merc. used the same dana rear as ford f-100, up to 56, with pick-up bolt pattern, dana. when I tore up the rear end in my old man's 51 f-100 pick-up, we used a early 50's merc. rear because the local yard didn't have a pick-up rear.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

Some answers, and more questions.
All 1954 Mercs except station wagon used a Ford rear axle with removable center similar to the 9 inch, but with a weak 8.25" ring.

1954 Merc station wagons used Dana/Spicer 44 with a 8.5" ring.

ALL 1955 and 1956 Mercs used the Dana/Spicer 45 with a strong? 8.75" ring, which is not a Dana 44, but similar.

1954 Mercs used 4,5" bolt circle, same as Ford.

1955 and 1956 Mercs used 5" bolt circle.

Questions:
Is a 1954 Merc passenger rear end identical to 1954-1956 Ford?

Has the 1964-1966 Mustang 9" rear end the same spring pad distance as the 1954 Merc?


Which rear end yokes are the same on 50's and 60's Ford/Merc?

1955 Mercury

Back in the dirt tack sportsman days, we would try to find the Mercury suspension parts. The bigger stuff used a 5 X 5 wheel pattern, as opposed to the 5 X 4.5 pattern. We also used GM buick wheels which were stronger. The edsel models, some were based off the ford and some the mercury





thanks, Mark

55and 56 tbirds as well as54,55,56 station wagons and 55-56 pickups all used the same style diff,wher the pot is integeral. ther bigest down fall was spider shafts would come loose in the ring gear carier.had that isue in my1st 55tbird as well as 56merc pickup.repaird 1 and found a good 56rearaxel asm at a swapmeet.still lots around in the vancouver aria.i also have never heard of a 57edsel,just a slip of the key board i amsure,or a shot to see if we ar paying atention. cliff in cloverdale bc, 57rachero

Billy: Maybe I've missed something here, but I'm not aware of there being any 57 Edsels. Only 58 thru 59 & a handful of 60's.

Paul

To Answer Chuck, I used a 57 edsel 9" rear in my 55 and it was bolt in, if 58 is the same as the 57 it should work, but as others mentioned if the car came with a Y block or the big 400's there could be a difference.

As Far as shoes go I think they are all still available in my area anyway. we have a truck brake shop that used to be called brake service, they were bought out by another company which is called precision products (I think) and they just do brakes, drive shafts and U joints, I just tell them I want 2" 2.25" or 2.5" X 11 Ford shoes and no problems.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Oldmics:



You can use the backing plates off a 1960s' wagons as Ford used the 9 inch through these years. Just note what year of wagon the backing plates came off of as some of the wagons used 2.25" shoes and others used 2.5" shoes The advantage is by using the later backing plates these have wider shoes and the drums are available from you regular supplier. If you use a 64 up wagon backing plates they have self adjusting brakes also. The 57-59 station wagons, retractable and rancheros had drums of their own. New are not available and used ones are very expensive. The later wagons backing plates have a greater offset than the original 57-59 backing plate to accommodate the wider shoes. Your park brake cables with fit. Some of the wagon backing plates are a little thicker so takes effort to get the park brake cable clips to lock.



Just check if the backing plates and axles are held in by 3/8" bolts. If your housing has 3/8 bolts the backing plate mounting circle and bearings are the same as the small bearing full sized cars. If you housing has 1/2" bolts the bearings and backing plates are the same as a wagon. The wagons (57 up) had the medium bearings and axles are held in by 1/2" bolts. Just a note check also wheel bolt circle to see if not 1/2 ton as they used the large bearings with 1/2" bolts.



marv

I am scabbing a 9" from a 58 Edsel wagon.

It measures the same to fit perfectly under one of my T Birds.The backing plates/brake shoe/drums setup is different (larger on the Edsel) so I need to use the T Bird stuff.

The bigger rear brakes would be nice BUT Edsel wagon drums are hard to find and the wagon drums are not availiable as repops as far as I know.

Oldmics

Thanks for all the assistence. A complete 9" rear end from a 57 car has been located and now the work begins.

Wichita,KS

Edsels came in two versions, the "smaller" one was based on a Ford, the "larger" one based on a Merc.  I would think the 292 powered Edsels would have the Ford rear, the big engined ones would have the wider Merc rear.  Just a guess.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"