thinking about doing the ford axle swap while car is on jack stands and motor is out. has any one done this ? how many splines on stock 59 544 axle ? can all the parts needed be purchased from Currie? Would love to have the bigger brakes and get away from tapered axles. is it a nightmare to do? I would have a rear end specialist do the welding Thanks rick in ky

I put a 1800 rear axle in the race car. Relatively easy job with incredible strong axles and disc brakes. The top mount on the jackpot was the only semi-serious fabrication. Went that way after still twisting Ford (Strange) axles in two with the Volvo/Ford big end conversion. No problems at all. I even stopped carrying spare axles to events.Contact me for specifics if interested.

From post in 444-544 forum by rayj on Sat May 29, 2004 at 15:00 UTC.

Copied from my filed printed copy, exact quote between " marks:

"1990 Ford Ranger complete rear end w/ 3:45 ratio. One axle tube is longer than the other so I had the long one cut down" (shortened)to take the same length axle shaft as the shorter axle tube does, obtaining the second short axle shaft from a second Ranger rearend. "The overall width is one inch narrower than the stock Volvo. Wheel bolt pattern is the same as Volvo."

"I drilled and tapped the housing to mount the stock torque arms and it all bolted in place without any modifications and the proper pinion angle to boot."

"Get urathane (sic) bushings to mount everything. Urathane can be machined so get the bushings that the U-bolt goes over machined to fit the axle tubes. Have the Ford input flange drilled and tapped with 4 bolt holes and turned down so the Volvo driveshaft flange will fit and bolt it up. Works great. Ray J"

My comments: None of Ray's info is independently verified by me. IIRC, Ray was installing a Buick V6 with auto trans into his 444 and wasn't shy making major mods in a thoughtful way and arranging for professional fabrications. Hope this helps.

If I remember right you have to use a short axle from another rear end and shorten the axle tube to accept it. I have the specs. written down somewhere. The overall length is close but slightly shorter when done. Hopefully someone else can give more info on this. Larry

thank you

Some use the 240 rear ends too.

No idea who did this, but it's a ford axle:



V-performance has this info:

http://www.v-performance.com/articles/rearend_conversion_to_ford_drums_and_axles.html

Drum Brake and Axle Conversion, Volvo to Ford

Parts required:

From Ford Nine Inch Rear End, used or new --
Axle shafts
Outer ends of axle tube
Brake drums
Brake shoes
Wheel cylinders
Axles
Bearings
Backing plate
Adjuster and spring kit

Recommended new parts include sealed bearings, wheel cylinders, and brake shoes. The Ford drums can be reused if within specifications after turning and as long as they are the right size to begin with. Note that the Ford rear end comes with numerous different sizes of brake drums. Some are compatible with the Volvo wheels and brake system, others are not. I originally used 10 inch drums, 1.75 inch wide, which results in a swept area of 55 sq. inches, almost exactly the same as the stock brake area. Two inch drums and shoes can also be used. Either combination works well with the standard Volvo brake relief cylinder which equalizes pressure between the front and rear.

Operations required:
1)Remove the Volvo rear end from the car
2)Remove drums, wheel cylinders, backing plates
3)Remove axles from both rear ends
4)Have Ford axles checked, cut to length, turned to correct spline diameter and resplined to fit gear cluster splines. This is an opportunity to change to the later differential spline where parts such as limited slip differentials are more readily available
5)Remove differential from Volvo rear or block off axle tubes to prevent contamination
6)Remove bearings from Ford rear end if they are to be reused
7)Cut outer section from Volvo rear end tubes
8)Cut outer section from Ford Nine Inch rear end
9)Weld Ford outer rear end section to Volvo axle tube. The Ford tube is a slip fit over most Volvo axles. The end must be parallel and have the correct spacing for the track desired. These measurements are crucial and must be accurate for acceptable results. A jig should be used for welding. For racing a small amount of negative camber can be dialed in at this point.
10)Install bearings and axles
11)Install backing plate
12)Install wheel cylinders, brake shoes, adjusters, drums

I seem to remember someone did a Ford Ranger Pickup truck conversion, it's the right bolt pattern