1942 dodge ambulance resto

[jake neville]

both front and rear diffs stripped and rebuilt, new shackle pins, bushes, brakes, bearings, seals etc.
because this is an early 41 model ambo it has the smaller diff. so to speed the old girl up a bit i purchased 2 complete half ton dodge diffs from jim harris and have fitted the 4.89 gearing into the back diff.
currently doing the front. has all gone together well so far. thanks to robin mawson for his time in showing me how to do it all.

[jake neville]

rear diff installed. nice to finally see some green paint back on it. wheels and some new rubber on the back. time to attack the front.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by jake neville

. so to speed the old girl up a bit i purchased 2 complete half ton dodge diffs from jim harris and have fitted the 4.89 gearing into the back diff.
.

I think 4.89 is the standard diff ratio in 1/2 tonners . Bevan Fenner fitted 4.1 ratio diffs in his 1/2 ton dodge ,( he sold the truck to Graeme Kerslake , then it went to QLD ? ) maybe you could ask Bevan where he sourced the 4.1's from ? Mike

[jake neville]

hi mike

i beleive the 4.1 diffs that bevan used came out of a post war dodge delivery van. from memory he said it would do about 70mph. which would be hair raising to say the least on a truck chassis i would imagine.
hopefully the 4.8's with the bigger 251 engine should move it along ok though.

hanno i dont know exact numbers for WC54's in australia. i know of one complete driver in queensland and 4 others including mine in various stages of restoration. but fairly rare out here i would think.

[Lynn Eades]

The WC54 (3/4 ton) originally had 5.83:1 diffs.
I believe a few 1/2 ton Dodges were built with 4.89:1 diffs (ambulance?), but most were still 5.83:1.
(I have a couple of 4.89's in storage) I did have a 3/4 ton dodge on 7.50x16s on 1/2 ton wheels with 4.3:1 diffs. Yes it would run up to about 70 (guess) but ran out of legs in low gear on a steep hill.

[Keith Orpin]

Hi Lynn,
Your absolutely correct with the axle ratio's. Many years ago, a friend of mine changed his 3/4 ton carryall ratios to 1/2 Ton spec axle ratio's, and it was a real b*tch to drive !, slightest incline and you were changing down, and you had to use 1st gear to pull away. My 3/4 ton Dodge retains it's factory spec ratios , and will sit happily at 45-50 mph all day, and still pull like a train up any incline, even leaving Series 3 Landy's behind.
Will continue to watch this thread with great interest
From a wet and cold (5 Degrees Celcius UK)
Keith