I'm new to this forum so here goes. I have a 1950 ford that screams high RPMs going at 60 mph. The trans went out and i had it rebuilt about 3 years ago. The guy said it was a six cylinder trans but he made it into a 350. I have had people tell me the high RPM is due to the trans, others say it is the rear end. The rear end is original but is making a clunking noise when i take off. If it is the rear end what will work in it. I hear a ford ranger will work.Any thoughts or help as to whether it is the trans or rear end.
Can't really tell unless I could hear it, and I don't understand the conversion to a 350 unless you mean a 3.5 but those stock rear ends were down around 4.11 and will wine or chatter at interstate speeds eventually. You could switch it out for an 8" Ford. Should fit with minor adjustments. Try something around 3.23.
49-56 used the same basic rear end. The highest ratio is 3.21 I believe. If your car started life as an Overdrive car it had 4.11's
I just spent the day ordering some parts for a 50ish Ford f1 rear. If it is a Dana 41 there should be a metal tag on one of the cover bolts that will say something like W 41/11 divide the top number by the bottom number to get your gear ratio.. (41/11=3.727). Also there should be a 41 cast on the diff webbing on the lower right side of the diff (it may be a Dana 44 as well and will be cast with a 44). As Jimmy six said, that was the standard rear for ford for a number of years. As an interesting side note, it looks like many of the parts in that rear carried over up to 1972 (bearings and seals, etc) If its a Dana 41 you are pretty well stuck with a ****py OEM gear selection... upgrade the ****** to an overdrive unit or replace the rear to get better cruising speed If its a Dana 44 then CarId.com has a nice selection of gear sets for it. good luck Chappy
Final drive on a non over drive transmission is going to be 1 to 1 no matter if it is a six cylinder or V8 trans I'm ***uming that you have a flathead V8 as you didn't state otherwise but giving full info on the complete driveline in the car or truck really helps us figure out what you are up against and offer up a viable solution. I'm with Jimmy Six in thinking that maybe the previous owner pulled out a broken overdrive trans and put in the regular 3 speed trans. That would mean the car has 4.11 gears and as you say the engine runs faster than you want it to at road speed. Stock rear ratio with a 3 speed was 3.7 in the cars. Here is a link to an older thread about swapping later Ford rear axles into a 50 shoebox and a good discussion on what works and why. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1950-ford-car-rear-end-info.951654/ You have to stick with real close to the exact wheel mount to wheel mount spacing that the original rear has. You probably don't want to get much up past a 3.4 or 3.5 though as you will run into it not pulling in low. gear very well and be hard on the clutch. This is a link to a tire size/gear ratio speed and rpm calculator where you can see what the engine rpm change at certain speeds would be with different gear ratios in the rear axle. https://tiresize.com/gear-ratio-calculator/ Scroll down the page and the graph shows up to make it easy to figure out.
My '50 Sedan (car) has a Maverick rear under it. 3.55 gears. That coupled to a C4 trans and 302 V8 allows it to run great at freeway speeds (and beyond ).
Like others have said , we don’t know what you have. Need more info. But based on what you have given us I would recommend an overdrive transmission. There are several ways to do it , from, finding a bolt in replacement to a $3000 conversation. Depends on what your needs and pocket book dictates. Bones
My bet is that his vehicle is an F1 with a 350 mated to the top loader 3 speed. Rangers ****! So do S10s as far as parts for a traditional ( or any kind) of rod done right. A rear axle from a F100 up to 1972 is a direct bolt in. There's a myriad of possibilities here from something dinky like brake hardware dragging, to bearings either in the transmission or rear axle, to throw out and pilot bearings, to screwed up tires, to clutch stuff, U joints....You just got to find it. The clunk could be.....U joints and pinion bearing....Worn spring hanger bolt bushings will clunk...this happened on my 50 Coupe. A high pitched whine could be the ring and pinion wore slap out..... The clunk could be unrelated to the whine. Most of this will apply to a car as well. Lastly... A 1950 Ford is going to whine. If it has an uber low gear....it's going to whine like hell at 60mph. It should get there like a rocket though. Think quick, not fast. Everything could be fine. My F1 whines but not too bad at Hwy speed but my gear is somewhere in the 3s.
my guess is he has a turbo 350 box out of a gm car that was out of a six cylinder car but has had extra clutch packs fitted to upgrade it to v8 spec and whatever the standard gearing is for the vehicle, seeing as it would have a 1 to 1 top gear I'm guessing a low geared axle ( numerically high ) Kev
For anyone interested, I have a 1951 Ford with a standard transmission (no overdrive). It was a very original car when I got it over 30 years ago. Right after I bought it, I went through the suspension checking everything and painting it. When I replaced the wheel bearings in the rear end, I checked the ratio; it was 3.55. I find it quite easy to live with, although I do have 2 OD transmissions "under the bench". The car was built late in the year; it was delivered on July 1, 1951.
