Rear axle question......................

I have a 63 ranchero with the 260 in it from the factory I bought recently. It doesn't look like any change to the axle was done. It looks like an 8" like my 64 V8. I referred to the Falcon decoder site and it looks like the code for my 63 is with a ratio of 3:50.
Is this right? Is there a way to get a ball park figure of the axle ratio without pulling the third member off?

I believe 3:50 is very common for the 8" differential-

Put some tape around the driveshaft. Lift teh car adn chock the front wheels and safely hold the car up. spin the wheel one rotation foreword or backward. Count the revolutions that the drive shaft turns.

if it takes 3.5 turns to get the tire to go one turn then it's a 3.50:1 rear end.

Simple.

Originally Posted by gchero351

I believe 3:50 is very common for the 8" differential-

I agree, but only qualification would also assume is that it depended upon what transmission was just up ahead. In the trucks, the 3.25 was common with automatics.

Wm.