new guy here

[themanchild]

Hey everybody, Ive been lurking here for a bit and decided I might as well jump in and introduce myself and my truck. And then also ask a question.

Ok, My friends call me JB. Im from Des Moines, Iowa. Im 23 and diving hard into the classic car and truck world. I bought this baby about 8 months ago. Has a 318, auto, power brakes and steering, and a 6" chop. Also has a 78 dodge diplomat front torsion bar suspension.

First question: When Im going down the street I cant seem to get the truck to go any faster then about 50. The RPM's start to rise fast with not much response from the MPH guage. So I came to the conclusion that my rearend is too low. Im thinking 4.10 or even lower.

Is there a rearend with higher gearing(2.7-3.4) that is a bolt up replacement and still use the same bolt pattern and have the correct width?

***the picture at the end is as it sits right now......sad.....

[Merle Coggins]

I'd be supprised to find that someone did a V8/auto trans/front clip swap and left the original rear axle in place, but I suppose it's possible. If it is the original axle than it probably does have a 4.10:1 ratio. But even with that you should be able to exceed 50 MPH.

But to answer your question... if it does have the original type axle, you may be able to find a diff out of a car of the same vintage. The Dodge and Plymouth diffs will bolt right in and can be found with 3.90 or 3.73 ratios. I have a 3.73 diff from a '50 Plymouth in my truck. The only thing you need to watch for is the axle shaft spline count. There was a change in the axle shaft splines somewhere in the early '50s.

Merle

[Jim Roach]

I like the steering column support!

Jim

[48Dodger]

If its got the 8.75 ( 8 3/4 ) rearend, I would go with a 3.23 suregrip which are still layin around cheap. The 3.55 up to the 3.91 are a little harder to find. I'm just thinkin if the the front end was done so was the rear, and judging from the "look" they might have thought a 4.10 was a good idea. That's the ratio you want for an all round wicked 1/4 mile, but not so much on the freeway. Save that rear for Saturdaynight. lol.

48D

[buds truck]

welcome to the forum! Since you've been "lurking" already, you probably have come to the conclusion that there is s wealth of knowledge from the poeple on this forum (nice guys too). I have seen that truck soemwhere on line before and wondered what happened to it. I have a 53 that is also chopped and I am putting on suicide doors right now. It will rest on a Dakota chassis. Good luck on the rear end delima. You have come to the right place to get it resolved. Bud

[Young Ed]

The first thing is crawl under and get some pics of what you've got already. Like the other few answers I can't imagine its still got a stock rear end.

[billwillard]

Place your truck in neutral. Jack one wheel up. Have someone count the turns on your driveshaft as you turn the wheel 2 turns. This will give you your ratio. If your driveshaft makes 2 3/4 turns you would have a 273. If it turns a little over 4 turns you have a 410 and so on. It is a good idea to place a mark of some kind on the shaft and wheel.

[themanchild]

Was the stock rear an open or closed rear? I have only one tire providing power with this rear. When it get nicer out I was going to take a look at the rear up close.

[old woolie]

Like Merle said,you should be able to exceed 50mph easily. I would be looking for transmission problems,sounds like it is slipping to me. Have you checked the fluid level? Must be hot,idling in neutral. Good looking truck.

[Reg Evans]

Have you verified your speed with a hand held GPS? My truck speedo with an Ford 3.0 says I'm going 50 when really I'm going 60.

[Don Coatney]

Welcome to this forum. Not sure what transmission you have but I suspect it is slipping. Do you have a tachmoter in the modified gage cluster? I am not a big chopped fan but your truck looks good. Might help if you parked it inside out of the snow.

[woodscavenger]

If your tranny is fine then you can look for a jeep cherokee axle. I got a 3.5 that is nearly identical width. It does have a slight passenger side offset. It gives you identical lug patterns.

[themanchild]

Not sure what trans is in it, spring time ill be able to verify which of the two trans that were offered in the dodge diplomat this one is. Its a 3spd auto. that I shift through the gears manually. In Drive it does seem to stagger going through the gears, so thats why I manually shift(plus it feels like Im actually cool). When I do this it doesnt slip but engages very easily and I go through all 3. It just gets to the point that i can tell im at about 3000rpm and not really gaining much speed.

And my phone has an acceleramoter that tells me my speed and also Ive done the "you drive 45 and then ill match that and see what my speedo says" with my buddies and it all matches up.

[themanchild]

If your tranny is fine then you can look for a jeep cherokee axle. I got a 3.5 that is nearly identical width. It does have a slight passenger side offset. It gives you identical lug patterns.

Is there a specific range in years to look for?

[carl b51]

After looking at the pics I don't see a axle nut showing so I would think the axle is not the one that came in that 53. Like woodscavenger that is a good swap and the drive shaft bolts right up on the dana 44. Good to see another truck saved. Carl

[themanchild]

Here are a few more pictures of the truck...

Well one picture with 2 different colorings.....I dont know, Im just bored waiting for this darned winter to get over so I can work on the truck.

[slicknapier]

Nice truck man. Have I seen it over on the Hamb? I know I've seen it somewhere I just can't remember where!

[themanchild]

Thank you good sir, yeah I have it on the HAMB but Im most active on Killbillet.com.

[Shovelhead Dave]

Sounds like you may have a bad torque coverter stator clutch (sprag). If it

revs and doesn't seem to accelerate and slowy climbs in speed that is a

classic symptom of a bad T-converter, especially if it was a late 70's lockup

type.