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I've been trying to come up with an alternate replacement rearend for the 54. Pretty much all of the late model rearends are way to wide, considering that I want to keep mine as an 8 lug. I was junkyard browsing and found several late model Ford E250 Vans. The rearends are 3.73 geared, which is what I want, but the axle hubs are what have me confused. They lack the floating hub assembly that you would typically see on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. They seem to be more of a c clip type that a 1/2 ton may have. Are they still Dana 60's or something else? I know they are still too wide for the 54, but some deeper offset rims should do the ticket.

They're Dana 60s, just a light duty Dana 60. Depending on what year van you're looking at, the later ones have disk brakes on them. You might take a look t the mid 80s Dodge vans. The use the same axle, and the width is very close to what an AD truck runs. However, they are more likely to be semi-float as well. Another option, and I'm unsure about the width, would be to check under the GM G series vans, preferrably the G30. Most of them used the full float GM 14 bolt, with later models running Dana 60s in both full and semi float.

Assuming that your '54 has the stock Eaton HO52/HO72 rearend, the carrier assembly with ring and pinion gears will interchange directly with any '67-'72 Chevy 3/4-Ton truck. The highest stock ratio available is 4.10 however. I did this swap on my '49 Chevy 3/4-Ton and it worked out slick. Some guys have said that the Eaton rear is difficult to get parts for, but Inland Truck didn't have any problem at all.

Dan M.

I measured the track width of a Dodge van with OE steel wheels and it was just about right on the money, but I have use the wheel that Mother Mopar provides due to the backspacing. The Fords would make it way too wide.

I went junkyard browsing again and walked away even more confused this time. I found a Dodge 1 ton van, but it confused me more than the Ford. It seemed to have a 9.25 center section, but 8 lug shafts. I'm not real interested in it, mainly because it was 3.90 geared (I'm looking for a 3.73 or 3.55) and the junkyard drained the grease by driving a punch into the diff. cover. It is almost the perfect width (give or take an inch) so I guess I'm going to keep looking. I found a couple GM 14 bolts out of 88-98 trucks, they are only a couple inches too wide. The huge center section and the massive drum brakes make them real inviting, but after some measuring at home I don't think I can make them work. Back to the drawing board.