1947 Hudson Truck Rear Differential / Axle Help

Unknown

Hey there. After a few days of reading, I finally signed up to see if I could get some information.
My father has an old rear end out of a 1947 Hudson Truck. We're trying to find out some more information on it, so we can help find it a good home.
The rear end is complete, from yoke, to the drums. But that's all we know about it. Hell, for what it's worth, it may not even be from a Hudson. But he swears it is.
Anyways, what would be some distinguishing marks to look for? Any particular gear ratio we should look for? I will pop the cover and find out in the next few days. It's a little too cold, even here in Florida right now.
We have a few miscellaneous pieces of trim from the truck, and even some other Hudson's as well. I'm really trying to identify some of this stuff, so I can help find it a good home where it can be appreciated.

I'm grateful for any information I can get. Searching on this type of stuff is proving hard. But this website is awesome, and I'll keep digging as much as I can. This site is a proven wealth of information.

Thanks,
Eric

Lee ODell

Hi Eric

The 47 Hudson PU only came with one gear ratio (4.56). No optional gear ratios were listed for the PU. It comes with ll inch brakes.

The vin number will be on top of the right axle toob. On my truck it is under the brake line. With the vin # you can find out when the truck was made, that the axle was under. That is if it is a Hudson rear end.

Hope this helps, Lee O'Dell

Geoff

If it has a rear cover it's not from a '47 Hudson. All Hudson rears had fully welded rear domes until '53.

Uncle Josh

Yeah, but. In the last 60 years, many people swapped in a rear end from a car.
To check the ratio, hold one side still and rotate the other side 2 turns and count the revs of the driveshaft. Should either be 4.56 or 4.11

Pre 48 Cars had 10 x 1 3/4 brakes except for the 8 cyl which had 11 x 1 3/4 same as the trucks.

Your comment about popping the cover leads me to believe it might be a late 52 to 54 Dana rear end, which would be 5 in narrower than a truck, and could also be a 3.07 These had 11 x 1 3/4 brakes

A stepdown rear end is around 56 3/4 which would make a truck/car pre-48 about 61 3/4

Unknown

Thanks for the quick reply's.
I haven't looked that close at the rear end yet. Closest I got, was enough to make out it was a rear end, in some 1 foot + tall grass. So I am not sure if it has a typical cover or not; or if it's something like a Ford 9" where you have to pull the front chunk gimmick.
I will get some of the measurements mentioned; brake size, length, and even try to get gear ratio.

I really appreciate all the input. At only 27, I love to learn about the older vehicles and their parts. I've been around to see some of it, but this odd/old stuff is really cool to learn about.

Not related:
Growing up, I never saw the vehicle/truck that this went to. It wasn't until recently searching about some of the parts my old man has, that I saw what this truck looks like. Upon seeing it, it has really inspired me to see what I can do to track one of these down. If not, I would like someone with the same interest to get the parts they need to keep these awesome vehicles on the road.

Eric

Jon B

Lee was correct -- the best way to I.D. this as a Hudson you'll find a serial number stamped into the top of the axle housing, in the area between the middle and the passenger's side wheel. Post that number here, and we can tell you precisely which model and year that axle fits.

It shouldn't be too hard to track down a pickup. If you mean that you want to BUY one, that may not be quite so easy, but there are always some of them for sale. The best place to look is in the Hudson club's magazine, but you could also simply type "Hudson pickup" into your search engine, and see what's for sale out there.