So it would appear that it is time for the next question. I have a route for engine and trans, and have located 2 wheels to start with, but now I move onto axles. Starting with the front.
Ripped apart the front to find a seized wheel cylinder and heavily worn bearings. As I dismantled I shook the spindles an in doing so I heard the tell-tale sound of the king pins knocking around. It isn't "bad" but its not great. If I am going to rebuilt an axle, may as well make it a better axle with higher load cap since I plan to re-power to a heavier motor anyways. Im on the hunt in the junkyards for an axle of higher load rating now. Is there an easy way to identify axles under a truck by AWR at all? It would be best to identify by bearing size/bore but very hard to do in a junkyard, so there has to be an easier way. All these trucks seem like someone just threw darts at a board and wherever they landed dictated engine/axle/GVW/etc so trying to find a specific model may not pan out since all the models are inbred to a degree.
As for rear, I am on the hunt for a single speed, high ratio, higher load rating rear, preferably with a different (more common) lug pattern (corresponds to the desired engine). This is where things get even more confusing though. How do the axles from, say a 70's-80's era c70 compare with the old eaton 2 speed? Square tube vs round tube? I am already accounting for a custom drive shaft work, so can it be assumed that an axle is an axle is an axle, find one closer to the 26k lb load and stick it under? If so, I may try to steal the matching front axle to keep lug patterns similar across both.
Any input on donor trucks for similar WMS and the such? Other than some fab work and elbow grease, any perceived issues with this thought process? The '64 is the standard 34" frame width like every other mid-size out there so the only issue I could see on the axles is spring width. Course, springs would be swapped with axles too for proper load capabilities. I would grab the whole steering setup with whatever front axle I grab as well and adapt as required
In the end, im not building a 38K lb GVW dump truck, but im a firm believer that a little bit overkill is safer and goes a long way when considering pretty constant standard "heavy" load almost. Plus im adding in almost 1500lb worth of motor and trans in the re-power, so its now "justifiable" to the wife.
