The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Rear Wheel bearing question

I have had good luck with all the wealth of wisdom on this site. I couldn’t have revived this old truck without the help of the Stovebolt family. My 1951 Chevy 3100 is truly a hybrid ( not the electric kind!). It has what I believe to be a 1957 HO 32 rear end with what I think are 3:90 gears. I decided to get Classic’s 3:38 gear set to up my highway speed. They sent the ring and pinion gear and the bearing package. I also ordered the rear wheel bearings since I’m going to be in there anyway. Pulled all the bearings and races. The ring and pinion kit’s bearings seem to fit ( just held them up to the locations before installing to check OD and ID). When I looked at the replacement rear wheel bearings that I ordered, they are roller bearings that seem to only fit into the end of the axle housing but not go all the way in. I remembered the rear wheel bearings and races I pulled were tapered. I looked into the tube and see a “collar” with a snap ring in the back, which was left after I pulled the race. My question - Do I remove/pull/ cut this “collar” and then install the new roller bearing? Classic lists these new bearings as Chevy rear wheel bearings 33-61. Really could use some advice on this “Johnny Cash Truck”.

Do you still have the bearings you removed?

They were pretty destroyed getting them out. They were roller tapered bearings and they fell out to the cage when removed.

I was going to suggest comparing the new and old side by side and taking some measurements.

It's possible the bearings you got are incorrect. I don't trust anything straight out of the box these days regardless of what the box says or what the counter man says..

Most of the bearing cones and cups I've worked with have a number stamped into them that can be cross referenced between various manufacturers. Unless the bearing is totally destroyed, the numbers on the old parts usually survive. A good set of dial or digital calipers and maybe an inside micrometer can also come in handy, using a bearing and/or seal manufacturer's progressive size charts. The obsolete rear wheel bearings with the barrel-shaped rollers are extremely scarce and e$$$$pensive, but sometimes a conventional tapered roller bearing with the same dimensions can be substituted.
Jerry

Do the axle shafts ride on the bearings directly? Most light duty axles use the straight or slightly barrel shaped rollers like Jerry mentioned, although some axle shafts have an inner race pressed on that the bearings roll on. Axles that use bearings that run on the axle shaft (or inner race) are called semi-floating, as opposed to full-floating axles where you can pull the axle shaft out of the wheel hub. The wheel hub on full-floating axles generally use tapered roller bearings.

Post a picture of what you have.

The attached pic shows semi-floating (top) and full-floating (bottom)

If I’m not mistaken the HO 32 is a 1/2 ton rear end.
Those wheel bearings are straight rollers, not tapered.

Just figured it out. The “collar”was the roller bearing race! Duh. Got it removed and new bearings and races installed. Got the pinion bearings on and planetary gears in. Thought shims were needed until I checked the parts box and found adjustable “shim caps??”. Very cool design. Can screw in and out to adjust. What are they really called? Now the tricky part- setting pinion depth and ring-pinion adjustment. Any suggestions?

The adjustment can be done fairly easily by an experienced person. In my case I had to do a lot of reading first. Trial and error.

Starting page 29:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/booklets/52mts12/5212mts00.htm

Starting page 29:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/booklets/55top06/index.htm

Tech tips:
https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/axles/355%20gear%20swap/

Pictures and write-up are not mine.

When checking the tooth contact pattern it's best to have a little drag on the pinion flange. Have someone wrap an old fan belt or a heavy leather belt around the dust slinger on the flange and grip it tightly while you run the blued teeth on the ring gear back and forth past the pinion- - - -vigorously! The wipe pattern on the teeth will be much more pronounced that way. Putting a piece of broom stick through the spider gear pivot hole is a good way to rock the ring gear back and forth.
Jerry

Thanks. Just finished doing the Prussian Blue marking and checking. Got good marks. Checked the mic readings and they fell in the acceptable range- Yay! Did it with a little drag too. Putting the C clips back in was a bit challenging but got them in. Now to button it up and return to the truck. I know it has missed it’s rear!