I searched and did't see the info I needed. I have a tudor sedan running a 8 inch rear. I need a new one. Everyone leans on the 57 to 59 ford car nine inch. I have the chance to buy a 55 two door that I want to buy and part out for the rear end if it fits. THE car is not close enough to measure and the owner can't do it for me. Can anyone tell my what is different with the 55 rear compared to the 57 to 59. Thanks Joe
I don't think the '55 rear is worth messing with. Parts for it are tough to find because it's kind of an oddball. Some will probably chime in with know-it-all claims that it's the same from this year to that year, but they offered two different rears in '55. One had a pumpkin that dropped out the front, like the 8 and 9 inch do, the other loaded from the back. When I need a new pinion seal years ago, EVERY parts store had the number for the rear loading style and I had to run round for a week and eventually seek out an old "Yoda" type Ford guy just to get the part number. It was good for the 200ish HP Y block, but I don't think I'd go too much crazier than that. Once I did find the seal, it turned out the crush washer under the nut was toast, so I had a local guy go through a more highway friendly set of gears I had. He said he'd never seen that rear before and had not heard of a Ford designated rear of that diameter, and went on to say, "these gears look a bit worn, I can't even imagine where you'd get new gears for THIS." Long story short...go with the '57-'59 9 inch.
So from what I read it is not the "same" as a 57 to 59 rear end. I did make the drive and it is the same width as the 57. But my a has a 350 hp sbc. I don't think it will take the abuse from what it sounds. Also I did notice that it loads from the front like an 8 or 9 inch.
The Dana rear that came in station wagons was a little stronger...that's the one that loads from the rear IIRC.... but a 9" would be a lot stronger. My '52 Merc has a neat rear but it only has 12 spline axles... I have one of those set aside for a low-buck hot rod.
In 55, there were two different rears. The car (except station wagons) had the drop out center section and was a relatively low hp rear. The wagons and TBird with the rear loading rear had Dana 44's, a much stronger rear. Parts are available for the Dana and it was used for 55 and 56 in the TBirds so the Tbird suppliers have some parts for it. I don't know about parts availibility for the other rear. The 55 rear is the same width as the 57-59 9 inch (57 1/4 inches, drum to drum wheel surface). Depending on how wide you want to go, the 75-80 Granadas used an 8 inch rear, a mini version of the 9 inch. Its a good strong rear and only slightly longer that the 57-59 9 inch. Depending on how much HP your engine has, the 55 rear may work good even if its the low HP one. If you currently have an 8 inch, parts should be plentiful so you can fix what you have. Probably cheaper in the long run.
two-doors aren't parts cars anyways. There are a number of later-model rearends of compatible width that would work rather than using a weak early rear that parts barely exist to repair it, especially if you want a more highway-friendly gear ratio.
If my memory serves you should be able to use just about any ford car rear up to about 67 or so when the started getting wider. mustang,falcon, fairlaine etc. i'd stick with the 57 and up though.
Used a 351w powered Granada, car had power everything plus rear disc brakes and narrow enough to fit into my 51, also removed the Granada disc's and used 91 lincoln town car rear disc, had to do some mods but they are cheaper$$$ than the original Granada, and is a 9 inch.
I was told the rear end I have in the shop is a 55 T bird rearend. It has the pumpkin exiting from the front. I is for sale if you need it. Len 991-2354
i beat the living sh-t out of my 1956 Ford, 292, 2x4's, mallory ignition. 4.11 ratio with an overdrive transmission. never hurt the rear end at all. It had the drop-out rear end too.
Kind of an old thread here but I like telling this story, a true story at that. My brother and I used to share a 55 Ford with the removable pumpkin style rear end. Before we were done with that car we put in 37 junkyard rear ends. A couple didn't last more than a few hours. They were cheap and plentiful in those days, finding parts today won't be so easy.
My55 ford wagon has the Dana rear the loads fron the rear. Its a overdrive car and pretty low ratio. I think it has a 427 ratio? I used a 58 station wagon rear in one 56 car I owned bigger outboard bearings. Nine inch truck pumpkins will fit in car housings and they commonly had 390 and 411 gears.
I pulled the Y block from a 56 htp and installed a 59 three hundred hp 352. and in a few minutes blew the rear end. installed the 59 nine inch housing and a 58 ford pickup pumpkin with 411 gears and it held up.
The 9 inch is way stronger than both the original 55 drop-out and the wagon/police car/T-bird dana rear end. I've broken many 49-51 ford rears and a few 49 ford pickup dana. Most I broke with a merc flathead and two I broke with a 289/Cruiso. I wouldn't run anything but a 9 inch BTW, I once broke the spiders in a 66 Lincoln 9 and 3/8ths open rear.
The Dana isn't a 44, it's a 42 series. Very similar, but there is little parts interchange between the two and most parts for it are long obsolete. This is true for both types of '49-56 Ford rear axles unfortunately...
I put a nine inch rear end out of a approximately 59 big Mercury, into my 55 Ford when I was 16. Didn’t measure the width or the bolt pattern. The nine inch I used was a little wider than the stock 55 Ford rear end and I had to use narrow wheels and even then they rubbed sometimes I t bolted right in on the spring pads. There are nine inch rear ends of various widths. It would be a good idea to use one of the narrower nine inch rear ends, like the 1957 and the station wagons to 1959. Also check the bolt patterns as there are at least three different patterns in nine inch family. Bones
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