I am looking at a '56 F-350 flatbed. The owner said a newer rear end with a lower ratio was put in. good for high way cruising, but it now does not have dual wheels. The truck is in decent shape. I looked at it in the dark so will be looking at it again before I buy it of course. I would use it for hauling stuff, not a daily driver, not a show truck... an occasional work truck. The owner said it has a PTO driven dump hoist but it is not currently hooked up to dump.

Two questions:
1) With the original rear end gone will it have the stuff to haul heavy loads. I am not sure of the current rear end ratio nor from what year or size of truck it came from. Also, how much will this truck with single rear wheels be able to haul as opposed to the dual wheels.

2) The flatbed height seemed real high. How high should a flatbed dump bed be? I know they are probably higher than a non-dumping flatbed, but how high? Something didn't look right...
thanks, Abe

 

Abe - Seems like the place to start is to figure out what axle you have. This site will help. Go to http://www.coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml. Next it shouldn't be too hard to figure out the ratio by either checking the case for the code or by lifting the truck's rear and counting drive shaft revolutions to one wheel revolution. As for the wheels, hopefully you're looking at 8 bolt wheels and not a 1/2 ton 5 bolt rear. Once you figure out which axle you've got, the National Parts Depot catalogue has a chart in the back that lists the various axles with ratio and load capacity. It also lists the axle code in cross reference to the ratio. If you don't have that catalogue, or if it's not online, you can come back on here with the info and I'll look it up for you. Odds are you're looking at a Dana 60 out of a 67 to 72. Assuming the wheels match the axle, the NPD data would I suspect cover them too. There's no way you're gonna have the carrying capacity with singles that you'd have with DRWs. For example, the chart shows that a Dana 60 from a 70 -72 is rated at about 4800#s. That'd be combined weight of the truck and load no doubt. A Dana 70 with DRW would be in the 7400# range. As for the hoist, I'd think that without being in the truck equipment business there's no way to know what you're looking at. These things range from the cheap c--p that you see in the catalogues on up to the professional quality stuff. If the currect owner would allow, you might take the truck to your local truck equipment dealer to have them give you an idea of the hoist's quality. Hope that helps.

 

Abe and Stu,

My '56 F-350 has the six-lug, 7-1/4 spacing wheels(Front and rear) and is a dually. I'm only the third owner and, as far as I have been able to determine, the wheels and axles are all original. The rear end ratio is 4.56. HTH

Johnny

 

Yeah, if it's still a 6 bolt, that adds a whole new dimension. Am I right that that pattern was used into the mid sixties? The pumpkin would still, though, be identifiable from the web site I'd think.

 

That bolt pattern was used until 1966. The 1967 have 8 lug bolt pattern. Dorsey