1953 Ford Wrecker.

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Sep 29, 2009 | 05:03 PM

ben53f250

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1953 Ford Wrecker.

Well this is the current work in progress. There's still much body work to be done on the cab as well as sandblasting and paint on the body. So far we have cut off the old body that had been thrown onto the truck by a previous owner, and got an old school wrecker body off of a -55ish chevy truck (what a suprise, it was rotten...). Were going to finish mounting and bolting the body to the chassis this week.
Where going to keep the original flathead as well as the original 4spd. The truck is going to be painted to match the small gas station my father owns, as a sort of advertisement.
One question though, does anyone have any expirience changing the rear end gears in these trucks? How hard is it and how much would it cost?

With the old body still on it:

With the wrecker body on it:

Thanks, Ben.
More pics to come as work gets done. Let me know what you think.

Sep 29, 2009 | 07:33 PM

carnut122

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From: Waleska, GA

1953 FORD TOW TRUCK - 1/18 DIECAST BY ROAD SIGNATURE - eBay (item 330363557852 end time Oct-04-09 13:23:23 PDT)

Just in case you needed a visual.

Sep 29, 2009 | 09:03 PM

sgtrwg

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From: North Branch, MI

Ben, I can't offer much info in changing the gears in you present rear axle. I suspect that it would be no easy task. I opted to swap the rear end in my 53 F250 for one out of a 69 F250 with 3.73 gears. It only took me and a friend a couple of hours to do the job. Of course it took a lot longer than that to rebuild the brakes and clean it up. In my opinion it has been the best thing I have done so far to the truck.

Hope this helps.

Bob G

Sep 30, 2009 | 02:32 PM

ben53f250

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Bob, looking at your signature, i have got a similar fleet, a 53 f250 as well as a 9n. Anyway, that axle you put in bolted up pretty well? did you need to change spring shackles, driveshaft and springs? or are they the same?

Oct 1, 2009 | 07:22 AM

sgtrwg

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Ben, it was a true bolt in. We took the original out and put the new one in. The only thing I haven't hooked up yet is the emergency brakes, the original e-brake is on the rear end of the trans so for now I don't them on the axle. It took me a while to find a rear end at a price I thought was reasonable ($75) and like I said going through the brakes took a bit of time but all in all it was a really easy upgrade and it made a world of difference in driveability. Thinking about a T-5 trans out of an S-10 down the road to add an overdrive.

Have a great day.....

Bob G

Oct 2, 2009 | 09:39 PM

ben53f250

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really? Well, i got something to search the boneyards for now rather than just lookin around. haha. Did you use the 69 F250 breaks? or did you go after market?

Oct 3, 2009 | 10:42 AM

sgtrwg

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From: North Branch, MI

I used the 69 brakes, you will need to be sure to measure the shoes you have to make sure you get the correct replacements, Ford made more than one size. I found that out when I went to the parts store and asked for the parts and they wanted to know what width the shoes were, had to make a second trip.

If I recall correctly the dana 60 from up to a 72 will fit so you're not limited to just one year.

Bob G