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In this photo, the back of the roof reflects the top of the garage wall. It looks like some sort of wrap-around rear window, with a dark tint. The first time I saw this photo, few years(?) ago, it took me quite a while to figure it out. An "optional delusion".

All business, no frills, easy access to maintain, and a big butt too! What's not to love?

My stock 16" wheels fit the Rusty Hope front conversion just fine. I'm not sure Rusty Hope is still selling conversion kits. Last I heard he was not making new kits anymore, just selling off the rest of his stock. If he does have a kit available I would suggest you jump on it before they are all gone. As for the rear, with the 1.5" spacers the stock wheels fit just fine on a Cherokee diff. I don't remember the exact number but the Cherokee diff is at least 3" narrower so it would probably look rather funny with the wheels tucked in so close to the frame.

Look at Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge, and Plymouth cars from the late 40's thru early 50's. The 3.73 differential gears was an option in all of the Mopar vehicles, but those would be your best bets to find something. You'll have to do some digging to find the stamping on the top of the differential housing to know what gears are inside. I got lucky to find the 3.73 diff that I currently have in my truck. There was a forum member here, many years ago, that put up a post regarding an axle that he bought. He was looking for a 4.10 diff to use in his '53 Suburban, which he used to pull a boat, or camper trailer, and it had an OD transmission. He purchased an axle from a '50 Plymouth thinking it would have 4.10 gears. It turned out it had the 3.73 gears. At the time I happened to have an extra truck axle with 4.10 gears, so I sent him a message about doing a diff assembly swap. I offered to ship my 4.10 diff to him and it he would ship his 3.73 diff back to me. After some picture trading we decided the only difference was the drive flange, as the driveshafts are different between the cars and trucks. I pulled the drive flange off of the pinion, crated it up, and shipped it to him on my dime. It was exactly what he needed so he put his 3.73 diff back in the crate and shipped it to me. I replaced the pinion seal and reinstalled the drive flange. It was a direct replacement into my axle. I've heard that sometime in the early 50's ('52 or '53) there was a change in the spline count for the axle shafts and side gears. However, some here have reported having good luck in swapping the side gears in the differential to correct that mismatch.

Here is a tutorial from our Research sub-forum on understanding how to adjust brakes. Some time with this document and checking your adjustments may help your brakes. https://p15-d24.com/page/p15d24/tech/brakes.html/

I have a B3D with the same gears...might be taller tires, but I get 60mph under redline RPM easy....put a tach in and you'll know for sure where you sit. Bigger thing at 60MPH is the steering and braking.

Using a 3.73 or 3.54 car differential is a nice way to keep your truck looking stock, if you can find one. You might want to consider swapping the entire rear axle. There can be issues with axle splines, I think.

I have posted pictures of my 47 in the past. This is it on the Navy Pier June 15th for the Mars Candy 95 Anniversary Corporate meeting. The 1954 Dodge belongs to my old high school shop teacher. He drove it in the 70's and was 100% original. It had belonged to his grandfather. It was blue. He has done a complete makeover of the truck over the years. This is it last week when we met for lunch. The bed is Brazilian Cherry stained to match the paint.

I started my 1953 Dodge B4B Project in September 2023. Here are a few progress photos. The engine went to the machine shop on Thursday and my goal is to have a rolling chassis to put it in when I bring it home. This is a great forum! Dan

Not sure I posted a picture since fully assembling my repainted truck.

Saw this cool woodie whilst riding my '51 Schwinn