A pumpkin is a large round orange vegetable that is hollowed out and has a face carved in it for Halloween.
But in a car it refers to a removable center section in the rear axle. The bolts that hold it in the housing face toward the engine and after removing the axles the entire unit ( center section / gear carrier ) is removed. 55 to 57 Chevy rears and the popular 9 inch Ford rear are built this way, as are other makes.
Starting in 1965 in full sized GM cars the rear end was changed to what is commonly called a Rear Loader. These have a steel cover held onto the axle housing with 10 or 12 bolts as viewed from the rear bumper looking under the car. Gear ratio changes and clearance setting are more time consuming with a rear loader since the pinion gear remains in the housing after the ring gear carrier assembly is removed. A Ford rear loader that is getting more popular for street rod conversions is the 8.8 inch. Mopars and Dana's were rear loaders.
Mike G ( 4355 )
