So i have a 1959 f250 flat bed. It has 4.56 gears and i need to fix that. Changing the gears in the axle will run around 600. Now, i've found a rear axle off a 1987 f250. Its a full floater just like mine. I have a DANA60, i believe this has a sterling 10.25 or something? How hard would it be to just swap axles? we're talking $100 for the complete rear end assembly off the 87-springs, mounts-shocks-rims-tires- the whole thing! what a steal if it will work. Anyone done this before? have some tips? This isnt only my first Fridge, its my first car ever. Im mechanically inclined, i can do the work. I just dont want to hack up my baby, and have never done an axle swap before. THANKS!!!

 

I'm thinking the '87 will be wider. Check it out with a tape measure!

 

SM, Welcome to the orphanage! You will want to look at ford truck axles up to about 79. These should be the right width. Like Spurredon said take a tape measure with you to the pick-a-part.
Whats your plans for the truck. Hard to see from the avatar.

 

I'm running a 4:11 sterling 10 1/4 in my 59 one ton. It's from a dually pickup and that's what I needed for my unusual setup. I only had to move the spring pads inwards about 2" or so. Everything else about it was simple. Brake lines were a different size, but simple adapter from napa. I say go for it. Very HD axle and they can be had dirt cheap.

 

I was 17 when i bought the truck, im 18 now. I bought it because i didnt want a beat up honda ricer or toyota corolla or some other peice of junk forgettable first car. You only get one first! It was an old ranch truck. i bought it for 650 and fixed it up over the summer. painted it myself and all that jazz. I have to do a write up on it, i have a ton of pictures..

Anyway, im tackling the gearing next so i can actually drive it to poker runs and stuff. 50mph is top right now and thats pushing it. So this axle may be to wide huh? assuming its not, whats involved. Looking at my dana, it looks like the axle is held on by u-bolts and a bracket under the axle, i cant tell if that bracket is welded on or just clamped by pressure. Is welding involved? what did you mean by moving the spring pad?

 

The spring pads are welded to the axle tube. For your truck, you would have to cut them off and weld them in a new position to match the spring centers.

As others have said, measure your current setup (outside of tire to outside of tire) and the axle you are looking at to make sure your tires will not be too far out beyond the edge of the flatbed.

Also, what is the ratio on the axle you are looking at? If it is 4.10 you will not notice much difference. The 3.55 ratio might be better for you if you will mostly be running light, and it was fairly common.

 

New spring pads are cheap, like $10. I wouldn't mess around trying to save the old ones.
Also do a little calculating to see what gear you want. There are several good ones online and you just plug in all of your info to find out what rpm at a given mph. Just to change from 4.56 to 4.10 seems hardly worth the labor and expense. 3.55 is the tallest Dana 60 but there was a Dana 61 that had taller ratios. I like a 3.73 in a 3/4 ton if you are running a 31"-32" tire. I have 4.10s in my daily but with the ZF overdrive that knocks it back to a 3.23 in 5th.

 

Here is a link!
Gear Ratio Calculator
You can play with tire size and gearing to determine what you need/want.
Good luck in your quest.

 

Thanks guys! yeah, i've played with the calculator. I already knew i wasnt going to put in anything unless it was down in the 3's. I wont be hauling anything other then dirt bikes anyways. This ranch truck has retired from its heavy ranch hauling days and will get to live out life relaxing. If i were to go 3.54 in the Dana, i'd be turning approximately 2500 at 65. Not bad. But being a high school senior heading to college at the end of summer i'm on a budget haha. ring gear will run about 200, plus i need a different carrier because i have a 4.56 and up carrier, plus the instalation kit, and then the labor to have someone do it because i dont have the pullers etc. big bucks. Maybe i'll go to the local scrap yard and see if i can find any used dana 60's.

 

SM If you want to go retro many of the trucks in the 60 & 70 ran big tires on the back and stock tires up front. A little cheaper! May not be to stylish today, but back in the day it was cool.

 

As noted early, I am 95% certain that the 87 is too wide for your truck. Having an F250 makes this a little harder. But what ever you do, you need to match the width first. There are many rear ends that fit but most will be a 5 bolt pattern. If the 5 bolts is OK with you, then getting a ford 9" should be easy and cheap from a junk yard and there are many gear ratio's available. 3.7:1 was factor in the F-100.

To mount the new rear end, first you have to match the width, then you need to match the spring perches with the springs on your truck. You can measure this first. If you have to move them, and you likely will, it is not hard and I am sure you can find someone with a welder to help. There are 2 U-bolts on each side that attach the rear end to the springs. These would likely need to be replaced, they generally break when you are removing the old one, but you might get lucky. I bought mine from Dennis-Carpenter.

Then you have to repair/rebuild the rear brakes and connect the hydraulics and bleed the brakes. Lastly the drive shaft may take some work to get the universal to work. The newer ones are bigger. If you are lucky the pinion flange will fit the new rear end and you just have to replace the seal. If that doesn't work, you may have to have the old one and the new one married so to speak (or the drive shaft has to be modified to accept the newer universal), that means more welding and this needs to be done by a very good welded. Lastly you need to put new gear oil in it.

If have more questions just ask.

 

The distance between the outer rear frame rails behind the cab increased from 33 1/2" to 37 1/2" in 1973, except the following:

1973/77 F250 4WD High Boys (Dana 60) / 1973/79 F350's on the 140" wheelbase (Dana 70).

Sterling 10.25" introduced in 1985 F250 H/D's and F350's. 1983/89 F250 L/D's have the Ford 8.8" integral rear axle.

Peeps that install 9's in their 1948/56 trucks use this rear axle made prior to 1973, cuz it's the correct width.

 

BFG used to have a T/A tire in 33x9.50x15 size. I think those would put you about 3000 rpm at 65 mph. Not a freeway cruiser but it might be good enough for a college student to cruise around in.
I drove a 57 F350 with the 5.13 rear end as a daily driver for several years. That was many moons ago and I probably wouldn't want to hear an engine turning upwards of 4 grand to cruise down the interstate but I did and it did for 3-4 years and 30,000 miles. The 312 still ran strong when I sold that old truck. And it averaged over 13 mpg.

 

I've found a 1964 f250 4x4 with a dana 60 rear and a 292 for cheap. Will this dana 60 bolt right up? looks like it might have 3.53's and seeing how my 292 is knocking and smoking, it might be a good motor as well. Im trying to get as close to bolt up as i can. could i just pull out the pumpkin and pinion and throw them in my axel with out all the usual rebuilding clearence check crap?

thanks.

 

That should be a direct fit. I would still recommend pulling a tape on it and compare, just to be sure.

Dana's don't work that way like the old Ford 8" and 9" axles do. If you just swap guts in the housings, you will have to go through the "usual rebuilding clearence check crap." If would be easier and cheaper to swap the entire unit.