Studebaker differntials in race cars

[t walgamuth]

I was searching for information about the rear end in myh 39 studebaker CE today and came across what appeared to be a thread on this forum about the first cobra using a center section taken from a studey. One of our members said he came onto the information in a conversation with Carroll Shelby some years back. Others seemed skeptical about the studey connection.

I will add this information to the mix: in the latest edition of Classic and Sports Car, an english magazine, I found a nice article on the Old Yaller race car built by Max Balchowski (sp?). One of the drivers who successfully raced Old Yaller was Carroll Shelby. Dan Gurney also raced her back in the day, and other famous road racers. It happens that Old Yaller has a Studebaker rear end under it. I imagine Shelby might have remembered that fact and when they needed a strong diff for the Cobra prototype he may have found a studey rear end and knew it would be rugged enough.

For anyone unfamilar with Old Yaller, Max built a series of them using home made frames, hand formed bodys, second hand (supposedly) wide whitewall tires and a barbeque grill for the grill of the car. They were crude looking but had amazingly competent engineering in them. They had excellent balance and great power to weight ratios using a Buick Nail head v8. the buick had bags of torque and would really rev up with the tiny valves. They regularly beat Ferraris, Maseratis and other high dollar imported race cars.

[SN-60]

To t walgamuth,---Greetings!....I wonder if 'Studebaker rear end' simply meant that the cars You mention utilized a Dana type 44 center? The Dodge Viper sports car used this type of rear end also.

[t walgamuth]

To t walgamuth,---Greetings!....I wonder if 'Studebaker rear end' simply meant that the cars You mention utilized a Dana type 44 center? The Dodge Viper sports car used this type of rear end also.

I took it to mean the entire assembly. The center of the rear wheel shows the protruding axle thingie like a stude had. Other than the three words above they also said the studey rear end was quite heavy, which of course is all relative.

[SN-60]

To: t walgamuth,----Sounds like Studebaker 'keyed' axle shafts allright......Anyone out there have any idea on this?

[Alan]

Old Yeller was built before the Ford 9" came out in 57. Will check out the build. I would think that they would use the Ford or Merc. 44's with the flanged axles.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Think of it this way...
Stude stuff in junkyards was cheaper than Ford/Chevy/Chrysler stuff in junkyards.
If you knew that a Stude used a Dana44 posi, why spend more for the Chrysler?

[52-fan]

Could be that the Studebaker rear axle was the correct width for the application.

[PackardV8]

The Dana/Spicer/Salisbury rear axle design used by Studebaker is one of the most widely used and longest used in automotive history.

In addition to Studebaker, Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, International Harvester, Jeep, Jaguar, Viper, Sunbeam, Holden, Morgan and fifty other marques used the design. That a Studebaker example was used could be, as previously mentioned, that it was cheap, or readily available, or the correct width or that Studebaker was one of the first and most widely available with limited slip.

FWIW, the Timken vertically split rear axle housings used in pre-'56 Studebaker 3/4t trucks was used as a basis for early hotrod/racecar quick change and/or full-floating axle units.

jack vines