Here's some good rear end info for your 50 Ford. I remember years ago Custom Rodder had an article showing how great the maverick rear fit the shoebox Fords. https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26351 and here https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/why-use-a-maverick-rear-end-in-a-ford-shoebox.372583/
OK.... You quoted all these posts that folks took time out of thier day to do. So.....what's your response?
I am so sorry if I screwed here I had no intention of doing that to anyone because I know everyone's time is precious. I thought I had to click on everyone's name for to a reply. I plan on looking at all the sites to see what they say. I just thought I needed to put down more.
I have a car 1950 ford sedan. I hope I get this forum thing figured soon as to how it works so I don't make anyone mad
Your fine, you'll get the hang of it. There are a ton of knowledgeable guys willing to help, just needed more info. What engine and transmission is in the car? Stock or something else?
bigbird54. when you say you have a 1950 Ford with a stock engine and trans people around here are thinking 8BA flathead and a 3 speed on the tree (maybe with over drive.) try this formula when asking questions. "i have a 1950 ford club coupe, the previous owner put in a 1986 305 small block out of a Camaro, i believe the engine is bone stock with some headers. the trans is a turbo 350 of unknown year and mileage. i am running the stock rear... i want better cruising/highway speed without running such high RPM. should i change the rear end, rear gear, or the trans?" (or what ever your exact specs are) the more info these folks have the faster you will get the solution to your issue. we are 23 posts into this thread and i am still not confident i know exactly what your set up is. i am not trying to be a smart a$$ i am just trying to help. Chappy.
Chappy sure posted some helpful posting technique. You gotta provide good info. to get the right info.
Chappy you just nailed it that's pretty much what I'm looking for but having a problem with the wording so everyone understands what I'm trying to say. It's not a flat head and I do have the shift on the column but I don't think there is an overdrive. And you hit it with the sentence should I change the trans. Or rear end. I know there are lots of shoebox out there others fixed up so I know mine isn't a rare fix I just needed to explain better in the very beginning
Everybody has been so great in replying . I just feel bad wasting people's time because I'm having trouble getting the right words out. We learn something new everday.
Ok. So you have a 1950 club coupe. It has a Chevy small block 305. Does it have a turbo 350 trans? (That is a Chevy automatic trans) And if it does, you say it is column shifted? Is it a stock 1950 ford column? If it is I would be interested in seeing the linkage setup after we solve your original problem. If you are running the stock rearned your gearing selection is very limited. (Does the rear have a metal tag on one of the cover bolts that says something like W-41/11?) If so what does it say. Let us know Chappy
OK, thanks to Chappy we now have some more information to go on. It is not a stock engine and transmission but an abortion of a car, (I am a FORD man). You can jack the rear of the car up, both wheels off of the ground on jack stands with the front wheels chocked both in front of and behind the wheels. Place the transmission in Neutral, mark the driveshaft with some chalk or whatever so you can see the mark. Spin the wheels around one time counting each revolution the driveshaft makes by your previously placed mark, This will give you a rudimentary ratio; wheel spins one time and driveshaft 3 1/2 times = 3.5-1.
It's a 1950 ford sedan, chevy 305 small block completely stock no headers. The column from what I rember ed was an early 80s buick or olds. I'll have to check on the tag. The car is in a different town where the work is being but I think the guy mentioned a tag last year. The guy who did the trans is the go to guy when it comes to transmissions. He said it was a six cylinder that looked like it had 300000 on it. He completely did the whole thing. It does have a kick down cable. I used to be up on all this stuff but as I got older and wasn't around it I forgot some but it's slowly coming back. I heard there wasn't a big selection of gears to put in the rearend. The car came from a hot rod shop in Florida but I'm finding out small things weren't what he said they were. Engine for exampl
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