I have an '57 truck differential in my '49 truck housing which is a conversion from closed to open driveshaft. Is there a limited slip differential aka positraction 3rd member available for this set-up? I'm wanting more traction for the limited snow we get here in the Virginia winters. Thanks, Cosmo.
Cosmo, Yes, There were LS rears for 55-57 Chevy produced by GM and are occasionally available on EBay.But you can buy replacements from parts dealers that sell ring and pinion sets and of course speed part suppliers.
As far as I can tell from looking at my Hollander, they did offer posi in 58-59 1/2 ton Chev and GMC. Probably hard to come by these days. Not sure if anyone makes an aftermarket posi carrier for the 55-59 rearend.
A decent set of tires and a couple bags of sand in the back for weight will probably do more for you than posi, in the snow.
the center from any chevy car from 55 to 62 will fit. to get a posi try try the vette people. but be prepeired to pay. the tires and weight will help but a posi is the way to go. after my first truck without it every truck after that has had a posi rear. will not own one with out it.
Gearhead is right but GMC's used Dana 44,s and Limited slip in a Chevy will also be a Dana.You might be better off to look at new after market units.Bob is also right anything that says Corvette will double in price.
55-62 pass car and Corvette third members are NOT the same unit as 55-59 1/2 ton trucks and will not fit in the truck housings. Maybe this will clarify this to some degree. Paul
Like Rick and Paul have said, the car center sections have a different bolt pattern than the trucks.
The trucks are C-clip style axles as well. So even if you could put the car style center section in, you would not have any means to hold the axles in.
After looking at my Hollander and Chevy parts books some more last night, I came to the conclusion that the 58-62 truck posi rearends were an entirely different animal, as Rick has explained. If you really want posi, you will want to switch to a different rearend alltogether, I would think. Some have used full size Blazer rearends, also some import pickups. 6 lugs is 6 lugs...
If you change rears I would suggest a dana 44. If they are tough enough for a viper or a v 12 jag they ought to be good enough for a street rod. For a 6 lug dana look under a Jeep Gladiator, pull cover to id for posi, you can see clutch pack on posi. You could also look under chevy and gmc but jeep is newer and less popular maybe cheaper. My dana was a gmc housing, scout posi, and jeep gear set. Another thought, if you find the deal of the century on a 5 lug dana maybe you could switch axels or have a machine shop redrill your axels to 6 lug.
Cosmo...i will be in Charlottesville this weekend...its my hometown.....
I can help you have the 3rd mermber you have set up for positive traction....
I had this done to 2 Chevy 3rd members for my Chevy drag truck....
if interested ,call me Saturday on my cell-
615 400 4862.....
Lee