In a message dated 5/27/00 8:19:26 PM Pacific Daylight Time, markel@webt.com
writes:
> I'm looking to do a rear end swap on my '59. Ideally, I want to get a 5
> bolt pattern (preferably GM), between 3.07 and 3.27, posi, and discs. I
> found one from an 86 Trans Am that meets these criteria, but don't know
> whether it meets the width requirements. Has anyone used a post-82 axle
> from a Camaro or Firebird in a TF truck? If width is correct, is there
> anything I should know about this axle that would make it undesirable. I
> know I'll have to add spring perches and cut off all the other mounts, but
> will this axle handle truck duties (I do actually use this truck to haul
> rock, topsoil, whatever --- not a garage queen). Are there other potential
> late-model swaps I should consider that would meet the above criteria?
>
> Somewhere a while back I saw postings on Lincoln Versailles rear end swaps
> as a direct fit by switching around the springs or something. Was this
> swap for AD trucks or TF's? Does it bolt in to the drive-line.
>
> I guess I should ask one other question. What is the correct width rear
> end for this truck and how do you measure it? The truck currently has a
> '71 12 bolt in it from the prior owner. Looks OK in there, but I don't
> know if it has the exact width of the original or not.
>
> Thanks.
> Jason
>
> '59 Short Fleet
I don't recall the width on the rear, but I can tell you a litte about
it....
It's a 26 spline, 7.5 inch ring gear if it's the 10 bolt, later about '88
or '89 the 10 bolt went to a 28 spline axle, and 7.65 inch ring gear. Both
are kinda light duty for a "truck", but many 3rd gen F-body guys are pushing
these deep into the 12's, and they seem to hold up okay.
If it's a 9bolt BW rear, it'll have a 7.75 inch ring gear, as mentioned by
another, parts are expensive to come by, but...it is a stouter rearend than
the 3rd gen F-body 10 bolt rears.
Pre-'89 disc rear calipers were not the best, in '89 GM switched to a
different rear caliper and ebake setup, and it works better.
That said, either way, I'd look for a 2nd generation F-body 10bolt, it'll
have a 8.5inch ring gear (from '71-'81), I know the width is pretty close
(within an inch) of the TF rears, and is stronger all the way around, and
less expensive than a 12 bolt rearend.
Besides the larger ring gear, the posi unit has clutches which are less
expensive to rebuild, then the '82-'92 cone posi units.'
Mike
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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