The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Late Model Rear End

What is the preferred or recommended late model rear end to put in my 54 3100.

I am going to use a 4 Bar suspension and have a couple of rear end choices at my disposal.

Thanks,

TC

What are we choosing from?
Almost any rear will work, some better than others.

If this helps my '58 Apache has a rear end from a '99 Tahoe. Only issue is it's wider than the original. So previous owner widened the fenders for that and to accommodate wider tires if desired. I have the old school tires on. The rear stance just looks a little wider. Other than that it's great and so are the bigger brakes.

Thanks for all the concern, but I am basically just looking for some info as to width or GM model vehicle that has been used in the past. I have access to a large salvage yard that will give me a bunch of choices.. However, it will be all Chevy... no ferd parts on my Chebby...:)

I have done many builds/restro/upgrades in the past, just not one on an AD pickup... so thought it would be easier to utilize the braintrust here than to do my own research....

Thanks,

TC

A '55-'57 automatic rear is 3:55 and fits perfectly with little work. But, there are many more options.

You could give us a clue as to how the truck is going to be used, and possibly even what lug configuration you are looking for. There are just way to many undeclared variables for anybody to give you a remotely meaningful answer.

That being said... What lug pattern are you looking for? 6 on 5.5? 5 on 5? 5 on 4.75? These are just a few lug patterns available for chevy.

What about gears, are you looking for low gears like 4.11, or high gears like a 3.08 ratio. Posi?

What kind of brakes? Disc? drum?

Some of the rears that have been sucessfully transplanted to ad chevy trucks include... 10 and 12 bolt truck rear ends, Dana 44 rears, camaro rears, cadillac seville rears. You name it, and it has probably been put in these trucks.

The stock width of the AD truck axle may end up being to narrow for some of the modern rim choices. Because Modern rims tend to have much more backspacing then the older rims, it may be necessary to get a rear that is several inches wider than stock. A stock ad 1/2 ton rear is approximately 61 inches wide.

There isn't one answer here that fits everybody's needs. Figure out what wheels you will be using and start there. Next figure the width of the axle you need. Now you have that figure out the gears, etc. There is plenty of information on rearends on this site. If you conduct a search you will find days worth of reading on the subject.

This may be of some help to you as in finding a donor the right width. The rest can be figured out with a tape measure and also knowing what the backspace is available for the wheels you want to use. Tire bulge is another thing to be aware of. The wider the rim the wider the cross section of the tire.
http://www.quickperformance.com/Technical%20Info/sus_measure.htm

I used a rear from a mid 70's GMC 4X4 in my '57,and it was a pretty easy swap. Do you have open or torque tube drive on it? Assuming open,I'd look for a mid to late 50's GMC axle-some were 3.90 many were either 4.10 or 3.08,many were posi and they're about as close to a bolt-in as you'll get.
Speed

Like I told you in response to your PM earlier;

"I appreciate your concern over my stones.

I like the bolt and have had the good fortune to meet a lot of the guys and gals on it. Maybe we'll do the same someday.

In my opinion, this forum is supposed to be about helping and discussing old trucks. However, all too often the old hands tend to [censored] new people out for asking something that has been asked before or scold them for not searching. They seem to forget that the new guy might not have been around long enough to have read the same question 257 times.

You started your post by calling the dude lazy. Then, you gave a bit of info – most of which didn’t really answer his question, followed by what read like a slight [censored] chewing for not using the search feature – a search feature that is poor at best. All of that seemed to be pretty rude to me.

Maybe we’re both “honest” or we’re both rude. Take it how you see fit."

Ford Explorer rearend is 59-1/2" wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface. Other than the Ford wheel spacing, which doesn't effect my situation with 17 x 11 rims on the rear and 17 x 8 on the front, they are hard to beat with most of them positraction, 31 spline axles, 3.73 gears for overdrive transmissions. Best bang for the buck in my opinion.
/tech_library/Explorer8_8.html