57 Rear Axle ?

[uncle]

Got a neighbor with 57 truck. Is stock rear axle an eaton ho52? 4:10 lowest gear numerically you can get. Are there any other year direct bolt in as far as spring perch/shock mount? Thx in advance.

[dwcsr]

HO52 is a 3/4 ton and does swap with up to about 1972 HO52 rears that had a v8. I think they would have 3.73 but not much better.

[uncle]

This is 1/2 ton truck and I've not seen rear axle to verify. What is stock axle in 1/2 ton 57?

[yossarian19]

In a '57, it's the 55T rear axle. Distinct from the 55P which came in passenger cars. I think it's a 9 3/8" ring gear, pretty stout stuff.
No traction aids available, only one after market gear set : 3.38's
Parts are surprisingly available if you want to warm it over.
I don't know of anything that directly bolts in. Earlier C10's are about the right width, though. Might need spring perches, unsure. A '99-04 Grand cherokee w/ v8 used a Dana 44 variant, those can be had with limited slip, 3.73 gears and some even had a full locker in them, 12" disc brakes and 62" wide but *lots* of bracketing to sort out.

[uncle]

Thx for info.