The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Differential choices for 51 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup

Last week up in the sand hills I stumbled upon a late 80's Lincoln with 4 wheel disc brakes. I am not sure of the year of the car and I think I will be heading there again tomorrow, so I can get a better look. I read an article in the Sept. 2000 issue of Classic Trucks magazine written by Doc Fromader about how easy one of these diffs were to install and how well they worked. According to the article, this is a 8.8 **** , which superceedes the 9 inch **** . He used a prototype kit from Air Ride Technologies which is about $600 (ouch). This kit comes with the frame boxing plates and everything else. After being stung once before by one of Doc's articles (89mm GM and A-833 Mopars are NOT the same tranny) I am a little leary of this. Is anyone running this rear end and if so how easy was it to install. I am a profiecient welder and fabricator but have never done a rear end swap before, so this is unchartered territory for me.

My other alternative is using the rear end from a 64 Chevy car. From second hand info I am to believe it is the same width as the stock rear end. I am not familiar with the suspension on a 64 Chevy car but I think is uses trailing arms and coil springs. I have heard it referred to as a Hotchkiss suspension, whatever that is.

Anyway, any advice, suggestions etc. you send my way will be greatly appreciated.

I just found that Caddillac Fleetwood Broughm has 4 wheel disc brakes and air ride suspension.This car is a 79 vintage.I haven`t looked real close yet, but I believe it is a 12-bolt.
OH, Hotchkiss is a leaf-sprung design suspension.

In a Hotchkiss design ,the leaf springs take the engine torque,no torque tube.
Racecarl, all rear axles are exactly the same amount of work to install.What bolt pattern will you have on the front wheels? Be nice if the rear matched the front.less money and time wasted redrilling axles.The usual welding involves the spring perches and shock mounts.I have actually done the swap twice,using Chevy axles.A very easy job for a hack like me.

Update..... I did in fact make it back up to look at the Lincoln again. It is a mark V, which according to my research was make from 1977-79. It has rear disc brakes and should have a 9" rear end. The best part is it is free, the farmer said he wanted it out of there a long time ago but couldn't get a scap iron man to come get it. Now all I have to do is find two wheels and tires to slap on the back so I can get the car on the tilt bed trailer.

The gear set in this diff. should be either a 2.73 or 3:1, which is plenty low (numerically). However, the punkin in my 66 F**D pickup is a 3.50 which is closer to what I was looking for, so I may end up swapping punkins. I don't pull heavy stuff or haul a lot with the F**d, so barring any differences in axle splines this might be the thing to do.

I didn't look at the master cylinder/booster but I'll bet I can get it to work. Now all I have to do is round up the $$$ to convert the fronts to disc brakes and run new lines throughout, and I should be able to stop on a dime.

BTW, how do you measure what size wheel pattern is on a vehicle?

Thanks again as always for help and ideas....

Don't forget to hook up the parking brake on that axle. Most of the rear disk brakes use the park brake to adjust for wear in the pads. If you don't use it, the brakes pedal keep getting softer and softer. Also, the adjuster can become stuck, then its new caliper time. Joe

Racecarl, to measure wheel bolt pattern, draw a circle which passes through each bolt's center, and measure it's diameter. Then count the bolts. The first number is the number of bolts, the second is the diameter- 4 on 4.5 is 4 bolts on 4.5" diameter. If the number of bolts is even, just measure from center to opposite center. There is also the issue of the center hub diameter and the offset.