Hello all!

Quick questions:

If I have read previous posts before, a 1971-1972 Dana 60 rearend will bolt in a 1950 Ford F3 without modifications. Is this correct?

Also, will the 3.73 gear ratio of the Dana 60 give me a more "highway ready" speed than the original rearend?

I am going to be taking the F3 back to a nice original by using the original flathead V8, 4 speed and restoring the flatbed. I am hoping the rearend swap will allow me to switch from the "widow maker" rims to the 16" Ford F250 steel wheels, so I can refinish them nicely and then enjoy the truck

I am rather new to this, so any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Great forum! Thank you in advance.

 

It appears you've done your homework!
The rear spring spacing and overall width is the same for your truck through 1972, so the rear axle will bolt up without modification. You may still need different U bolts and tie plates, shock mounts, parking brake, etc., depending on what you run into. Nothing is going to be 100% perfect. I'm not sure about driveshaft length, but I know the 9" swap vs the original Dana rear on the F1's require some mods there. It will allow you to use modern 16" wheels and tires and eliminate the widowmakers. 235/85R16's would fit nicely.
Gearing will be much more friendly if you find 3.73's. I think the original gearset is 4.88 in the F3. You'll be curing many ills with this one modification. It's worth the effort, imo.

 

I believe this is the setup a previous owner put in my F-3. I am not sure about the gearing in my dana but I can say it will get up to 60mph or so on the highway though mine runs a little hot when I do this for too long a time. I have had a hell of a time finding appropriate brake cables for the setup as the previous owner didn't do anything with the parking brake. Nobody seems to stock those cables so you have to order them and hope they are the right ones.

 

I did the Dana 60 swap in my 49 Merc M68 (equivalent to an F3) and you do have to shorten the drive shaft (if I recall it was about 2 1/2"). I also had to change the universal joint to match up to the new rearend. As mentioned earlier you also have to engineer a different set up for the emergency brake cable to mate the F3 system to the newer Dana 60 set-up. I never had a chance to drive mine with the original reared so can't really compare the two but with the Dana 60 top speed is still only about 60 mph. Not a difficult swap and I'm running on new 16" rims with a fairly high profile tire to fill the wheel wells. Donor was a 67 Merc 250.

 

49'er, What rims are those? are they 8 lug? I have not been able to find anything to replace the wheels I have now which look a lot like trailer wheels. It seems like finding appropriate wheels is a challenge with this swap unless you like the modern wheels.

 

Yes they are 8 lug. My local tire shop ordered them for me and I think he just ordered replacement rims for the 67 F250. I did have to modify them slightly to install small metal clips to hold on the hub caps and added the red paint accent for a bit of colour. I'll see if I can find some better pics and model numbers for you tomorrow.

 

Hey 49'er I'm over here in Calgary, just wondering if the pinion angle is the same with the new rearend. I just put a Dana 60 from a 71 camper special, 3.54 gearing into a 49 F68. I'm going to use a HD 3 speed out of a F1 so I can have syncro. I have another 49 F68 with a good running motor that I am going to swap out. Any info would be appreciated. ,Doug

 

8 lug "innie" wheels on a 6.50" bolt circle: 1948/52 F2 / 1953/66 F250 / 1967/69 F250 4WD

"Outie" wheels introduced beginning in 1967 F250 2WD, became standard equipment on 1970 F250 2WD/4WD

"Innie" so called because the hubcap snaps onto tabs located on the inside of the wheels center section.

"Outie" so called because the hubcap snaps over tabs located on the outside of the wheels center section.

 

Obscurity, here are some closer pics of the rims/tires. Tires are SAILUN LT235/85R 16's. Stamping inside rim reads "JINGU 091312 MADE IN CHINA 16x7 MAX LOAD 3045 LBS DOT T A12117". With hubcap removed you can see the spring tabs I had to add to use the original hubcaps as they would not mount on the new rims. The tabs came off some old 1947 Chrysler rims that I had laying around. I think they cost me about $150 each wheel with the new tires mounted and balanced. Also a pic of my parking brake set up.











Muppy 1840, I did have to use a shim mounting the axel to the spring plate. I think it was 3.5 degrees to get the proper pinion angle. I think you can see it if you zoom in on this pic taken during assembly.

 

I did this swap in my F3, an early F250 diff bolted straight in, needs new U bolts and tail shaft has to be shortened. I'm using F2 16" 8 lug wheels with 7.50 x 16 tires, they look about right in the arches. Dana 60 ring and pinion sets are cheap and can be had in just about any ratio you want.

 

Is that a full float axle? I'm surprised the hub caps fit over it

 

The stock axle is full floating and the factory hubcaps are made to go over it.

 

49'er where did you source your emergency brake cables from

 

Wow, I like how you did your wheels to take the stock hub cap (I'm a purist about that) Took me a year to find original "innies" for my '62 F250 but they were a good set, no bends or serious rust.

 

Also where did you get your long U bolts. Those look like what I'll need when I do my rear end swap some day. 4.88 just doesn't cut it.