1972 c20 father son project ( help with the rear end plz )

[shotgunjim]

we found our truck in an estate sale in central Illinois . the owners son told me after we bought it that it had never been in the snow or left out in the rain and his grand dad hardly ever left the farm with it . its hard to believe she was about 95% rust free , I know central Illinois right !! we put a fresh paint job on her after we did a complete tear down and rebuilt her inside and out.the experience my son and I had was priceless but now we want to do the rear gear it has the eaton ho52 10 bolt coil spring rear end I think its a 456 gear . we want to put a 355 ish in it . this is 2 wheel drive 8 ft bed. smb 350 , Muncie 4 spd. any ideas ???? plz

[dozerbill72]

If it is an Eaton, 4:10 is as high of a gear you can get for it. Some will say that there are 3:73s out there but good luck with that. You could swap in a Dana 60 if you look around finding one of those with 3:55s is very likely.

[shotgunjim]

4:10 ok thank you wasn't sure . yea was thinking would have to swap with a dana from what I have heard so far. how much of a job will it be to put a leaf spring rear end in a coil spring truck that's not something we have did before or even thought about it ?

[dozerbill72]

If you can cut and weld not hard at all. Take some measurements and pics before you start. Carefully cut the shock mounts, control arm perches and the pan-hard bar mount off your Eaton. Reuse those on the Dana. Center it up in the frame and set you pinion angle and weld it all back on. You should check shock mounts before cutting them off just in case they line up between the two. Remember when looking for a donor rear to measure trac width. A little difference isn't going to show.

[shotgunjim]

Originally Posted by dozerbill72

If you can cut and weld not hard at all. Take some measurements and pics before you start. Carefully cut the shock mounts, control arm perches and the pan-hard bar mount off your Eaton. Reuse those on the Dana. Center it up in the frame and set you pinion angle and weld it all back on. You should check shock mounts before cutting them off just in case they line up between the two. Remember when looking for a donor rear to measure trac width. A little difference isn't going to show.

will do thank you