Rear end question for 72 f250 ranger

[Acablegypsy]

I want to use the back half of this truck for a trailer. My plan is to unbolt the front half of the diff and pull the guts out, then bolt a flat cover back on so it holds less oil and reduces a little weight.

Will the axles stay where they are without the ring/pinion and other gears in there? Or would they move around?

Also, can I remove all the stuff behind the brake drums or even the drums themselves?

[fordman]

an f250 would have a dana 60 under it. so no need to make a plate to cover the hole. just put them cover back on it.
the axles will stay in place. they are botled to the outer drum/hub.
i dont know what the inner part of the axles will ride in though if you pull and get rid of the center stuff. there isnt that much wieght inside of a dana 60 you can get rid of. maybe the carrier spider/side gears and the ring and pinion. yes you can completely get rid of all of the brake stuff behind the drum/hub. but you want to leave the back plate on the axle to keep stuff from getting up in the drum.hub area. i think if you take the guts out it may have to hold more oil. because the gearign will take up space. removing it will open up space. here is what you will be looking at removing or taking apart. http://www.fordification.com/tech/image ... oating.jpg

[71highboy]

i would just leave all the guts in the unit

[Acablegypsy]

Well, the reason i want to gut it is three-fold.

I don't want all those gears turning and causing that yoke thing to be spinning around under there all the time. Plus turning all those gears must create more drag than free spinning axles which means lower mpg.

Also there is the weight factor. A lite trailer is a good trailer. Every pound I chop off is another lb it can carry.

And finally, I'm scrapping these trucks anyways and there is a couple pounds of good metal down there. It doesn't make sense to me to leave all that metal there, unused, when I'm going to the scrapyard anyway. I'll prolly offer the gear set up for sale first if its in decent shape.

And the cover I'm thinking about isnt real fancy. A piece of thick sheet metal cut from somewhere on the trucks. hood maybe. Then pull off the whole front half of the rear end, lay it on there mark the holes, trim it down, put some rtv on it and slap it on. Thats a lot of weight gone. And, a lot less fluid needed. As long as the axles wont slide around it should work.

So all of the brake stuff can come off including the drums?

[fordman]

the original back cover is just sheet metal also. you wont gain anything by making a new cover for it.

[Acablegypsy]

There is no back cover. The case splits in half forward of the axles. I guess its not a dana 60.

[fordman]

sounds like a 9 inch rear end then. i havent seen a 9 inch in a f250 before. does it have 8 lugs on the axles or five lugs to bolt the wheels on with?

[Acablegypsy]

It's 5 lug. Looks just like the one under the 67 too and thats a f100. I guess I'll check it for #s tomorrow.