Hi All, Seasons Greetings;
I have been pulling my hair out trying to determine the best rear end for my 1939 Chevy COE tow-truck hot rod project.
I am using a 1980 GMC P30 1 ton dully frame. No motor/trans/rear-end on frame yet.
I know I want tall highway gears on an 8 lug rear-end. I also need it to be as narrow as possible. I have been watching for, 64" width, GM 8 lug with 373 or higher gears. But so far no luck. Most are 68" width with 411 or lower gears.
So Friday I picked up a 1980's Ford rear-end, used on F.250 & F.350 trucks.10.25" 12 bolt rear-ed. 66" width, full floating, 8 lug rear-end. I like what I see except I really hate the name ford on it. I don't use ford parts on my Chevy's, but I need something now.
It is a 66" width, full floating rear-end & by doing the counting the tire rotation thing, I think the gear ratio is 3.46? Counting 10 tire turns, yoke went 17 & 3/4 turns. For calculations would that be 17.3 or 17.75?? 17.3 x 2= 346 & 17.75 x 2=355, which is it??
Both numbers sound good for HWY gears but I have not found any data helping me identify this rear-end. The tag has these #s, 2 V122C also 55 102 9L16 . On top of the pumpkin I found ETTW.AA also ford's logo. Hard to look further, it's still in the back of my trailer, tight fit with side boards. Can any one help me with the ratio. Also, what do you think about me using this ford rear-end, any other reasons beside the word ford on the casing?
I already know I will need to move the spring perches to match my GM springs. I think I can live with 66" width. I will be changing to air ride suspension. I want to use the front half of my main leaf's as part of the 4 link air ride? Does my ideas sound smart or not so smart???
