Does anyone have an idea where a more street friendly gear for a '51 Dodge pickup can be had.I have a friend looking at a truck to purchase,it is a 3/4 or 1 ton Dodge with what appears to be a floating single rear wheel axle.Current gear ratio limits top speed to about 45mph! Thanks for any leads,RT

I would suggest checking with Roberts or Valley

http://www.vapinc.com/
http://www.robertsmotorparts.com/store/

I've been in that situation before ('58 Ford F350 with 5.14's), best to change the whole rear end.

I'm guessing it has 5.8x or 5.9x which is not the best for cruise. Vintage Power Wagons has or used to have NOS 4.xx gears for these rigs. That would increase cruise speed... if the (I guess) 230" flattie has the torque to handle them. I still run the OE 5.8x gears on a '47 1 ton PW. Practical cruise speed is 43-45 MPH. I do run it heavy from time to time. Theoretical rated top speed is 55 MPH but I don't think the engine would like to run there very long.

Had the same problem my self in truck in pic.. Had Dutchman supply me with a bolt in 9" ford... LOTS of stuff for that rear end....

According to my 54 Factory service manual, A full floating hypoid 4.1 was available in a "D" model designation (1 ton) with an optional 4.89 and a power wagon could have had a 5.83 or a 4.89. Everything else listed is lower then 5.89 gears.

That would indicate to me, factory highway friendly gears are probably not available, unless 3500 rpm at 60mph is highway friendly.

If you want highway friendly gears, swap in a highway friendly modern rear axle assembly. There are a lot of choices that can be fit to your truck pretty easily. Gene

Thanks for all the input guys,I'll forward it to my friend.I was thinking an axle swap also,but I think he likes the wheels! I will post if he gets the truck and what the decision is on the axle choice. ~RT