I've been reading everything I can on my '51 Chevy 3/4 Ton, and have a sorta goofy question to ask.
3 different times, the right rear wheel has frozen up on me, (won't turn, have to really give it gas to get going, then it loosens up and runs fine).
This always happens at the same location at my work, same parking spot. And always after the truck has sat there 8 hours.
At first I thought the brakes were locking up, as I have to make a tight turn into this spot, all while coming up a short steep entrance driveway, and have to jam on the brakes pretty good to stop. My plan was to open the bleeder valve on this tire the next time this happened, to see if the breaks were not releasing.
The last time I pulled in real careful and slow, no hard action on the brake pedal, and still it was locked up.
The space I am using has a slight slant, the right side about 4-6 inches higher than the left, and it is the right wheel that locks up.
So my new theory is that the gear lube is draining from the right side of the rear axle, and leaving the bearings just dry enough to lock up.
Sound plausible?
My solution was to top of the rear end, thinking maybe it was low.
No such luck, as I put fluid in an equal amount of fluid comes out, of course the old stuff is black, but I assume still working.
Now as I was putting rear end fluid in, I realized that the fill plug was on the lower half of the rear end. This doesn't seem right to me, is it at all possible that someone put the rear end cover on upside down? According to the shop manual the rear end on this puppy should hold 17 1/2 pints, I just don't see how this is possible with the fill bolt being that low. Can't find any pics of one of these rear ends on the net, so I thought I would ask.
Thanks
Frank
1951 AD Chevy 3/4 Ton, daily driver, and darn proud of it.
