My '51 Ford spacing between rear axle spring perch centers is 42.5 inches. I would be hard pressed to think that from '49 to '51 that the spring perch spacing changed but I don't know for a fact. Pist-n-broke...do you concur on this? Any other shoeboxers got different numbers? Maybe we can take the average and get a nominal number. Hope that helps. Michael
Ok, thanks. that should do it. I have a 49 woody coming that has a blown rear end, Dana type, and I have a good 56 rear, Ford type, I think it will fit.
If it doesn't fit I hear a Granada 8" bolts right in. Have not done it myself but came from a good source. The Wizzard
Don't know about the Granada but I've done the Maverick swap just fine. no change of u-joints or anything.
Zapato, No change of u-joint is required either? I have a Maverick 8" to put in my 49. I ***ume that the Maverick u-joint fits the shoebox drivline. Does the stock driveshaft length work too? Do you know if the brakes interchange as well? I just rebuilt the rears less than 1000 mi ago on the 49, and the Mavericks all need to be gone through. It would make the swap even better, parking cables etc. Thanks for the info. Brock
[ QUOTE ] Zapato, No change of u-joint is required either? I have a Maverick 8" to put in my 49. I ***ume that the Maverick u-joint fits the shoebox drivline. Does the stock driveshaft length work too? Do you know if the brakes interchange as well? I just rebuilt the rears less than 1000 mi ago on the 49, and the Mavericks all need to be gone through. It would make the swap even better, parking cables etc. Thanks for the info. Brock [/ QUOTE ] Brock, when i removed the stock rearend [original 6 cyl car] it was almost impossible to drop the driveshaft as whoever did the original swap didn't use a custom driveshaft but a salvage yard shaft. which worked fine but it was a tight fit. the maverick pumpkin is a bit shorter so it worked out better and there's no contact at the ****** end. I did replace the u-joint at the time but not for fit, was out and another was on the bench from an earlier project [71 Bronco]. Me I'd ditch those early brakes and replace all the Mav hardware they're wider and as time goes by will be easier to find replacement parts.Don't remember having any trouble finding a replacement flex brakehose at my local NAPA store. parking cables wouldn't be any big h***le either need to take care of that myself the guy that gave me my rearend torched them off so I need a set if anyone has some lying around. there is I'm guessing here a bit of difference in the pad locating spread maybe inch or so but unless you're running solid or urethane bushings in your springs you should be able to spread them apart enough to work. Has not given me any problems in 9 years. Also you want the rear out of V8 car so you'll end up a 5 lug wheel pattern 5 on 4.5 just like you stocker which means your spare will work just fine. hope this helps, let me know if you need more info.
Cool, thanks for the info! I had planned originally on swapping everything out and using the 49 rear in another project, but I think I sell it to a resto guy. I hope the stock driveshaft will work, trying to do this quick and cheap, not the best way but it is what I need to do right now. I think that I moved my motor slightly forward to make room for the distributor, but not more than 1/2". Swap looks pretty simple, just don't want it to snowball. I was planning on swapping to a u joint with a grease fitting in the future any how. I actually think that I will be happy with the 2.79 ratio as I have a Caddy motor with a lot of torque and a 3 spd toploader out of a truck with a real deep 1st gear. With 28" tall tires it should cruise right along at 70-75 mph. I'll let you know if I have any questions. Thanks, Brock
How about the year of the Mav rear? I have heard that '74 was the first year to have 5 X 4.5 bolt pattern. What year is your axle? Thanks, Michael
Not sure of the year of mine as I bought it used, already out of the car. I have been told all V8 Maverick are 5 on 4-1/2", I think the V8 was offered as an option starting in '71. Hope that helps. Brock
Brock...I've done the maverick 8" into a 49 ford too and there are a few things to watch out for. My maverick was a bolt-in but the spring perches were about 1/2" wider than the 49's. It fit but put the spring shackles in a bind. Luckily, my shackle bushings and bolts were worn out. The bigger concern is pinion angle. If your shoebox is lowered like mine was [3"blocks], and you keep the original maverick spring mount pads, the pinion will point about 7-8 degrees to far up. This puts a helluva bind on the U-joints and causes the driveshaft to hit the floor. After trashing a rear U-joint in 500 miles, I solved both problems by cutting the stock maverick pads off and buying replacements at my local trailer supply house...about 5 bucks. At that time, I also rebuilt the shackles and I reset the pinion angle and welded the new pads on...no more problem.. BTW, I noticed my maverick rear sat about 3/8ths inch to one side with the stock mount pads...not saying it was because of the pads --- maybe my Ford was tweaked a little, I never found out for sure but I fixed it with the new pads.
[ QUOTE ] BTW, I noticed my maverick rear sat about 3/8ths inch to one side with the stock mount pads...not saying it was because of the pads --- maybe my Ford was tweaked a little, I never found out for sure but I fixed it with the new pads. [/ QUOTE ] Rocky, if you look at most stock boxes you'll noticed a little extra tire to fender clearance on one side. Can't remember which right now. Had to be production problem that Ford never chose to address. rewelding the pads and recentering the rearend would fix that like you did.
Thanks for the tips Rocky! I actually have heard that about the shackles, so I won't replace those. Hopefully I can solve the pinion angle issues with some leaf spring shims. I have also modified my trans Xmbr so I think I have already made up some of that angle...or I made it worse! I have run 4" blocks before I changed motor and trans (again) and it did hit then. I might put them back in, I am still undecided. I am running some 6.00 x 16 tires so I know there will be room to the qtr. panels. I'll double check the spacing though to verify that this is true. Were you able to use your stock driveline??? That is the thing that I have the most fear about. I know that modifing them can get real expensive, and having one made can be even more. Thanks again for the voices of experience. Brock
I didn't use my original driveshaft onna counta I dumped the anemic flathead 6 popper and built a real-live small block chevy for mine...a 355 that ran really strong and I never made any apologies for it. I measured for the length I needed and went driveshaft shopping at the local bone yard...found one from some kinda GM product that was the correct length and I used an offset U-joint from a 60's ford 1/2 ton that had the optional dana 60 rear axle...The large side of the cross fit my G.M. driveshaft and the small side fit the maverick flange...
One more question on this. What is the pinion angle on the stock rear compared to the spring perches?
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