just bought an 8 lug F3, mostly for the cab and fdlathead that runs any suggestions on a rear end conversion. something cheaper than a 9 inch thanks
lots of the f100's used a 5-lug dana 44 from an f100 from 1948 until 1972, and all are the same width. probably cheaper
thanks it is a 49 the cab is very solid and it runs I was gonna shorten frame and then swap out rear axle. thats good info thanks
...full-size GM's like 78-87 Impalas and other big GM's work real well, 61-2 inches drum face to drum face, and you can run 8 inch rims ...some are 4 & 3/4 bolt pattern, some are 5 on 5.
A 9 inch rear from 57-72 Ford truck is virtually a bolt on...I'm not sure it'll get any cheaper or easier to find. There's a pretty good write-up on bonusbuilt.com, though I'm not sure how it applies to an F-3, I really doubt it would be a heck of a lot different from an F-1 outside of wheelbase.
Look for an F1 frame also, you should be able to pick one up cheap and save the h***le of cutting your frame, you will then have the F1 front axle and F1 springs for the back to start with. Here is a guy in MN selling one (well at least I think it is an F1) -- but you should be able to find just a rolling frame local if you look hard enough. http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/pts/736642669.html
You guys should join this HAMB group for '48 - '51 F1/F2/F3 guys: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=10 What if I have an F2, WANT to KEEP my 8-lug wheels, but want something less than the like 5 to freakin' 1 gear ratio rear end? Any 9" rears that will allow me to keep those 8-lug wheels? ~Jason
Jason, The 9" was 1/2 ton only so it was only 5 by 5.5" bolt pattern. But with all the custom 9" stuff out there I am sure that you could have someone build you 8 lug axles for the 9". I thought the 3/4 ton was 6 lug (I haven't really paid a lot of attention so I really don't know) Is it possible to get the Dana style out of a later model 3/4 ton with better gearing (I ***ume you are looking for the 9" for gearing)? The 1/2 ton was the same width through '72 so I would guess the 3/4 ton was also.
****. It might be 6-lug. I never look at 'em much, other than to notice that they're not 5 x 5.5" (which most everything I've ever owned has been). And yes, I'm really after a gearing change, so I can take it on the highway, if needed. This thing's geared for farm-only, stump-pulling use. A top speed over 45 MPH would be nice... and a rear end, or even a gearing swap using the same shell would likely be cheaper than an overdrive. Wouldn't it? ~Jason
The T5 swap would be pretty cheap but the OD on that is still only about 0.8 so if you are in the mid 4s for the rear you still probably are not going to get close to highway gearing. Like I said about the 3/4 ton and number of lugs I really didn't pay much attention to the exact setups so the 8 lugs is probably correct. I did a quick google search and that seems to be what keeps coming up. In that search I found a WA craigslist ad for '72 3/4 ton that the guy was parting out and he said it had 8 lug wheels also, so if the F1 does have 8 it looks like that might be a way to go with it. If I were serious about a swap like that I would start by checking a few local late 60s 3/4 ton trucks that are for sale, bring a tape measure and try to measure frame width, spring spacing etc. Try to come up with a way to estimate wheel mounting surface distance. My guess though is that just like the early years they likely used the same width frame as the 1/2 tons through '72. Check the bolt circle to make sure that it is the same as what you have, they might have changed that also. That would give you some answers as to how easy a newer 3/4 ton will swap in. Then of course you have to start to figure out what the ratios actually are, I would guess as you got into the late 60s with the higher power motors they likely have better gears.
Being an old 3/4 ton, my rear fenders are wider than the F1s anyway, and could turn out to be pretty forgiving later on! Thanks - I'd suspected using one of those rears, but hadn't quite gotten around to confirming! ~Jason
Jason, I found this truck forum after I bought my '46. Since I don't usually look through the '48 up stuff, I did a quick search there also. It does look like my ***umptions about the width is correct. It looks like you can find 3.3-4.0 gears in the '68-'72 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks, looks like the same width and the same bolt pattern. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/627101-f2-rear-end-swap.html http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/278076-f2-f3-f250-f350-rear-axle-swaps.html I really didn't have a rear for my truck (1/2 ton) when I bought it. The PO had cutup the truck some and had a modified '48-'52(?) rear that he threw in with the truck. When I found out about the 9" swap, I found one almost accidentally. I called a guy on craigslist that had '46 sedan that he wanted to sell / part out before he had the crusher come (I was looking to grab the motor and trans if he he ended up parting it). When I went to look at it I asked if he had a '68-'72 1/2 ton out there, he said he did, but there wasn't a good part on it, I got the 9" that I was looking for though Keep your eye open, you never know when one is going to fall in your lap.
