1 Ton Rear End

[Cincinnati Guy]

There is a guy locally who is thinking about trading his 3.55 ratio 1 ton rear end for my C6. The thing is it is a dually rear end, how would I go about making it into a single tire rear end?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

You can't - if you put single wheels on a DRW axle you'll end up right at 7ft wide (DRW axle with dually wheels is near 8ft wide, SRW axle with single wheels is right about 6ft wide). I guess you can always run just the inboard wheels of a dually truck, then convert your front wheels to dualies too, and have a hy-rail look to your truck...

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Dang I always thought you could do that. So I guess 1 ton rear ends came dually and single from the factory?

The guy said it could be ran either way so I guess he is just bull crapping me?

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Maybe im a little confused, it may be a single rear wheel axle.

Here is what was said in the message he sent me.

"It has a 3:55 ratio single track its not a limited slip"

Here is the CL ad....

"Ford 1-ton rear end 8-lug out of a 1986 diesel it is in very good shape and comes with all new brake hardware, shoes, drums, wheel cylinders, and e-brake cables. Will fit single or dual rear wheels. I have 4 rims and tires that came from this truck I will throw in too. Two of the tires are brand new and two have about 50% wear."

 

[icanfixall]

That dually rear end must have been a special order if it really is a 3.55 gear. They usually are a 4.10 gear so look closely at it. Probably not a true 3.55 gear.

 

[Brimmstone]

It depends on what type of truck it came out of. If it came out of a cab-chassis truck it can be used in either a SRW application or a cab-chassis application. If it came in a regular truck with DRW it will only work in a DRW standard app. The one from a regular truck with DRW if I remember right is 4 inches wider from end to end.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Guess Ill talk to the guy a little more....I think any ways I will trade I could use parts off it...What makes me a little iffy is where it says its not limited slip, so it means its posi?

 

[Brimmstone]

sounds more like its an open diff

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Well lets just hope its a SWR axle...I never knew the DRW axle was wider, always thought there were just spacers in there...

 

[Brimmstone]

They're only wider if the truck came as a pickup with dual rear wheels. If it was a cab-chassis truck(think box-van,wrecker, other things like that it is the same width as a single rear wheel axle.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Well since he is saying it can be used as DRW or SRW im hoping its from a cab chassis truck...

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Brimmstone is correct on everything - the pickup dually axle is 4" wider than the pickup SRW axle, and the pickup SRW axle and the cab-chassis dually axle are the same width. The cab-chassis dually axle can be run in dually configuration yielding a width of 7ft, and when you put single wheels on it it will be 6ft wide. The pickup SRW axle itself can accommodate dual wheels, but not when installed in a pickup truck as then inboard wheels will rub on the leaf springs - cab-chassis trucks have narrower frames, hence why no rubbing.

On the differential question, limited slip and posi (short for posi-trac) is the same thing - limited-slip is the general technical term for that type of differentials, and posi-trac is Ford's own name for it. If the seller says it is not a limited slip, then it is an open differential and not a posi.