Good info, thank you! I find it odd that the front (early 05) and the rear (slightly later 05) are different. Maybe some run over stock at the build plant, either way sounds like an 04 .

RV - will grab a tape and take a look to confirm. Thanks for those numbers!

I guess all in all I got half the right stuff either way, axles and brakes. Now to decide on a frankenvan or obtain an actual 2005 for the rear. Leaning toward a newer axle, this one has been a pain since I picked it up at the shipper and saw that it likely sat in a salt water puddle for 5 years although the internals looked to be ok so I pressed on doctoring the rust and outfitting it with almost new everything. Live and learn.....

 

[Redemption Road]

Hey, here's some interesting info I just stumbled on. When shopping by vehicle type at O'Reily Auto Parts you can add a vehicle by VIN#.

The rear donor VIN came back as;
2005 Ford Excursion
Limited - V10 - 6.8L 415ci GAS MFI vin S - 2 valve SOHC

The front donor VIN came back as;
2005 Ford F-250 Super Duty
King Ranch - V8 - 6.0L 363ci DIESEL MFI Turbocharged vin P - 4 valve OHV

 

[Betarocker]

Excursion always had leaf spring front, even on 05 models, and the rear axle was unchanged from original model. Drivetrain same as a 2000-2004 F250/350.

 

[Redemption Road]

So I'm not crazy, just grabbed the wrong axle for my application, looks like I will be doing some shopping and hopefully some selling. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Betarocker]

Your current rear axle probably has the wheel speed sensor on a differential mounted tone ring. 2005-2010 F2/350s had that configuration. in 2011 they went to individually installed in each hub.

 

[CaulkinsCo.]

So it seems I did the exact same thing as the OP only it took me about 4 years to figure it out. Having it parked next to a IFS chevy with the extra wide front end probably didn't help.

To my question that may also help the OP, hopefully this makes sense. Can I buy a 2016ish rear end with the factory e locker and use those hubs, axle shafts, and diff in my current 1998ish f350 rear end?

I would have to mount my current diff tone ring on the new diff for ABS and cruze control. Also drill a hole for the e locker wires. From research last night it seems those two things are very easy to do.

Not a ideal solution starting from the beginning but could be better then redoing the shock mounts, sway bar and leaf pack pads in my case.

 

[Redemption Road]

Not much help from me, no idea, and I botched once already.
Thinking the axle shafts would be longer since the axle itself is wider? But if the hubs swap out also maybe? IDK
I just purchased a newer used axle, really want to avoid having to get parts for E series, F250 and excursion for same vehicle.
I'll be interested to see what the pros chime in with, ambitious solution but I like the thinking.