I rescued a 1963 b600 from a scrap yard recently. The bus runs great and I was preparing to go through the brakes but before I do that what are better gear options for its single speed rear end? what years will swap or should I replace the entire rear end with a newer one. I would like to be able to cruise with traffic on the interstate
thanks

 

Post the info from the warranty plate--probably somewhere on the dash. That may id the axle and current ratio.

What engine?

Depending on the axle you have, a two speed out of an F600 might be the answer.

Steering being what it is on these, you might find speeds over 60 to be quit a handful.

 

the bus has a 292 with a 4spd. don't have the tag here to post, will try to Monday. I teach a shop class at a high school tech center, this is a school project. We drove the bus last week and did notice its handling issues, that's one reason I was wondering about an axle swap I m also looking into adding sway bars and changing the slapper style front springs. I also have a good NV4500 5 spd and access to necessary machine equipment to fit to the yblock

 

Warranty Plate located on the inside of the glove box on a school bus. The AXLE code is stamped on the 2nd line-far right.

 

thanks Number Dummy this was the number on the paper work, will find the other numbers when I get back to school Monday
B60CN931102
I think I just scored a set of 22.5 6 lug wheels from a 76 f600 u haul truck. YEA!

 

B60 = B600 School Bus.

C = 292 2V.

N = Norfolk VA Assembly Plant.

931102 = The 9 is incorrect, could be a 3 for 4 for 1963, a 4 or 5 for 1964.

 

If it has an Eaton rear end you are out of luck trying to find any rear axle gears with a higher (numerically lower) ratio than about 5.83. I went through this with my 1958 F600 with the Eaton 2 speed rear axle. I talked to a very knowledgeable parts man at a large truck salvage yard and he told me that the Eaton single speed and dual speed "pumpkins" are interchangeable in the same housing but there was never a "highway" gear ratio offered in either the single or dual speeds.
There was a Dana 80 rear axle used in some of the Freightliner step vans (Fedex and UPS delivery trucks) that is the same width and has the same large 6 bolt lug pattern as the Eaton used in the B/F600's from the '50's and '60's. I found one in a salvage yard. You can get gears for the Dana 80 all the way from 3:50 to 6:00. The one I bought has 3:73 gears. These Dana 80's have disc brakes.

 

I think that axle will be found mostly in IH chassis trucks. Never seen a Freightliner with 6 lugs since we started getting them in '97 or so.....

 

here is the data plate info
B60C431102
198 G B600 84 F66
17000 135 3800

 

VIN has 11 digits, you omitted the 5th digit. You combined the TRANS & AXLE codes, I separated them.

B60 = B600 School Bus.

C = 292 2V

Assembly Plant code omitted.

431102 = 1963, assembled July 1963.

194" Wheelbase.

G = Chrome Yellow.

B600 School Bus, 17,000 lbs. GVWR

84 = Open Drive-Away - Chassis & Cowl.

F = Borg Warner T-98 4 Speed Manual Transmission.

66 = Timken model F106 Single Speed Rear Axle / 7.20-1 / 15,000 lbs. Rear Axle Capacity.

17,000 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.

135 net HP @ 3,800 RPM

 

thanks for the info
WOW! 720 rear gears no wonder you couldn't drive more than 5 mph in first gear
Am I correct in assuming that Timken and Rockwell rears are the same? hope so

 

Here are some pictures of the 6 lug Dana 80 out of a 99 Freightliner stepvan that I swapped into the 56 f600... its a 3.31 ratio so with the 9r22.5 tires I'm turning 1800rpm at 62mph ... perfect rpm for the 94 Cummins 5.9 diesel.

There are many gear ratio options for the Dana 80 I'm sure you can find one that is right for your bus.

 

thanks I will check on one of these I would definitely like to keep the 6 lug wheels