The story now moves along to September 23rd of 2016. MG's parts shipped! DIY kit #1 in the mail! This is starting to come together and I am getting really excited.
Several days later I am drinking beer in my garage and starting to clean up the axle. I made a really sweet little apparatus that I could wheel the axle around on. I got two of those $8 moving dolly's from Harbor Freight and screwed a 2x4 to the underside of them. I just set the jackstands on the moving dolly's and now I can wheel this 800lb behemoth around my garage.
I was using a die grinder with a combination of wire wheels and scotch brite pads to clean the gunk, paint, and rust off in prep for POR15. I was buzzing away around the pumpkin and hit the data tag. I let off the throttle and just stared. Then, my heart sank. Then rage sat in. 4.30 gears! Are you ************* kidding me? I verified numerous times with the yard monkey in New Mexico that this axle had 3.73 gears! I have text messages to prove it. Goddamn it. Now what?
Now what is I have to do battle with a salvage yard a third of the way across the country. Sure, 4.30 gears would be sweet to have. However, I am on a budget and regearing a semi float rear axle was NOT in the cards. That'll run a grand and I wouldn't build that axle anyways. I'd get a full float or go full Monty and get a Sterling 10.5. What the hell am I going to do with this axle?
I called the yard monkey, Darrell since I had his cell phone number. He wasn't able to explain himself and couldn't come up with an answer on why this axle had 4.30 gears. Obviously a high achiever and in his rightful place in life. He said he needed some time to try and work it out. When he didn't call me back by the time he said he would, I called the business number and just so happened to get the owner of the junk yard on the phone. They hate when you call it a junk yard so that's the term I used throughout the entire conversation.
Apparently, Darrell hadn't informed the boss yet and I blew his cover. I'm pretty sure Darrell lost his job from the owner's reaction when I laid out the entire timeline. I don't feel bad. He screwed up and then tried to hatch a plan but didn't execute. I laid it out the boss like this. Quote from the email I sent.
“Here are the options and costs as I see them going forward. Who pays what, for how much is up for negotiation. Like I had mentioned on the phone, 4.30 gears were the end goal down the road. I would like to keep them now that I have them in the front axle you sent and I am going to ask that you help me to work the rear axle to match the front you sent with the wrong gears.
Axle #1
The front axle you sent that has 4.30 gears. I do not wish to change from these 4.30 now that I have them. It was totally not in the plans or budget to change the gearing for at least another year. But since I have them now, we must find a path forward. As I did not get what was advertised and expected, I feel it only fair you help make it right with one of the other rear axles below.
Axle #2
I have a D60 semi float rear axle in my van currently with an open differential, 3.73 gears and drum brakes. Honestly, this axle isn't in the equation. It's coming out of the van one way or another as explained in axle #3 and #4.
Axle #3
I managed to score a 2000 E350 Club Wagon XLT with a blown motor off of CL for only $375 back in June. It was complete besides a blown motor and I have pulled a lot of valuable stuff off it for my project. It has the Dana 60 Full Float with an open differential, 3.55 gears and disc brakes. This is a direct bolt in for my current axle #2 above and is a totally decent upgrade to go from the semi float to this full float. With this axle I get way more weight capacity and disc brakes. Plus it has half the miles of Axle #2
It will need to have the gears changed in it to match the 4.30 in the front that you sent. Now, if this axle is going to get torn apart for new gears, I need to do it right. There are some extra things that I would like to have done, but I would in no way ask you to pay for. However, it does affect the direction in which an acceptable solution will be found for me since I do not have an endless budget for this build.
Costs
4.30 gear set about $350
Ring and pinion install kit about $250
Labor 4-5 hours for a good shop at $80/hour about $400
Sub total is right at $1000. Just what I was quoted from local shops. The above costs are a direct result of me getting the wrong axle and I don't feel like I should have to pay for any of it. The money I have in the bank right now was set aside for my interior build and if I have to use it now I lose this entire winter of use with my van because I won't be able to finish my interior. I had planned to use it for chasing snow and skiing.
Now, if this axle is going to get torn apart, I want get it done right the first time. Down the road, when I HAD planned on doing this in fall of 2017 or spring of 2018, I was going to add a Detroit Truetrac limited slip. If it's getting torn apart now, i am going to add it so I don't have to pay for the labor later. It will just eat more into my budget I had planned for other things and completely rearrange my entire build plan over this mistake.
Additional costs that are not your responsibility
Shipping for wheel spacers. About $75. I will need to send the wheel spacers I got for the semi float back and get ones designed for the FF axle. Spacers are required with this mod to make the bolt pattern and track width match the 2015 F250 front axle.
Detroit Truetrac about $650.
New axle shafts required about $200
Seals and all the other stuff probably another $200
Additional labor maybe another $200.
Subtotal for this part is about $1300 out of my pocket. Down the road I had budgeted about $2500 for the rear axle rebuild when I was ready to do all this. The total between the regear and the stuff I want to add is $2300. That's about exactly what I had planned on in a year.
So, Axle #3 is no small proposition but I would be very happy with this outcome albeit eating nearly all of my budget for the insulation and interior build out I had planned to complete in November prior to ski season. Like I said, getting the wrong gearing in this axle would totally rearrange the order of my adventure van build I have been planning for more than a year. This option costs you a grand and me $1300.
Axle #4
This is the most appealing option for me and also the one that gets you guys off the hook for the least amount of money. A Sterling 10.5 rear axle from a 2005-2007 F250 or F350 SRW. This is grand daddy of swaps in the van world to get this heavy duty axle to haul the weight of everything we build out in the interior. There are several on car-part.com right now for $500-$750 with 4.30 gears, around 100k miles, AND the factory Ford LSD which is by all accounts pretty dang good. No gear change. No additional cost of adding a LSD for me. You guys, I am sure, can find a great deal on one and do a horse trade or two to get me one of these.
This swap is a little more involved but I am happy to tackle it. Ujoint Offroad in NC makes a kit to install these axles in E series vans. It costs $239. Ujoint is where I got my wheel spacers from and they cost $349. With this axle I don't need the spacers since the axle is out of a truck and everything matches the front. I send the spacers back, he sends me the Sterling install kit and it's a wash when it's all said and done once shipping is added in.
There is some welding that needs to be done on the axle to get the new spring perches, shock mounts, and brake line mounts attached. There is also some drive line work that needs to be done. It'll be a few hundred bucks and I would cover it.
As far as you guys are concerned, it costs you less than paying for a re-gear in axle #1, #2, or #3. I would go this route if I got a Sterling 10.5 axle from a 2005-2007 F250 or F350 SRW with less than 100k miles, 4.30 gears, the factory Ford LSD, and it had the brake rotors and calipers still attached. The axle needs to have the 4L30 on the data plate.
Epic Auto Dismantling has one in Little Rock, CA listed for $550 with the LSD and 70k miles. Make them an offer for something less than $500, $250 for shipping and this is a done deal. You guys would be off the hook for less than $750. Once you subtract this from the $1900 I gave you, you sold me the front axle for $1150. Yes you included a lot of extra parts with the axle you sold me, but much of it was stuff that probably sits around forever. I gave you a very fair price for that axle at $1900 and I didn't even try to bargain.
This is by far the cheapest and best route for all of us.
What are your thoughts?”
In the end, they made me buy the axle and get it here. I ordered the Sterling 10.5 from California and they refunded my credit card $700. Now I have a Sterling 10.5” coming! 4.30 gears baby! Chris at Ujoint totally didn't have a problem taking back the spacers that were designed for the Dana 60 and sending me the Sterling install kit. I really appreciate he did that. One step back one step forward although it added scope to this project….
