I was reading some stuff about a Dodge Power wagon, an older model. It said that it came with a two speed rear end. Why is that and how would you use. Can you shift it from inside the truck?

And I've noticed that on a lot of heavy trucks, like concrete mixers and such, the differentials are rotated 90 degrees so the cover is pointing down. How do those work?

 

Many big trucks (including fords) came with 2 speed rear ends. There are a set of planetary gears inside the third member that can be ingaged or disengaged to reduce the gear ratio. Yes you can shift it from inside the truck. Most trucks have a little red switch on the gearshifter. The advantage of a 2 speed is you basically have 10 gears instead of 5.
The reason some trucks have the differentials rotated is because it makes it somewhat easier to add a second(or third) drive axle.

 

I am pretty sure Mack is the only one who uses the pumpkin with the rear cover facing down. I guess that's their preference.
Others use "regular" positined axles and have a shaft coming out of the forward axle to drive the rear.
tandem axle trucks use a single speed rear axle and the transmission has a split output to give it more gears.
some have a split input too to give it a super low reduction and a double overdrive.

 

I am pretty sure Mack is the only one who uses the pumpkin with the rear cover facing down. I guess that's their preference.
Others use "regular" positined axles and have a shaft coming out of the forward axle to drive the rear.
tandem axle trucks use a single speed rear axle and the transmission has a split output to give it more gears.
some have a split input too to give it a super low reduction and a double overdrive.

 

A neighbor had a 86? 1 ton Ford with a 2 speed rear. I know he had it added by a truck shop, but dont know the manufacturer. It worked pretty good for pulling heavy trailers in rough terrain.

Tony Warren
Nebraska

 

here was a crazy ideal I had one time.....

why didn't somebody envent a 3/4 ton front and rear end that had 2 speeds built into them for example on low side have 4:11 gears for pulling, then on the high side have 3:54 for daily driving or playing in the mudd or snow
now wouldn't this be neat??? I have drove them chevy and ford 2 ton with the hi/low rearend it really helps when you got a load on one trying to take off save the clutch