question about what axle i have in my truck

[skoal777]

my question comes up because i always thought i has a dana 35 front axle in my truck but when i bought ball joints for it abut 8 months ago i found out that it took the dana 28 style ball joints. but my problem is that i have a 4.0L ranger and i thought that they all came with the dana 35 because of the motor size. so what can i go off of my ball joint setup or my engine. i have been told that they could have made it with the dana 28 in rare cases. this info came from a ford dealership near where i live. any info would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[American1990]

You should have a Dana 35, They made Dana 35 Hybrids that used a Dana 35 out shell but Dana 28 internal parts. Though I don't think the 4.0 ever came with the Hybrid or Dana 28. What bolt pattern do you have? 10 or 12 bolt?

 

[skoal777]

i honestly havent looked i will have to look and let ya know

 

[adsm08]

The 28 was completely out of production by 97. The 28 and 35 ttb will have the same style ball joints, one will just be a bit bigger.

Postin' from teh Galaxy

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

i honestly havent looked i will have to look and let ya know

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/dana_28_35.shtml

Here is some pics of the differences. Just because you truck didn't originally come with a D28 or D35 hybrid doesn't mean it doesn't have one now (unless you or someone you are close to bought it new)

 

[martin]

the 28 and 35 lower joints look and measure the same but have different numbers (don't know what the difference is).

the 28 upper joint has a nut on the top. the 35 has a plain shank and is held in by the pinch bolt. They look completely different.

 

[cp2295]

If you look in the tech area you'll see it talks all about dana 35s and 28s and how to identify a 35 hybrid and a real one by checking through the fill plug (don't remember what it is though)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[skoal777]

i do realize that the ball joints are different and mine are the ones with the nut on the top. but they also have a pinch bolt, im guessing that it is for alignment. anyways the reason i asked it because the truck seems like it has different parts than what it call for for the dana 35. i really doubt that some one would switch out a dana 35 for a dana 28.

 

[skoal777]

ok so i finally was able to crawl under my truck to look at things and this is what i found by what is posted on the (pic, numbers ,ect.) i found that i do have a dana 35. im guessing thats a good thing caust it looks like there are a lot more things i can do as far as upgrades. but my question still remains. why do i have dana 28 ball joins if i run a dana 35? i did try the bigger dana 35 ball joints but they dont fit. this is what is confuseing me. any ideas would be great.

Thanks

 

[4x4junkie]

Do you recall what brand & pt# the joints you used were?
I can't imagine anything but a D35 ball joint fitting a D35...

Maybe this is simply another example of the f'ed up auto-parts store computers that have been giving out wrong pt#s for the last 23 years again.

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, that sounds like a part's system f-up. Once I went to three different parts stores, asked for an Intake air temp sensor. All three places looked it up, went into the back, and produced for me a coolant temp sensor.

Of course, this is was before I knew the difference just by looking at them, and I tried to install all 3.

 

[skoal777]

so what do you guys think should i head back to the parts store and get a ball joint for a dana 35 and compare it to the 28 and see if it fits i never tried to put it in it just looked too big and the ones i took off look like the ones i put on