I have a 48 f1 that i plan on putting a 292 y-block with the stock 4 speed and using my stock dana 41 rearend. Will this be a good setup? I dont on hardly any freeway driving if any.

 

Midcal-I really know nothing about your era of truck, or the Dana 41.I can tell you that you'll be fine with a 292, power-wise, assuming it's in good shape, and especially if you're used to a flatty.

The main thing is the gearing in the rear-end,if you can get it into the 3:25 to 3:54 range,you'll be happy with it,in my opinion.As to fitment of that motor in your truck,I'll have to defer to others who've done it.The Y-block, an oft-maligned motor, is very sturdy,and when taken care of, will do what you ask of it.

Now is the time for someone to come along and convince you otherwise,probably push you towards a 351W.Ignore him!

 

I'm with Steve as far as the 292 goes. It would definitely have no problem pushing the truck around. I don't think that you'll be happy with the gearing, though. You'll really have the y-block spinning at anything over 45 MPH. It can handle it OK, but I feel like it's an unnecessay waste of fuel and detrimental to engine life in the long term. Finding a 9" with a suitable ratio is easy and relatively inexpensive. I'd consider it.

 

Your rear end gears could be 3.73s or 3.92s. That was the stock option then.

 

well i also have an 8.8 rearend out of an 89 Mercury that is damn near identical to the width of the stock rear end...would this rear work better with the 292 / 4 speed combo?

Is there any other good options. I have also thought of putting a C-4 behind the Y-block, But would like more info if anyone has any. Thanks a lot.

 

There are adapters available to mate a C4 to the y-block, but the C4's final drive ratio is 1:1 just like your stock tranny. That means that there will be no difference in cruise RPM. The 8.8 is a good, stout axle also, but whether or not the Merc axle would be any better for you or not depends entirely on what gear ratio it has in it. Strength isn't the issue with ANY of these axles. It's all about the gears.

 

Measure the wheel mounting face to wheel mounting face on the 8.8 It's a great rearend of course and if it's close to 61.25" it'll swap in.

Since it's out of a merc I'd bet on it being a low number ratio that was behind an automatic. With a 4 spd trans it should work well, but that all speculation on my part. BOR is right - its all about gears.

The stock rears in 1948 were 3.73 and 4.27 The 3.92 listing in the shop manual is a mistake.

The Dana/Spicer 41 is tough enough to handle the 292 - it's pretty much an early version of the 44.

 

I believe the 8.8 has 2.73 gears in it.

is there any way to figure out what gears the 41 has in it?

 

Will the 8.8 have the wheel bolt pattern , lug bolt spacing you want ?

 

You do not want 2:73s. you will run out of power.

 

fifty-two_f1, What do you mean by run out of power?

And no that is a problem with the Merc 8.8 is it has the smaller Ford 5-lug car bolt patten and the front of the truck will have the stock f1 straight axle and stock wheels.

It sounds like i can run the combo i have (292 with 4 speed and stock 41 rear end) and the truck will basically run like an old truck...which is fine with me haha

 

Well, With 2.73s in 4th (direct drive) you will run 55@1500 and 77@2000 You will have to keep shifting to 3rd to speed up, and then im not sure if that would do you much good either. (this is only my opinion on the gears) Personally I would not run any gears lower than 3.20s. Also what size tires are you running?

 

I plan on getting some bias ply whitwall tires from Coker so probably about a 28" tall tire and about 6" wide.

 

So that would be the same as 600 16s. I think 273s will be a little to fast. Your ability to start off with be vastly affected.

 

My 60 has a 292 in it and the stock rear end ratio is 3.7. Meaning that the drive shaft has to turn 3.7 times to turn the wheels once. The 2.7 will not work with a stock 292, as said you will run out of power and be down shifting all the time and it will be very slow starting out. I agree that 3.2 is about as low as you can go, and if you are not going on the highway as you mention, the 3.5 to 3.7 range is better for the 292.