1942 dodge ambulance resto

[jake neville]

hi mike

i beleive the 4.1 diffs that bevan used came out of a post war dodge delivery van. from memory he said it would do about 70mph. which would be hair raising to say the least on a truck chassis i would imagine.
hopefully the 4.8's with the bigger 251 engine should move it along ok though.

hanno i dont know exact numbers for WC54's in australia. i know of one complete driver in queensland and 4 others including mine in various stages of restoration. but fairly rare out here i would think.

[Lynn Eades]

The WC54 (3/4 ton) originally had 5.83:1 diffs.
I believe a few 1/2 ton Dodges were built with 4.89:1 diffs (ambulance?), but most were still 5.83:1.
(I have a couple of 4.89's in storage) I did have a 3/4 ton dodge on 7.50x16s on 1/2 ton wheels with 4.3:1 diffs. Yes it would run up to about 70 (guess) but ran out of legs in low gear on a steep hill.

[Keith Orpin]

Hi Lynn,
Your absolutely correct with the axle ratio's. Many years ago, a friend of mine changed his 3/4 ton carryall ratios to 1/2 Ton spec axle ratio's, and it was a real b*tch to drive !, slightest incline and you were changing down, and you had to use 1st gear to pull away. My 3/4 ton Dodge retains it's factory spec ratios , and will sit happily at 45-50 mph all day, and still pull like a train up any incline, even leaving Series 3 Landy's behind.
Will continue to watch this thread with great interest
From a wet and cold (5 Degrees Celcius UK)
Keith