third member from 54 desoto will interchange?

[Iowaboy]

I have found a 54 Desoto in a towing yard near my home. The v8, trans, grill, and hood are gone. The bumpers and all interior is there, its a 2dr sedan. 

He will sell me the rear end. What I would like to know is will the third member bolt into my 1/2 ton 50 dodge pickup? I'll try to upload a pic of the Desoto.

[59bisquik]

I swapped a 54 Plymouth center into my 55 Dodge axle with no issues. Make sure it has the same number of mounting bolts. You do need to verify both axles have the same spline count too. 

[Iowaboy]

Were your 55 axles the same spline count as the 54 Plymouth?

In other words, did you have to change axles to use the Plymouth 3rd member in your truck? Thanks for answering. 

 

[stylesadamson]

Not a direct swap. 54 has 14 spline axles 50 has 10 spline.

[Plymouthy Adams]

given your housing size is correct...the install can be done with the swap of the side gear, many on this forum have reported their success with this....

Edited November 14, 2018 by Plymouthy Adams

[kencombs]

3 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

given your housing size is correct...the install can be done with the swap of the side gear, many on this forum have reported their success with this....

 

Yep, there are a lot of possibilities when you swap side (axle) gears.  I even put the carrier assy from a '55 chrysler in my '65 dart (that's the valiant sized dart, not big one) with a V8.  Required an axle gear swap, but got me 3:55s!  That also meant a swap from tapered axle to flanged axle rear end, so lots of interchangeability.

 

That same Chrysler donated it's Hemi and PowerFlite to my brand F pickup!

Edited November 14, 2018 by kencombs

[TodFitch]

Just as a reminder: Offers for parts, even as an unsolicited reply on a thread are not allowed outside of the classified section. You can, of course, PM the person you think might like some of the parts you have too.

[Iowaboy]

The Bernbaum catalog lists the same differential carrier gasket for the Desoto as the Dodge trucks so this confirms the bolt pattern is compatible on both. 

I’ll get the Desoto differential and see how complicated it looks like to swap the side gears. 

 My differential is 4:1 ratio. Don’t know what the Desoto differential is until I get it up in the air enough to look. The Desoto had a Hemi V8 with a Powerflight trans, can anyone predict what the ratio might be? 

Thanks for the help.

[kencombs]

15 minutes ago, Iowaboy said:

The Bernbaum catalog lists the same differential carrier gasket for the Desoto as the Dodge trucks so this confirms the bolt pattern is compatible on both. 

I’ll get the Desoto differential and see how complicated it looks like to swap the side gears. 

 My differential is 4:1 ratio. Don’t know what the Desoto differential is until I get it up in the air enough to look. The Desoto had a Hemi V8 with a Powerflight trans, can anyone predict what the ratio might be? 

Thanks for the help.

The chrysler I mentioned earlier, hemi/PF, was a 3.55,  I'd hazard a guess that the Desoto would be the same.

[59bisquik]

The 54 Plymouth had the same spline count as my 55. However, the Plymouth axles are shorter than the truck. I have read about people swapping out the spider gears with success. Mine was a 4.10 to 3.73 swap. 

[Desotodav]

I have done 2 diff centre swaps from the truck 4.1 ratio to the car 3.54 ratio and am very pleased with the results. I have gained about 10 miles per hour, which has dropped the engine revs on the highway nicely!

[FlashBuddy]

Only 10mph? Where is all the talk of 65 all day long and 70 to pass coming from with the 3.55  crowd?

[Merle Coggins]

29 minutes ago, FlashBuddy said:

Only 10mph? Where is all the talk of 65 all day long and 70 to pass coming from with the 3.55  crowd?

 

I've done 70-75 "all day long" in my truck, and 80 to pass, with 3.73 gears. Most recently during our trip down to Chattanooga, TN for the WPC Club meet.

[59bisquik]

2 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

 

I've done 70-75 "all day long" in my truck, and 80 to pass, with 3.73 gears. Most recently during our trip down to Chattanooga, TN for the WPC Club meet.

 

Same here with my 3.73's going to Vegas and back...