Were the same hubs used up to 1959 for 1 tons?
I'm not absolutely certain, but I think the only change in hubs was when Bendix brakes replaced Huck. All the evidence I've been able to gather says the hubs on a TF are the same as a Bendix AD.
What year was the last year for a 1 ton I-beam axle
I've seen a '61 C-30 with the torsion bar IFS. I presume '60 had it also, making '59 the last year for the 1-ton I-beam.
are there any other hubs and or spindles to consider that may have modern bearings or a conversion available?
I came back to this thread because I read about a hub that was once available for these spindles. I've been reading race car chassis and fabrication books because they seem to be a good source of information on automotive fabrication in general. In Steve Smith's 1977 book
Race Car Fabrication and Preparation they suggest using commercially available race car hubs designed for use on GMC spindles.
That got me to thinking and I found a source of aftermarket steel hubs for the 4x4 market priced at $400 a pair.
While its probably not commercially feasible it is not impossible that we could design our own hubs for a limited run. I don't think I'm going to start making hubs on my little lathe but I can imagine my brother doing so on his larger setup.
I'm not an engineer but I would start the design process by choosing a rotor and borrowing the external dimensions from the hub associated with it, and then using the internal dimensions from the stock 3/4- or 1-ton hub, possibly modified to better support roller bearings.
Another thought is that because the 4100 and 4400 standard axle uses the same spindle as the 3/4- and 1-ton trucks, making hubs might open the door to creating a 5/10-lug pattern hub for a disk conversion on 1-1/2 ton trucks too.
I'm not a machinist I only play with machine tools at times. I may have unrealistic expectations regarding what it takes to carve a hub out of a piece of round bar 10 inches in diameter and six or eight inches long...
I'm sure you'll conclude I'm nuts, but that's okay I've been blaming a lot of things on the drugs I'm taking these days and this could be just one more.
