my brother in law got a 78 ford 2wd three speed on the cloumn 302 with p235/75/15 tires on it and a big glasstron boat ..had the same problem clutch slipping or smoking ...it had 2.75 gears in it we pulled them and replaced the whole third member with 3.50.. gas milage was cut about 5or 6 miles per gallon..but it would pull boat nice.. i think if im not wrong you should look for a unit with a 3.25 ratio. its a old ratio.some of the guru"s know if you can still find it

 

If it's a Ford 9" rear end, doesent it have a tag attached to one of the 10 bolts? also, I have the same thing with 2.75 gears and am going to up to 3.50, cant i just take the driveshaft out and take the ten nuts off and remove 4 more bolts and pull the whole center chunk out with ring and pinion?

 

So I called the junkyards today, in the midst of my painting, and not a single one had a working Ford 9'' int eh 3.50 or 3.73 gears. So here's what I am thinking. It might actually be better for you to build your own rear end using an aftermarket gear and pinion set available at summit and jegs or from gearvendors.com. I know they run kinda steep but you will be happier knowing that the ring gear or pinion is never going to give you problems just like the rest of the 9''. The idea behind changing your gears is deciding what your primary use is. If its around town driving then leave the 3.0 in. If its towing then you could feasibly switch to a 3.73 or 4.11. If your going to be on the highway a lot then you might want to step up to 2.75.

I solved my problem with the compromise by buying 4 trucks now and definetly going to be growing.

 

So here is the update. I found a 3.50 at one of the local junk yards (it was the only size they had). I put it on the truck and voila, the truck was able to pull the boat out without over revving or smoking the clutch like a Christmas ham. Some things I recommend to anyone else who might be doing this sometime. Replace the oil seals before putting everything back together. I also found the universal joints needed replacing, and it was easier to do it since the drive shaft was already disconnected. I also need to put some sand bags in the bed of the truck because of tire spin. Thanks to all of you for your input and suggestions. Your knowledge is priceless.

 

That's correct, but you forgot one step - the axles have to be pulled out before the center section will come out.

Marty