Rear Axle-What is It?

D

Dennis Jarrell

Senior Member
I have a rear axle that was told came from an 49-53 Ford station wagon. It looks like a Dana 44 with the rear cover. It measures a little narrower then my 35 which is perfect. However, it has 4 1/2" wheel pattern which I would prefer 5 1/2" so I can use my Merc wheels. Any thoughts? Are there other axles with 5 1/2" pattern that would fit as I don't think there is enough flange to redrill them.

Thanks,
Dennis
 
You will need to know what the spline count is on the 4.5 X 5 axles. The later Dana 44 changed rear axles and spline count. These units were used well after the flatheads were obsolete and by several manufacturers. The 50 thru 52 F1 Ford pickups and 50 thru 51 Mercury had 5.5 X 5 axles with 19 spline in their Dana 44s. Later F100 pickups kept using the Dana 44 with 5.5 X 5 axles but the spline count likely changed at some point. Later Mercury car axles changed to 4.5 X 5 axles so that is likely what you have if it is still a 19-spline type but it's hard to say for sure until you verify.

F1 Dana 41 & 44 axles have the spring mounts on top and 49 thru 51 Mercury Dana 41 & 44 axles have the mounts on the bottom otherwise, they are the same in each model group. The Dana 41 has a 5.5 " carrier and the 44 has a 6.5" carrier. Many parts interchange between 41 & 44 but the case, R&P gears, and carrier are different.
 
Thanks for the great info. How do I get the 5.5 or 6.5 carrier measurement? it does have the spring pads on top. the guy I got it from said he took it out of a 52 Ford wagon. It has 4.27 gears whic is perfect with my OD TRANS AND 8.20 tires.
 
If it is a Dana 44, it will have a "44" casting mark on the right rear lower web of the axle tube area just below the bulls eye. If it has 19 spline axles, F100 axles may fit but I'm not positive. Widths & spline counts started to change after 1951 on the vehicles that had the Dana 44 like pickups, Mercs, police cars, and station wagons. I'll have to look at my interchange manual and see what it says. I've heard that the carriers among the Dana 44 group can be replaced with later ones adapted to use the later gears if a person want to go that route.

Randy's Ring & Pinion is a good contact for interchangeability and adaptation for the Dana 44 axles since they were used in so many 4WD Jeeps. There is a lot of stuff available for them. They were used well up into the 70s and some later than that till the Dana 60 came out in force.
 
I know for a fact that '55 Mercuy's had a 5.5" lug bolt circle too, so assuming maybe '50 through '56 mercs had a 5.5" bolt circle. Not all of those years used a Dana 44 though. I know '54 did not.

Sal
 
Lincolns used the 5.5 on 5 till 56 but Mercury changed to 4.5 on 5 in 1952. They had more interchangeability with Ford cars that way. The Lincoln axle was a different Dana Spicer model but they were an easy swap if someone needed a stronger axle. I think 1956 was the last year FoMoCo used a 5.5 on 5 for any of their cars but they used them on pickups well up into the 70s.

The Hollander Interchange lists the 48 thru 56 Ford F1/F100 axles are same as the Mercury for 49 thru 51 19-spline 29 5/8" length. The station wagons had 19 spline but they were 27 15/16" long. I don't know where they were different as far as fit though. The 52 & later Mercury axles show interchange with the Ford car axle except for the station wagons.
 
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