Rear axle options?

[Tony_Urwin]

The rear axle in my B1C is definitely NOT highway friendly. I have plenty of power, but the RPMs are way too high when I accelerate past 50mph.

I know that some Mopar automobiles of the era had 3.54:1 gear sets. Anybody know which cars used that ratio?

Any Pilothouse owners with late model rear axles? I think that a ratio of about 3.23:1 would be about right for the way I want to drive my truck.

[grey beard]

I opted for poor mans' overdrive - 215x85.16's that are more than 31 inches tall. Several of the guys on this forum run them and while they won't take you to the salt flats on a record run, will let you keep up with most average traffic without blowing your engine. JMHO:)

[Jim Shepard]

I have been informed by several folks that a pumpkin out of a late 40's/early50's Chrysler will fit right in with no mods. That's my plan. It would be nice if someone had a Hollander manual so we could verify.

[Young Ed]

I have the 215 85s that Dave mentioned along with a 3.90 out of a 50 plymouth in my stock WC housing. I believe as long as you aren't in a big enough truck to be full floating you can use any mopar rear end 39-52. The 53-54 ones will fit if you swap the spider gears. Also the 53-54 plymouths are a good source of 3.73s.

[Tony_Urwin]

I wish it was that easy. I do have a Hollander's for 1946-1956, but it does not tell you which vehicles have the desirable ratio. More often, it will list 4 or 5 gear sets for a particular range of years. It might help you narrow down which vehicles MIGHT have the correct gear set, but you still have to verify it by scraping the muck off the third member.

Looking through the Hollanders helped in only a general way. One thing of interest: Imperials of the era also had some interesting gear sets. They had the 3.54, but also a 3.6 and 3.73.

There were also some side notes about swapping gears. It seems that some ring or pinion gears were different thicknesses, so it is best to swap the entire carrier, because swapping gears was not always possible.

[Young Ed]

There was a standard ratio for each model throughout the years however as holander indicates there were optional ones. My truck had the standard 4.11 but a 3.73 or 4.54 or something were also available. Any plymouth older then 49 is likely to still have a 4.11. About after 49 they switched to 3.90 and then in 52 3.90 or with OD 4.11. 53 and 54 had the 3.73s. The 3.73s and 3.54s were used earlier in bigger mopars with the semi auto trannys so look for those too.

[Phil Martin]

I found one but the axle splines were different. Used a 3:21 out of 73 Dodge picktp. Had to move the mounts a little but really made a differenc in driving.