A later ford rear is a bolt in, or you can get anouther 40's or early 50's 3/4 ton rear and combine them with a Quickchange center section and build it into a quickchange, you can even get aluminum drum brakes or even disks, but then you'd be stuck with a wide 5 pattern Aint nuthin wrong with the original rear
****gy, Is this (Frankland quick change) what you are talking about? http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=280128 The '49 that cbsales has is an 8 lug not a wide 5. It should have asymetrical housings like the older wide 5 housings, but I don't know for sure that they are the same. Do you know if they are? Do you need to use the wide 5 axles? If you use the wide 5 axles, where the heck do you get wheels?
Ive heard its the same 38-52 a couple places, i might be wrong, i believe they just changed drums, guess i'm gunna find out though, i'm doing a Frankland champ rear in my model T and i'm going to try to use the axles,guts, and possable a tube and both backing plates off my 51 F-3. I know the pinion will be different, shorter spline, but the prewar torque tube ones might be able to be machined down kinda like the banjo ones. I kinda want to try that if i can find a prewar one. As for wheels you can use the original for iron 8 lug drums or like i'm going to do, go aftermarket Halibrand or Frankland wide 5 drums, and dirt track wheels. BTW i'm looking for aluminum or magnesium wide 5 wheels in 6"-9" width
I've just swapped out this axle from my '55 F-250 so I could go with 5-lug (it has the stock 8-lug pattern). I think it is a later axle - Dana 60? - and has about 3.7 gears. It has 12-1/8" x 2" brakes. I guess it came from a Ford as the pads all look 'factory' and obviously fitted the original springs. I'm afraid this one isn't much use to you as it's a few thousand miles away (shame, as it's probably worthless over here except for s****), but it shows what the other guys were mentioning.
not so...not ALL of the f100's had 9" axles. d44's were sometimes subs***uted for production. i've personally seen many '57 - '66 series trucks with them, and d44's were also used '73-'79 also. my dad had a 77 f150 with a d44
****gy, one more question, when you say "wide 5" you are referring to the 5 on 6.5" bolt pattern from the 40s truck, not the '39 style wide 5s like these: http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284847 I am just trying to understand this a little more, sounds like an interesting way to set things up.
Hey Jason.... Something I heard about, but have never fully investigated fully is to use one of those old Ford divorce mounted transfer cases for an overdrive unit. Supposedly you can turn it around backwards and it works something like a 2 to 1 ratio. I don't know if this would work or not, but it might be worth looking at one of those old cases and checking it out. Theoretically it would allow you to drop your RPMs by 50% at speed. Essentially, it might work similar to an old 2 speed rear end. Someone check this for me and let me know if it'll work or not.
Thanks S, I'll take another look at it when it stops raining! A friend had the original front brakes from me, but I thought that 12-1/8" brakes would not be of interest, or does the 12" stuff fit these backplates? The drums and shoes all look excellent so it would be great if they were of use.
According to my Ford parts book, the front spindles for '48-'52 F1, F2, and F3 are the same part, so you just need a pair of F1 hubs and brakes to replace the big F3 ones. I am 'down-grading' my '55 F-250 to effectively become a long wheelbase (8" longer) F-100. This isn't a problem as it is not now going to be a work truck so I will treat the load rating as an F-100. You will be doing the same, so as long as you don't expect to haul 6,800 lbs of load around all day you shouldn't have a problem (I have no idea how trucks are licensed or rated in your state, but I guess now it would be a 'historic' vehicle so may be exempt?).
I fetched the remains of a '34 Fordor body and ch***is on (and in) an old 240 Volvo estate once, which was an entertaining drive home, but I think I'd draw the line at a trans-Atlantic road trip! There are people over here shipping stuff your way, but I doubt this would be worth the cost, even stuck in the corner of a container.
3 hours each way, middle of the night, on a low spare to obtain this 318 Poly: Sounds like you're one of my people! ~Jason
Here's the front end conversion thread, posted by cbsales: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=285358 ~Jason
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