1952-59 Ford 302s with factory rear end?

whos running a 302 or other sbf with their stock rear end? i'm sure some of you guys are. i ask because i have a nice shortened 9in that i could use, but wondering if the stock rear would be fine for a tame reliable sbf? me thinks the 9in might be overkill, but i tend to over-build everthing i do.... what do you guys think? oh yeah, using a c4 or aod and the 9in currently has 3.73 gearing.
thanks.

 

i had a 351w with AOD in my old 55 fairlane.. it ran great, especially on the highway doing 75MPH. this was with the original rear.

 

when i bought my 53 it had a 350 in it with a turbo 350 trans with original rear and it was awful. couldnt go over 65

 

I'm running an 88 5.0 HO, and an AOD with the stock rear in my 55 CustomLine. She cruises at 65, 70, 75 with no problem, it's actually a pretty nice, mellow tone. I'm not sure exactly what the rear ratio is, I should get under since she's on jackstands at the moment and do some spinnin and cipherin.

 

Those rears are Dana rears and pretty strong . I am going to use my 55 stock rear and my 302 has a hefty cam with a C4 .
You shouldn't have any problems with the stock rear at all !

Jim

 

My 56 has the stock rear end in it and it has been fine. I have a 400 hspr sbf.

 

Mine is a stock 4.10 rear with a 302 and AOD,used a 1986 Crown Vic driveshaft with a conversion U-joint NEAPCO 2-0291

 

Great info. I was wondering if my 56 would hold up to the 350 or 302. I have both in the shop still need to make up my mind which to go with.

 

The axles are usually the weak link in these early rears, as long as your not popping the clutch or launching your car with drag slicks you should be okay.

 

"Those rears are Dana rears and pretty strong ."

Not true. The station wagons, Thunderbirds, and pickups, along with most Mercury's, used the Dana 44. Ford p***enger cars used the Ford rear axle. Mine stood up to the tired old 332 FE (3 spd overdrive) during my high school years where I can ***ure you it was not babied. I did have to replace the center section because the original began howling. I ***ume this was due to worn-out gear teeth and not a result of abuse. I had to replace the 4:11's with 3:54's as that was all I could find. That took some of the starch out of the FE. Never changed the speedometer gear, so actual speed was a swag at best.
Farmalldan

 

sounds like the stocker should be fine then. anyone know the gearing on the stock rear off hand? 1953 flathead/auto.

 

My recollection was that v-8 autos got 3.31 standard, but I suppose 3.54 was also a possibility. I found one website listing specifications that confirms the 3.31 number. The same website lists the 3.54 gears as optional. With a .7 (?? can't recall for sure) overdrive in the AOD, your final ratio will be 2.32. Unless you have pretty big tires, you should expect about 17-1800 rpm at 60 mph.
Farmalldan

 

If the original motor was the 6 cyl the ratios are 3:90 with a 3 speed and 4:10's with overdrive 3 speeds.

 

Im running my stock rear too. 302, AOD, crown vic driveshaft with the U-joint conversion. Runs great on the freeway. Drove it to Des Moines from the Twin Cities and averaged 27 mpg in 110+ heat. THat includes all the cruising we did around the fair grounds. My car was an original fordomatic. I believe the rear end is like a 3.30??? something like that. I love the way it drives!

 

My 54 was a factory auto, it had a 3:30 ratio. My 55 is a 272 O/D from the factory, it had a 3.89 The current 55 axle is a Ranger, 3.73, with a five speed, the ratio is perfect. The 55 axle went into a hot rod with a flathead and a T5, it also was perfect.

 

The rears of almost 60 years ago were not posi's, so if you like burning one tire you will be fine. They were also not engineered to handle a lot of power - they didn't need to since the engines did not produce it. About the most Ford put to these was 300, and only in a very limited number of generally light cars. So if you are running less than 300 hp and don't plan to significantly bump it up, you will probably be fine.

When Ford decided to go with much higher horsepower engines, they re-engineered the rear to handle it with a 9" in 1957. If you plan to keep skinny tires on the car that break loose easy when you get into it, you will probably be fine and never break anything but traction. Because I wanted more go than show, I put 9" tread on the rear and a 9" rear (True-Track) to handle 400.