My 52 F3 has a 4.86 3rd member, which I believe was made by Timken. I think that the same design was available in 4.11. I mainly drive around town, but the 4.86 gets me to high gear by 20 MPH. I would enjoy longer legs.

I've considered swapping the whole axle with 9" from an F-250 or F-350 to keep the rear wheels 8 lug, but have not been able to find anything at a decent price.

What about regearing to 4.11? Are parts available new or used? How difficult is it to change out the gears?

Thanks!

 

Steve,

Have you tried Balows autosalvage in Lester Prarie? That is where I got my Ford Explorer Rearend, they had the best prices I found around here.

 

Steve
Just did the very same thing with my 53 F250. It had a timken 4.86 rearend. I replaced it with a dana 60 out of a 69 F250 with 3.73 gears. WOW what a difference. The lil ol flathead purrs along at around 2250 rpm at 55 mph what a difference.

The dana cost me $75 but by the time I went through brakes and all I's closer to $200. Still it was a worth while change. Haven't had a chance to check gas milage with the new ration but I suspect that it will be a little better.

Good Luck

Bob G

 

Oops! Forgot to say it was for the most part a true bolt in change. The only thing that I think I will still have to do is to shorten the drive shaft an inch or so. it used to have a bit more than 2 inches of space on the spline at the carrier bearing it is now down to less than an inch. I would say that it might be just a little to close.

Bob G

 

I also put a Dana 60 out of a 70 or 71 F250 in my 54 F250. 3.73 gears also. It was an easy swap. I think I paid about $100 for the complete axle. I also R&R'd the brakes etc. before I put it in. I had to get a different drive shaft because I also changed the engine and tranny. The hardest part of the swap was getting the spring to axle u bolts loose after nearly 50 years of dirt and rust.

 

Thanks for all the helpful input.

I've toyed with the idea of putting in a T5 in conjunction with the axle swap, but I might like my 3-speed just fine with 3.73 gears.

 

The T-5 swap is the next thing on my list. The 3.73 rear end and the tires that I have give get 2250 @55mph which is a vast improvement over the 4.86. With the T-5 it should be under 2000 rpm.

Bob G

 

Would aT5 work in an F3? I would have guessed that the vehicle weight would be too much and the tranny or clutch wouldn't last very long.

 

I think the T5 would work fine for my type of driving; I rarely drive with any load in the box.