Dana Rear in early 50's ford

Z

Ziffer

Senior Member
I have been given a Dana rear that the owner thought came out of an early 50's Ford. Before I start thinking about using it can you guys help me figure out what the rear end is and what it came out of? Also, are parts available.

Thanks for your time.
 
Hi. I'm not an expert, but Dana 44 rear axles came in Mercurys (not sure what year they stared but last year was 1956). Also came in '55 and '56 T-birds. Also came in Ford and Mercury station wagons. Again, not sure what year it started (maybe '49 ?) and last year was 1956. 1957 started the Ford 9" rear axle in Fords, T-birds and Merc's.
 
I had a '51 Ford that had a Dana 3rd member. I believe it was interchangeable with the 52 & 53 Ford axles. You can probably get anything you need for it from Joblot Automotive in Queens Village, New York.
 
My 56 customline wagon has a Dana, and it's an original to the car... Gerry
 
Last edited:
The Dana 8" rear came in the 1950's cars . The 6 cly. rear has the better gears . I think they are like 3.89 . The V8 rears had the 3.00 & 3.25 or 3.30 gears .
If you are going to do a rear swap I would just get a Ford 8" rear from a Mustang , Comet , Cougar , Maverick and that way you will have a must better rear and have a better gear selection .
Just a suggestion .

Jim
 
My '55 Ranch wagon 6 cyl. with over drive has the tallest ratio they offered. A 4.27. I beleive V8 overdrive wagns had a 4.09 ?
 
scicala said:
My '55 Ranch wagon 6 cyl. with over drive has the tallest ratio they offered. A 4.27. I beleive V8 overdrive wagns had a 4.09 ?
Click to expand...

The station wagons and Courier did not have a banjo housing and differential carrier though. They had an integral housing type rearend (gear mechanism access was from the rear of the housing)

The '55 cars with 272 V8/Fordomatic commonly had 3.22:1 ratio. If you are doing all highway driving, that ratio is too HIGH IMO. If you have a Y-block, even one that hasnt had anything done to it in over twenty years, you still have all the power in the world. I used a 2.91:1 ratio rearend in a '56 car with a Y-block/FordO, and still thought it was too high for hiway driving. The Ford-o-matic when placed in "drive" actually engages in intermediate gear, and the nose of the car still pops up like its gonna head for the moon.
 
28RPU said:
I have a Dana 44 that came out of a 56 Ford pickup truck so the trucks used them also.
Click to expand...

My 54 F100 had one also and had the 4.09 gear ratio. I'm with Retro Jim if your planning a rear swap go for a 8" or 9" you'll have a bunch more gear ratios and accessory's to choose from.
 
Thanks to everyone for the input at least I'm getting an idea of what the "DANA" story is. Since I'm building an early 50's period car I can't go to an 8 or 9 inch.
 
I have a Dana 8" in my 55 and it's going to stay until I blow it up and I doubt that will happen . I will drive mine mostly to local car show and fun around town . No long highways for me . The engine is a 302 that has been well built too ! Will I take at easy on it on the highway , HELL NO ! For what little you drive on the highway with your hotrods just use common since and your judgment and the engine will hold together . We use to do it all the time in street racing back in the day when we did the highway race !
Now if you think that's going to hurt the engine like everyone anyplace will tell you , consider this . Back in the late 60's and early 70's I was driving in the Famous Muscle Car War Years and had many ! I had a 69 Dodge Super Bee with a Big Block and a 3.55 sure grip and ran high speeds and highways all the time and never had a problem . WE didn't have Overdrives either ! I also have BB & SB engines that were heavily built and ran 4.10 & 4.56 gears with a 4 speed all the time on the street and highways back then too . I even had a couple friends with BB Chev Nova's that ran 4.88's on the street ! They didn't break down on us either . I wouldn't recommend cruising at 70 mph today with that set up but we did the 55 all the time and didn't have valve train problems either . Gas was 39.9 a gallon too so we didn't care about the cost of gas either !
Just remember to use your head and build your set up to match your driving habits and where you drive the most . If you have a street driven screamer , then go with the 4.10 rear and you will crush the other guy from the light and maybe pull the wheels if you have good rear tires !
It's just my opinion and experience !

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top