shopin Posted December 4, 2023 Report Share Posted December 4, 2023 The pictured differential was on a 1949 Dodge half-ton pickup I recently purchased. I finally confirmed that it is from a 1954 Packard Clipper. The cost to refurbish the unit is beyond my budget so I need to purchase a more modern diff. Please let me know of a good swap for this truck. I suspect I would prefer an axle with drum brakes [but open to other suggestion]. I anticipate the truck will largely be used 'in-town' and will rarely be driven over 60 MPH. Thaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Los_Control Posted December 4, 2023 Solution Report Share Posted December 4, 2023 Howdy, a jeep cherokee or a Ford explorer is the correct width and have the 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern to use the stock wheels. Readily available in wrecking yards. They come in a variety of gear choices ...... 3:73 seems to be the sweet spot for a stock engine/transmission. While others claim a 3:55 works great ..... they usually have some high performance mods or maybe a T-5 transmission swap also .... 3:73 is a very safe choice if you have some hills in your normal driving. .... Or of course a 4.10 gear like the original will work fine. You will need to cut off the spring perches and weld on new ones to match your factory springs. Not to bad of a job if you have a welder .... you do want to set the pinion angle also while at it. Also you may need to modify the u-joints on your drive line .... original would have had Cleveland u-joints .... your photo is a standard u-joint .... I assume your drive line already has been modified. Over all it is not a difficult swap and done a million times. Check the years on the donor vehicles, older ones will have drum brakes while newer have gone to disk brake rear end. .... Choose what you want. Also a good idea if you can grab all the E-brake cables & brackets you can from the donor vehicle, can modify and connect to your e-brake handle .... If you do a transmission swap down the road, you will need these parts to get a working e-brake ..... thinking ahead can save future headaches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shopin Posted December 5, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2023 Hi Los_Control and thank you for your response. It was just the information I needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT81PlymouthPickup Posted December 6, 2023 Report Share Posted December 6, 2023 I concur! 3:73 ratio is the way to go. The 4:10 was not great for speeds over 50 in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooljunkie Posted December 11, 2023 Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 (edited) I used a mid 70’s dodge 1/2 ton rear. 8-3/8 ring gear. Put in 3.55 gears. Im running 265’s on the back and with the automatic im right around 2,000 rpms at 60 mph. needed to use new perches, i made mine using square tubing and a hole saw. Edited December 11, 2023 by Tooljunkie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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