Differential ratio

duncan

Our 54 Hornet has a hydro tranny and 3.07 ratio diff with removable cover. Can I swap a set of faster gears. And what ratio would they be.

  Hudsonly  Ray

Lance

Ray, Although Hudson did not use any  ratio under 3:07, you can still get gears for this rear end. What you have to do is check with a Jeep source for the lower ratios. The rear end used by Hudson in the 54 model year was a Dana 44 for which parts can still be obtained at different ratios which Hudson did not offer. Check with Jeep on what you can get ratio wise.

bob ward

I had a look at this once, there were ratios faster then 3.07 available for the Dana 44 but not by much, 2.8 maybe. Going the other way, there were plenty of ratios for the rock crawling crowd, 5.5 maybe even 6.0. Ford, Chrysler and AMC all used the Dana 44 from time to time.

You may need a different crown wheel carrier for your faster ratio diff, the carriers are different between Hudson's 4.55/4.11 and 3.07 ratios, something to be aware of.

duncan

Thanks for the help

Hudson Grandpa

Yo Ray!!  You need a faster Dana 44 so you can drive down to Texas, this coming January right? 

duncan

YO  Gramps. Do you have one .. Ray  

48rob

Ray,

          Walt says he installed a 2.73 in his. 4OO RPM reduction over the 3.07

If you find one/go through with the swap I'm interested. I want to put one in mine as well.

Rob

duncan

Hi Walt Where did you find the 2.73 gears for your Hudson or did you replace a complete diff. What kind of a vehicle .  Ray

bob ward

2.73 diff gears will give you an 11% reduction in revs over 3.07 gears. 

A stepdown with 3.07 gears is typically doing around 2200 rpm at 60mph, 2.73s will drop that to 1950 rpm.

duncan

Where do I find a set of 2.73 ratio gears.  Thanks for all the reply.  Ray

bob ward

Found this on the Dana 44 crown wheel carriers, it looks like they only use 2 carriers, one for 3.92 and up, another for 3.73 and down.

http://www.differentials.com/technical-help/carrier-breaks

SuperDave

I guess you could flip the axle over! LOL

J Spencer

Check with the Studebaker folks, Studies used the Dana 44 also and the members ther have come up stuff for that  setup ??

Kdancy

The Stude axles are a different size, they have flanged axle conversion available.
I recently installed a twin traction with 3:55 ring and pinion into a Hudson dana 44 rear end.
Remember, the hudson axles are 19 spline so that has to be matched with 19 spline spider gears. Several makes used the Dana 44 rear end.

EssexAdv

I bought a 2.73 gear set several years ago and installed it. I love it. It quiets the Hornet down on highways and changes the hydro shift points very nicely. I was able to find them new through a warehouse in Mexico. This was about 10 years ago and they were scarce back then. I hope you find a set as they really improve the comfort on long trips with no real degradation of acceleration

Lew