So I'm currently putting together a 1953 Ford Mainline 2 door coupe for my girl...and I've run into the problem of the mechanics u-joint in the rear end...I swapped a chevy engine and trans into the car ( was going for cheap and reliable) and it's a turbo 350 automatic that I'm trying to have a driveshaft made for.. Does anybody know what driveshaft yoke will swap out with the original one so we can use a regular style u-joint instead of the mechanics joint that was in the car originally? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Dead end on that deal,those rears were used in 1949-56 Ford cars only so your best bet is an 8" rear from an early Mustang or Fairlane or Maverick also 1957-59 Ford 9" all will be the correct width for an almost bolt in swap,you might want to check out the pictures here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=42315 as the 8.8 Ranger rears can usually be found in Pic-A-Parts for $125-$175 and many are Posi any of those would be EZ to find a conversion U-joint for.
So even a yoke from say a 49 Merc wouldn't work? Or what about a yoke from a 48 Ford truck? I had one of those, and I know it used a regular u-joint...I find it hard to believe that Ford would have used a different differential spline for those years...swapping out the rear end isn't an option at this point as she gave me a shoestring budget and I've already completely rebuilt the brakes on the original rear end... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Mercury and Ford pickup used Spicer (Dana) rear axles (Ford wagons also did), whereas the axle you have is of ford manufacturer and the critical yoke dimensions are likely different. I believe there are conversion joints available that will serve your purposes. The ujoint "cross" is made to fit two different yokes.
Well I guess we just have to find that mechanics joint then...which is what I originally planned on anyway...I would imagine that it's a bit more difficult to find...I know the guys at my driveshaft shop couldn't find one...but I would think that Kanter's gotta have 'em... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I've been down that road a long time ago and did find an interchangable yoke from a borg warner diff, just dont recall what it was in now... Dont give up it will happen. If you do have one that fits it may mean that you could be looking for an odd sized seal to work with it. If you do work it out post the result to help others into the future when it will be even harder to do...
Hi done this lots of times you need a good bearing service that knows the part # for interchange...my local bearing service I been dealing with for 40 years has the best guys. and knowledge.of these parts.....
When I was looking for a rear end to swap into my '54 Ranch Wagon I found that the later '90's Ranger rear ends were wider than my stock rear end WMS to WMS of 57 1/16" If your '53 is like my '54 wider is not an option since removing the rear tires is a royal PITA. A mid '80's Ranger rear end is narrower around 56 1/2" if I remember correctly. Narrower is better than wider IMO. Don't know if the mid '80's come in 8.8 but I found a 7.5 with a 3.73 posi. Not concerned about it not being the stronger 8.8 since I'm only running a stock 302 with an AOD. Not sure if I'm going to make the change or not.
The 7.5 Ranger rear end I located had smaller brakes than the wider 8.8 I also found BUT the bigger 8.8 brake assembly is a direct swap for the 8.8 brake assembly. Even the brake lines bolted up.
Simple unbolt the small brake assembly and bolt on the larger brakes. Easy to do yourself. Nothing to it.
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