The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop New rear end

I have a '52 GMC pick up (3/4 ton) and it's got a 350 in it. Anyway, the 4.56 gears were ridiculously steep for this motor, so I found a Dana 60 out of an early seventies Ford 3/4 ton. I had it rebuilt for 3.54 gears and it's going under the truck today. Should give me a 75 mph cruising rpm of about 2900.

Can't wait! I'll post pics. It's not a real pretty rear end...I'll dress it up after I get the truck back. I don't need to pay the guy for that too.

The two things that need to be moved on this type of diff are the spring pads and the shock mounts. Spring pads are about an inch off and the shock mounts are way off. The overall length is slightly shorter than the stock 3.4 ton diff, so the wheels should fit fine.

Sounds like a great swap. Your stock wheels should fit it too.

Have you tried the wheels. Back in the 50's Ford had a bigger hub than GMC. The bolt pattern was the same but Ford Wheels would fit GMC but not the other way around. I will be interested to know about the wheels.

You are right. There was a slight difference. I'd say about 2mm, that's about it. A tiny amount. I had to cut back the hub hole of my GMC wheels about an eighth of an inch so they fit. I also need to reuse my spacers because the Dana 60 isn't as long as the original rear end. It puts the tires just barely underneath the bed of the truck, so that if I have a heavy enough load, the tires will cut on the truck bed underneath.

I have spacers to push the tires out. Had to order some new lugnuts. $35 bucks for a set of 16 lugnuts. They add up when you have 8-lug wheels. The driveshaft also has to be shortened a little, since the Dana 60 has a longer snout. But it's a fairly easy swap guys.

Here's a pic. Sorry it's dirty. I'm not gonna pay the guy to clean it up, that's something I can handle.
[IMG]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/axeimen/Dana60.jpg[/IMG]

I see that publishing photos here is not allowed. How nice.
This has to be the ONLY forum on the internet that doesn't allow photos.

But you know what? If you just click on the link above, it'll take you to the photo. Just as easy...

I'm not one of the moderators, but I'm sure the rule is to save costs because there are so many members, all the pictures would take a lot of band width and cost money. Posting a link is simpler any way. The swap you made was very common 30 to 50 years ago in days when it was not considered a restoration but simply a way of saving money. It was common to just use Ford wheels all the way around because they were every where. Maybe that was an indication that more Fords landed in the salvage yard than GM.

I heard a good one yesterday. "Speed Kills, drive a Ford"

I had to do the same thing to get some wheels on a Dodge D60 full floater. The axle flange was slightly larger than the body of the hub and kept the wheels from going on.
A few minutes with an abrasive flapper wheel did the trick.