Ok, So I was able to pick out a craftsmen socket today, and it turned out to be a 2 - 3/8" 3/4 drive socket. The thing is freaking huge. Anyway, I got everything off the hubs, and finished stripping the axle, and primed it today with 4 coats of self etching primer. I drained all the old oil/sludge out, and installed a new rear end cover seal.

Also, I figured out positively that I have a Dana/Spicer - 60 axle with 4.88 gears in the rear end. There is a large #60 stamped into the rear end housing to the bottom right, and the glove box says 4.88 gears.

Also based on the glovebox door, the truck has the heavy duty 3-speed trany in it. Neat stuff for todays efforts I think.

How does it look guys?

Before:


After:

 

Looks good, but you've invested a lot of work and expense into a 4.88 geared rear axle. I hope you really are not planning on going very far or very fast? Depending on tire chosen, you'll likely top out that 6 at < 50mph and get < 10MPG (but at least not much will stop you getting there... eventually).

 

Many times the rear part of the frame was torched off to mount a tilt bed, like a dump truck. They torched the end off to allow clearance for the bed to dump. My F-4 had the last 6-8 cut off and there's evidence of a pivot being mounted on the frame. I bought a '47 COE chassis last year and cut off a section to weld onto the end of my frame.

 

Axman.

Its a hard call for me. I am trying use as much of this truck as I can, so that I don't have to buy new or used parts, like a Ford 9" rear end or whatever other parts that might make it a better truck. Keep in mind this is an F-250, and was built at the factory for an electrical Co-op company in Virginia as heavy duty linemans truck. I doubt I will ever take it out on the highway, but perhaps your right it would be nice to swap the gears to get it more manageable for higher speeds. I was hoping to use it to get groceries, firewood, etc.

I was hoping to rebuild the entire rear end (bearings, cups, seals, oil, etc), so that not only will I be able to use it on this truck, but most importantly so that I can learn how to rebuild a rear end, axle, hubs, brakes, etc. I wouldn't even know where to start on swapping out the gears on this rear end.

 

The easiest way to go might be to swap the entire axle out for a newer pre-'72 F-250-350 axle. Just a suggestion if you want something with a little hirer gears. Unless the rear axles are the same from '53 and up then swapping gear might not be so hard. I know the axles for the '52 and down models are completely different.