Columbia in a 1941 Ford pickup

[Harley Dean]

A friend of mine has a Columbia two speed he would like to install in a 1941 Ford half ton pickup. Has any one done this swap? The Columbia was from a 1947 Ford. He wants me to help him install it but I have no idea.

[Ken/Alabama]

The axle width is wider than the 41.

[drolston]

Originally Posted by Ken/Alabama

The axle width is wider than the 41.

True, but not enough wider to cause a problem. Unless you are running Double Eagle tires on back.

The bigger problem may be torque tube and drive shaft length.

[Ken/Alabama]

It won't, you can actually run a wheel with a negative offset To makeup for the difference. Yes , the torque tube and drive shaft will be another issue.

[Bob G/Spanaway]

I have one in my '40 pickup and it works great.
Width is OK as pointed out but the drive shaft is too long.
I think I used the '40 DS and wishbones on the later rearend.
Somebody will point it out if wrong but I think it'll work.
I did it 15 years ago.
Have fun.

[Mart]

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^^ No, that is the right thing to do. Presumably the truck has an axle in it already, use the 47 columbia rear end and the 40 torque tube and radius rods. You might need spacers on the radius rods to make up for the extra width.

Not sure about spring / perch distances.

Mart.

[blucar]

I have a '46-48 Columbia under my '36, It was a bolt in application using '37 radius bars on the original '36 torque tube/drive shaft. I used two 5/8" nuts for spacers, with a longer bolt, where the radius bars attached to the front part of the torque tube. This compensated for the slight miss alignment of holes in the bars to the mount.
In the mid '60's I had a '37 pickup that I installed a '46-48 Columbia under, I used the 37 drive shaft/torque tube bolted to the Columbia differential. It was a bolt in application.
I used the '46-48 shifting controls on both units, worked great.. The later model axle assemblies are approximately 2" wider than the '36-41, however, that is only an inch on each side, which does not present a problem, there is ample fender room, in the case of my '37 pickup I used 710-15 tires front and rear.
In over sixty years of driving my '36 with the wider rear axle, no one has ever noticed that my 600X16 tires sit a little further out in the fenders..

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Mart

^^ No, that is the right thing to do. Presumably the truck has an axle in it already, use the 47 columbia rear end and the 40 torque tube and radius rods. You might need spacers on the radius rods to make up for the extra width.

Not sure about spring / perch distances.

Mart.

Spacers are necessary - about 3/8" per side.
I agree with you in that I would too would use ONLY the specific Columbia parts with the original torque tube and center section as well as radius rods.

[blucar]

In my earlier comment I failed to mention that a '46-48 rear spring will have to be used under the pickup to compensate for the added width. If the Columbia is a '47-48 it should have the mounts for a stock sway bar, and tube shocks, both of which are a nice addition.
I have attached a couple of pix of the 47-48 Columbia under my '36.

[Mart]

^^ Thanks for the clarification on the spring. That was the part I was unsure about.

Mart.