1934 Pickup Rear End Swap

35ragtop

35ragtop

Senior Member
Hi Barners,
I am wondering if anyone has changed a complete 34 rear assembly for a later model, say 35-39. I have been unable to find a good set of 4.11 gears (I prefer the lower ratio)to suit the 34 banjo, So am looking at doing a complete swap. Housings ,spring, gears ,banjo, axles torque tube and drive shaft.
I am currently running a hydraulic brake set up.
Dimensionally the width backing plate to backing plate is 30mm oa wider on the later version. That's about .6 inch either side.
The later straight spring should fit into the cross member in the correct location, as the spring perches are further back on the later.
The torque tube and drive shaft would need to be shortened by about 220mm (8.6 inches), and could be a problem to do I guess, and the radius rods may need to be shortened.

Am I missing something here?
Your experiences and input would be valuable thank you.
Dave
 
you can ask this question over on the HAMB, also try a search, this swap has been done 100s of times.
 
Remember that the '32-'34 spring is curved as shown in the photo taken from the top. You will need to to some grinding.
 

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Yes the existing ratio is 4.11 but buggered, lost 3 teeth and pinion bearing retainer etc.

The cross member should take the later straight spring without grinding, I think!

Lawrie the later gears in the early housing require a lot of machining to fit the bigger double bearing retainer. Not sure if the early housing has enough meat in it. BUT, I may well be wrong, not being a machinist.

Please keep the ideas coming. I thought that by going the whole exchange route I will have a much better chance of finding the parts. I will have a look on the HAMB to see what those guys suggest.
Dave
 
Nope it won't take a straight spring with out grinding. It takes a little grinding but certainly doable.
 
Not sure if the spring hangers are in the same location as the 33-34. I'd want to ensure that whatever spring/housing combination puts the wheels in the same location in the wheel well as the 34. Make sure you have the radius rods from the new rear - as the 34 will be different as well.
 
Thanks for the responses, I looked at the HAMB thread, a very good one. It would appear that most of the machining work is the pinion itself. Resizing it to take the 34 size bearings. I was concerned that it was all hardened and would be complicated to achieve, but sounds reasonable.
Doing the complete swap would mean using the new radius rods to get the spring in the correct location- yes I agree. I even thought about swapping a rear cross mount to allow the later spring to fit.
Now its a case of the "least work".
I appreciate your ideas
Dave
 
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