Dana 23 with 4.56 gears

[dgoodenow]

I have an early 1950 Willys Jeepster with the 49 body style that has the Dana Model 23 rear end with 4.56 gears. I understood that all Jeepster can with 4.88 gears. The are some that say they also came with the 5.38 gears, although I have not seen any, but I have not heard of any coming with the 4.56 gears. This one has the L148 six and does not have the overdrive. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[bmorgil]

dg, I am going to say I only know of a 4.88 ratio for the 23 axle. I am not aware of the 23 axle having any other ratios available.

Have you verified the ratio with a tooth count?

[dgoodenow]

I have not counted the gears but the tag on the housing is clear 41/9. I have contacted an expert on Jeepsters and he said he has seen some 4.56 gears on Jeepsters but mostly the model 23's with 4.56 gears were on wagons.

[bmorgil]

It is quite possible it is the wrong tag or not a 23 axle. The 41, 44 or 53 could be in there. You never know what could have happened back in the early 50's. If you have the 2 wheel drive Planar front suspension, it should be a 23. As I said however, I know of only one ratio used in the Willys for the 23, a 4.88 ratio. Studebaker used the 23 also. I have seen a few ratios for them. The Jeepsters and the Wagons used the 23 in the rear with the 4.88 ratio. It will be interesting to see that axle.

[dgoodenow]

The axle is stamped 23 on the back passenger side of the housing. I know this is an old vehicle, but I now have the body off (doing a frame off restoration) and everything I see suggests all the parts are original. Thanks.

[bmorgil]

When you get the axle cleaned up, snap some photos. That will help a lot. It is possible anything could have happened back in the 50's.

[LarrBeard]

The Jeepsters were the unicorns of the Jeep world - rare and marvelous creatures.

Willys-Overland wasn't too particular in configuration management on even the "standard" vehicles and since Jeepsters were batch built, consistency wasn't one of their strong points.

Rule 2 of Jeep is "What you see is what you have", and just because everyone says "Willys-Overland never did that" doesn't mean they didn't - we've just never see it. (Rule 3: Never say Willys -Overland never would have ________________. Fill in the blank - they probably did.

We will take your work as evidence that, in some cases, WO did put 41/9 rear ends in Jeepsters.

Be careful, you could become our resident Jeepster expert as you get deeper in the job.

Send pictures!

[dgoodenow]

Here's a few pictures. Thanks.

I can't seem to post the pictures. I'll try later.

[bmorgil]

Try it again and let me know if it doesn't work. I was just able to post a test picture on another thread. Hopefully it is working for you now.

[dgoodenow]

Here's a few pictures. Thanks.

I can't seem to post the pictures. I'll try later.

Still not able to post pictures.

[bmorgil]

Make sure you are following this procedure dg.

https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys.com/showthread.php?2451-How-to-post-a-picture-in-a-thread

[dgoodenow]

I followed the instruction, but no luck. I cannot log in most times either. When I do, it takes several minutes to give me permission to do anything. When I upload the screen goes dark for a few minutes and then comes back with the cursor in a line below, but no picture. Thanks.

[LarrBeard]

Log-in is screwy for me as well. I try to log in, it kicks me down to the try again box - but if I just go back up and click "FORUM", I get in.

Picture uploading is working for me - you've just irritated the computer somewhere....

[dgoodenow]

Trying again.

Nope? Anyway the pictures only show the number "23" on the lower passenger side of the casing, and a metal tag with "W41/9" attached to one of the lower bolts. Thanks.

[dgoodenow]

Stranger and stranger. I got the front drums off today and I noticed that the drums and shoes are 11 inches. I have read that the Jeepsters did come with 11" drums as an option and they called it the "mountain brake option". So we have a very plain Jeepster (no overdrive, no "T" bar, no hood emblems, no side steps, no radio, and no heater, and painted tub caps and dash cap) but with the very rare L148 six, 4.56 rear end gears, and mountain brakes. Also, it seems to me that you would want mountain brakes in the hills but the higher gear ratio on more flat ground? Maybe some folks who special ordered the Jeepsters in 1950 were as strange as some of us are today? Having fun!

[gmwillys]

You may have an end of the model conglomeration of left over odds and ends from the parts bins. It is the realm of possibilities. Although it could also be a special order, also in the realm as well. As LarrBeard says, just because the books say Willys never did, doesn't mean it never happened.

[bmorgil]

The Jeepsters didn't sell well. They were expensive for what they were. The dealers would do a lot of work to get them off the lot. Back in the 50's a lot of options were performed at the dealer. For instance the original Willys DJ was converted mostly by dealerships. It certainly is possible a dealer made the Jeepster special order, or someone performed some "upgrades" long ago.

[dgoodenow]

I'm sure all possibilities may be at play, but I have had a number of these Jeepster and this one certainly looks to be unaltered, but I'm no expert. The point about a conglomeration makes the most sense to me. This one has the 1949 body style with the VIN plate number of VJ3-6 10996. According to Paul at West Cost Willys and his wonderful Restoration Guide, the last Jeepster with the six made in 1949 was VJ3-6 10654, and first one made in 1950 was VJ3-6 10656 and the last one made in March 1950 was VJ3-6 11001. Mine is only five numbers before the last one made with the 1949 body style and parts. I'm sure they were ramping up production and parts for the new 1950 body style and maybe just used whatever they had left over and excluded the nicer detail parts due to part shortages? Thanks.

[LarrBeard]

Every Unicorn is a unique and beautiful creature ....

[dgoodenow]

I received information from the Jeepster Club's technical expert, that Willys put the 4.56 gears in those Jeepsters and wagons that did not come with the electric overdrive. That explains why mine has the higher than usual gear ratio. Thanks all for your help.

[bmorgil]

Some good info for the Jeepster crowd there dg! The gears for the model 23 are getting very hard to find. I would think the 4.56 with the overdrive would work out very nice. It is surprising they didn't use it with the overdrive also.

[LarrBeard]

That makes sense and it explains one of those "Why did WO do that". Thanks for the education.