The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rear end swap

What's a good candidate for swapping the complete rear end out of a '62 dually? My truck has the split rims and I believe 5.14's but I'd like to go with a little less gear such as 4.56's and one piece rims. The local pick and pull had the remains of a '75-ish Chevy dually with the rear end still in place, pretty sure it was a column shift AT. What gear would be typical for that truck and is that rear a doable swap?

Hey Willy,measure,measure,and then measure again.The measurements are for seeing if it will fit up properly. As for gear ratios,it all depends on what you are after,MPG,and top speed ,or performance coming off of the line. Sounds like a taller gear,maybe a 4:11 or 3:73 will give you much better MPG and top speed. There are several factors here,like tire size,which will change your gear ratio just a little bit. Then there are the overdrive transmissions which will give you better MPG,and top speed.you really gotta know just what results you are looking to obtain.Course if your gonna do a lot of heavy hauling,you might wanna stick pretty close to the original gear ratio.

Thanks, Dale. It has the 235 & factory 4 speed in it with the granny gear 1st, basically it's a 50 mph truck as is and what I'd like to do is be able to run a little faster at a lower rpm.

But the reason I'm asking is the truck really needs 4 new rear tires and from what I understand the later model one-piece rims may not clear the brake shoes correctly. Also have found that there isn't a taller tire for those split rims. So if I can get a one piece rim and a better gear ratio now before buying tires I'd go ahead and do it.