some Buick experts here that know what year Buick rear ends that will bolt right on my 53 Buick special With syncromesh trans? not going to change the torqetube, just ran out of oil last summer and started making funny noises so thinking the fastes way to get it running is having a rearend ready when i get the car from Winter Storage and do a fast swap
I am away from home for a couple days and do not have my reference books accessible. However, if you do some investigating, compare the wheelbase on your Special with prior year Specials. My guess is that ‘50 thru ‘53 are the same.....and if so, it is very likely the torque tube length would be the same. It is possible the Super models share the same length as well, though they use the larger body shell, the Supers used the same 248/263 engines and 5 bolt top cover manual transmissions as the Specials and same or similar wheelbases. The Roadmaster uses a longer wheelbase chassis than the Special/Super, mostly because of the increased length of the 320 engine, and that increased length is ahead of the firewall on most versions of the Roadmaster.
but do i have to change the torque tube, not just the rear Axel, havent got to look at it mutch yet but was thinking it was just bolted on. looks like my 54 Buick got pretty much same mounts an everything. after what i have read the 56 got other splines so from 56 and up its no good. just trying to figure witch year to look for. Worst case i could use the rear from my 54 if it fits but hate taking parts from a running car
No, you do not have to change the torque tube......sort of. And, you may not have to change the rear ‘axle’ either. What I understood from your post is that the differential assembly (ring & pinion, bearings, etc. were damaged due to insufficient lubrication. Therefore I assumed you wanted to change that assembly (and the attached torque tube). The TT can be detached from the differential carrier assembly, but as I recall, that is more complicated than just a few bolts. My recommendations were based on looking for a TT/differential assembly that could just be swapped into your existing rear axle housing. The only caveat to that that comes to mind is the condition of the outer axle bearings and whether they were affected by the lack of lubricant in the differential. If you want replace the entire rear axle assembly, you may as well leave the TT attached as that is how it comes out of the car. It doesn’t detach as simply as a non-TT driveshaft. So, if you find an assembly that is the same dimensionally as yours, you could just swap out the whole thing which actually would be less labor than disassembling the differential from the axle housing. What I always find useful is referring to a factory Service Manual when tackling any significant repair.
From what I have read, Buick differential carriers are interchangeable from at least 1940 up to 1955. Keep your original torque tube.
Do you visit the Buick forums over there on the classic car board? Plenty of knowledge here, but those guys over there got parts, too.
thank you, was pretty sure i get the feed back i needed here, now im looking for a rear end With TT. and youre right i probarly dont need to change the rear axle. what it needs is an overhaul and hopefully ill get to that but wanne buy me some time. might start to check langht and With on my 54 Buicks. one is a long time prosjekt car and dont nead a rear end for some years
thanks, got a lead on one in sweeden, know lots of guys have swapt to open drive Train there so there must be some laying arond
Interchangeability is broad insofar as 'fitting into the housing' is concerned. However, many of the earlier models have the 4.40-1 rear axle ratio and I can tell you from my experience with several of them, you DO NOT want that ratio for a 'driver'. In the '50s the ratios got more useful, the lowest numeric that I am aware of is 3.36, which is, I believe, for am id '50s Dynaflow equipped model
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