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need rear end ideas to swap out torque tube to open drive. will be daily driver

Sorry to be a pain, but many questions need answered to get what your looking for. I'd drive my truck daily and I have a tube. Are you driving on highway at 75-80 or around town? Is your drive on flat or hilly terrain?

Are you looking for 5-lug, or 6-lug, and are you going with a high HP engine?

I used a '72 Chevy Nova. It had 3.36 gears from a 3spd manual trans Chev 350 car. It virtually bolted in. The springs on the truck are too narrow, but I actually drove it like that for several years.

It turned 2600 RPM at 60 mph. Turned 3100 at 70 mph. I drove it on a long road trip without overdrive. I got 16 mpg back in 1996. That's with about 26" tall tires.

You could stab the gas at a stoplight and either the Quadrajet 4 barrel or Edelbrock carb, depending on which one I was running at the time would howl. Burning rubber was no problem.

What motor and transmission will you be using? What is important to you in a daily driver?

My '55 1st GMC Suburban, with a GMC 270 inline motor and a SM420 transmission is a daily driver with the rear from a '73 Chevelle wagon under the rear.

Its not the fastest or most economical vehicle on the road and it doesn't pull a loaded trailer very well. But it behaves reasonably well keeping up with traffic and gets 17 mpg on the highway.

These details may not help you at all, but more information about how you want to use your truck and what other modifications you are planning would go a long way to help us answer your question.

im gonna run a 350/350 i also want to run 5 lug. would like to get decent mpg

Something like my 3.08 might be best. A step or two either way should be okay. Finding the right width and right ratio are the most important things, mounting can be changed.

I've used the 3rd generation (specifically 88 and 89) Camaro diffs in my 54 truck. They are 62" wide, mounting surface to mounting surface, are very common in 3.08 as well as 3.42 and in addition, available for about $100.00. You'll have to scrub off the coil spring mounting hardware and set up your new spring perches. (tractor supply, trailer dept), extended u-bolts from Azone or Advanced.

I've got pics of the process in my 2 Chevy albums.

Dave

http://community.webshots.com/user/Fla54Chevy3100

I agree with Dave , I took his advice I used an 85 camaro rear got it for 150, had a brand new eaton posi in it and 323 gear, it fit right in and steve at buffalo makes the saddles and u bolts to fit the smaller tube,his setup can be adjusted to center the rear in the fender wells, lokar makes the bolt on E brake cables so there's no extra engineering that needs to be done,,

I am using the Ford Explorer 8.8 rearend. It is 59.5" between mounting flanges, and is set up for leaf springs, although you will have to remove the factory ones and reweld new ones. It is typically 3.55 or 3.73 and is usually a traction lock. In 1995 and newer, you also get disk brakes. Just do a google search on the Explorer 8.8 rearend and you will find alot of swaps using this rearend.

I also decided to use the Explorer 8.8. Right width and there is good aftermarket support for them. Seem to be plenty strong comparable to a GM 12 bolt, and have good gear ratios. Cheap and plentiful.

I have not installed mine. There is a 2.75 offset from the middle due to Explorer transfer case, but I have read this is within limits of U-joints to make up for. I still may center and narrow mine by cutting the long axle tube and using a stock axle (for the narrow side). This also would improve running wider rubber on the rear, given it didn't interfere with sheetmetal or frame.

Newer explorers have independent rear suspension...now that's interesting...

From my experiences as a warranty claim inspector, I'd reccomend staying as far away from that Explorer independent rear end as possible. Any repair work on that system takes a deep pocket and a bunch of dedicated tools. The rear hubs and suspension system would be difficult to adapt to a stovebolt frame, also.
Jerry

i have a 42 chevy and im running a 1998 blazer s10 rear with disk brakes it is a 373 rear 350motor 60 over 11 to 1 compression with turbo 350 trans with shift kit

when i go to the junk yard how can i tell if an 89 iroc z has a 3.08 or 3.42 rear end?

will a 70-81 camaro rear work on my 53 3100?

Yes! I have a 81 Camaro on mine with a 350 sbc and 700R4 transmission. You can get most any gear set you want on Ebay if the original doesn't suit you.
If you want disc brakes on the rear you can bolt on 2002 Camaro -Trans AM 12" LS1 Rear Disc Brakes. That fact alone convinced me to choose the Camaro rear end.

A good salvage yard will be able to tell you the ratios

I don't think they were talking about an independent rear, rather a solid axle out of the explorer, i to have the 8.8 with disc in mine with 3.73 gears, 700R4 and a 350 with a small cam. this combo works great, much better than the gm rear witch i have used in the past.

FYI...you might want to shy away from the 62" wide Australian Borg-Warner disc/posi found in the 88-89 Camaro IROC-Z's. Aside from being quite pricey, the availablilty of axle seals is going to be an issue. I couldn't find any supplier so I have a 3.08 dust collector.

Finding a Camaro 3.73 is tough.....however, the above mentioned Ford 8.8 at just a tad short of 60", would be a viable option. I'm running one (it's a solid axle) out of a 94 Explorer ($100.)....3.73 posi/drum in my GM 355 powered 40 Sedan and with the 31 spline axles and I venture to say it's plenty tough to use behind a 350. The posi clutch rebuild packs are about $125.00 and I've yet to find one that has any gear or bearing damage.

As for discs in the rear of a pickup.....with an adjustable proportioning valve, but without a good ABS system, you're going to be dealing with rear wheel lockup......especially if you're running a boosted brake system. Dics up front with drums in the rear are much more predictable.

Good luck with the yards accurately telling you what ratio tranny or diff you're purchasing. Easiest way is to jack up one wheel, spin the hub TEN revolutions while counting the pinion revolutions.....multiply pinion revs X 2 and divide by 10. This will give you the first TWO numbers of the R&P ratio. Ezample: rotate a wheel/hub 10 times.....counting 17 revolutions of the pinion yoke....multiple by 2 = 34....divide by 10 and you have a 3.4X R&P ratio. You won't have to guess at the second number like you would if you only spun the wheel once.

Also...if you use an 8.8 be sure to get the u-bolts and bottom plates. The axle tubes are a larger diameter then the standard 3" tubes. If you use a Camaro diff....be sure to get the rear sway bar as you can flip the bar from the bottom of the diff to the top, using the stock hardware and drill 2 holes in the frame and use all the Camaro hardware to attach the control links in front of the diff.

Absolutly. I have a mid 70's in mine.

Air ride technologies makes a kit to install a Lincoln rear end in a 47-54 truck with little modification and it is a 4 link. ron

I'm using a 1989 Camaro rear diff, posi, rear disc and added a 4 link with coil overs.