Lark Broke Axle

"Time is money", things that you will need to address...pinion angle, parking brake cables, proper brake proportioning Cougar is a 9" brake I think, u-joint compatibility, driveshaft length, rear tread width. Are you an accomplished welder? Misplace or mis-weld the spring perches and your life will be hell, I don't even know if the axle tube diameter is the same to allow the perches to sit properly.

The Dana is a very strong rear end, ask the Jeep off-roaders. In fact it's a truck rear in a compact car and I would consider it an upgrade over a Cougar rear, and most rears that you could consider swappable. Come to think of it most leaf spring rears in the junkyard are almost as old as your Dana unless they are out of a truck.

ErnieR

not knowing the EXACT dimensions of either a lark or a Hawk, my hawk has a 9" Ford Torino mounted.. tires are a BIT tight but I put 195's all around and helped.. I did have about 3/4" between the tire and fender before that.. it never hit even when bounced BUT.. Torino has 2" wide rear brake shoes BTW. or this one does.

80's lateish I believe?

--Shiva--

I was about to say something along those lines, but you said it better then I. I'll bet a beer it cost more in the long run to swap the entire rear.

Big E wrote:

I have two tapered axles on my shelf from my recent (one month ago) swap to the Fairborn Flanged Moser Axle. The bearings are new too. The swap was really simple, even drilling the backing plate to 2 3/4" . I did have trouble finding end play but Ted Harbit came to the rescue telling me to hit the axle with a big rubber mallet. The conversion cost me no where near the $600 that you are quoting. Mind you I did it myself. It may just be simpler to replace the broken axle with a couple of old ones.

Allen

Arkieiowa wrote:

Kyle Where are you located?

I have many good 44 rear ends in Joliet Illinois.We are at the intersection of Interstate 80 and Interstate 55. Joliet is located at the intersection of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway ,that is why we call it the "Cross Roads of America"

R.Kapteyn Joliet Studebaker Service.

815 722 7262

In addition, there are new ring and pinions available for the Dana 44 from a number of different sources. I had such a problem when I changed the ring and pinion in my Dana 44. The ring and pinion I got was not a Studebaker style ring and pinion but a modern one with 36 splines on the pinion ( I think it was 36, but was more then what came in the units Studebaker used). The kit also included a new pinion flange. I went to my local NAPA store and they pulled the correct U-joint to match the drive shaft to the pinion right off the shelf. New ring and pinion gear with shims, pinion bearings, and flange cost about $260.00. I could have gotten the rest of the bearings but I purchased them locally.

Paul V

Kyle,for what it is worth,I have a flanged model 44 out of a 66 Cruiser under my Lark.I have a supercharged 400 C I brand X for motorvation.I have had NO trouble with the strength and integrity of the 44, I would do the flanged axle swap instead of the 9 inch swap.And dont forget the 9 inch might have a different gear ratio which will screw up the speedometer reading,and maybe make your car a pooch if the difference is drastic enough.But its your car,so you can do it anyway you want.

I doubt the rear of the 67 Cougar the junkyard will sell for $200 is a

9". The Cougar and Mustang and Falcon all shared the same econocar rear uness it was a HP version. Probably something like 7.25 or 7.5.

I'm with you on the Dana...my carrier bolts came loose to a point where one was up againt the cover! Heard a whine went in to look, tightened things up and been driving for at least 7,000 miles since.

ErnieR

, I would do the flanged axle swap instead of the 9 inch