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Ford Super Duty axles are arguably the most common setup swapped in to other vehicles, and it is easy to see why. The Super Duty is one of the last vehicles on the market equipped with front and rear solid axles, and the only with a high-pinion Dana 60 front end. By starting with heavy-duty, eight-lug axles with 35-spline axle shafts we didn't feel is necessary to upgrade shafts or U-joints, even when planning to run 40-inch-tall Milestar Patagonia M/Ts on our full-size truck.
That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement, or that all Super Duty axles are created equal. We recently went to Axleline to upgrade the Super Duty axles in our latest project with Yukon components for improved strength and trail prowess. Axleline's head honcho, Aaron Lechner, showed us the strengths and weaknesses of Super Duty axles, along with the changes that have been made over the last 20 years that Ford has been using these axles.
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Yukon makes lockers, ring and pinion sets, and installation kits for every generation of Dana 60 and Sterling axle. We recommend starting with the newest axles you can find since they have the biggest components to support the increases in power and tow capacity as the Super Duty has evolved. Then just add lockers and low gears and you are ready to hit the trail!
Super Duty Dana 60s Through the Years
While not as bad as the variations of Dana 44, where zero components from a Dana 44 under a new Wrangler JL are shared with the Dana 44 under a CJ-5, Dana 60s still have quite a bit of variation, even the ones found under Super Duty pickups.
Starting in 1999, Super Duty trucks used Dana 50 axles under F-250s and single-rear-wheel (SRW) F-350s. High-pinion Dana 60s were used on dual-rear-wheel (DRW) Dana 60s starting in 2002. These axles had spring perches for leaf springs until 2004 with virtually no axle tube sticking out of the casting on the short side, making it a challenge to mount coils or links.
In 2005 Ford went to coil springs, along with bigger knuckles and brakes on the Dana 60 front axles. F-450 and F-550 trucks of this era came with "Super 60" front axles that use a larger 10-inch ring gear, 37-spline axle shafts, and 1550 U-joints for even greater strength. These axles have 10-lug adapters, but removing the adapters converts them to the normal Super Duty 8x170 bolt pattern.
Sterling Rears Through the Years
Not all rear Sterling axles are the same, but the differential covers, axle shafts, and carriers are all interchangeable. These are full-floating axles with 1 1/2-inch, 35-spline axle shafts that are very strong. They don't benefit from the third pinion bearing that makes the 14-bolt the king of rear axles though, and the axle tubes can spin in the center section under hard use. Early 1985-1992 Sterling 10 1/4 axles used drum brakes, an 8-on-6 1/2 bolt pattern, and short pinion splines. The second generation (1993-1998) of Sterling axles used longer pinion splines and a different yoke, but were otherwise the same. The introduction of the Super Duty in 1999 brought the introduction of the Sterling 10 1/2-inch, which has a different inner pinion bearing than the Sterling 10 1/4. The 10 1/2 also uses disc brakes and an 8-on-170mm bolt pattern. In 2005 the brakes were upgraded to 13.4-inch brake rotors, and in 2013 they grew even larger to 14.3 inches.
