The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Oakie bushing Replacement

Went out to pull the bushing today on the tube ,it went well the dowel pin was giving me grief as it kept spinning but would not come out .The newer tube I pulled the bushing last year was a lot more difficult it first pulled out the brass inners then the puller would not grip until I made a bigger expander for the puller.I cleaned out the tube as best I can sanded the splines with 800 paper to take the sharpness off so when I put the oakie in hopefully it won’t damage the seal.Going to take a break and measure the new bushing first then in a day or two put it back in I will leave the bushing on the floor of the garage as it is going to be cold the next few nights and was thinking I could heat gun the tube when I smack it back in.

Got into the garage today to put this oakie bushing in .I was not looking forward to doing this as I read some horror stories .I knew it was not going fit but tried to put it in cold and the tube hot with the heat gun .No go bottomed out only a few inches in .I did not hit it hard but could tell it was not going to move so I got it out and spent from about 230 to 530 filing and sanding evenly while checking the fit .I was confident it will fit tight and greased it up and hit it with a hammer with a block of wood ,it was going in smoothly and when I got to the spline area I had a socket that fit perfect and drove it the rest of the way .I thought right on until I tried to turn the driveshaft stuck .I got the u joint spline and dang it don’t fit on all the way either. No marks on the end but won’t side on into the bushing .Any tips please reply thanks

Taking a break from the oakie bushing as I don’t know what to do next so I decided to take the other tube apart as it might give me some ideas .This tube is a newer tube (no dowel pins) and I was going to put a oakie in it but I took the rear cover off and seen bits or bearing and found it to be the pinion bearing .Decided to see if the driveshaft will come out and looks like when I gave it a blow with the hammer it broke the rear bearing we’re it was worn and now won’t come out further .Dies anyone know if the driveshaft should slip out easily or are they pressed in .I took the three locking bolts out and can’t see anything other than the part of the bearing holding it in .going to stop and do some more reading .Anyway here is the oakie bushing installed for what it is worth and the second picture is the other mess with the driveshaft not coming out.

Ouch, I hoping I don't run into the same issues when I do mine. Just curious where did you purchase the bushing?
Jim

I don’t know who makes the bushings for the vendors ,l got this one from Jim Carter truck parts ,and was prepared to make a few adjustments and it did go in smoothly but wasn’t prepared for the driveshaft to not move or the yoke not to fit in .I did get the driveshaft to move by using a screwdriver to pry on the ring gear .I have two bushings for the newer tube as I was going to first change the bushing then found out the bearing behind the pinion was chipped and some bits were in the bottom so I ordered the 355 gears and install kit .That was last spring and being a Canadian truck I decided to use the older tube I found but I guess back to plan A .I think these parts being so old and not being able to get them right apart to check it is a crap shoot.I am thinking it would work out to cut the tube all around and make a welded flange that you can bolt on and off to change these parts .

Just curious the first picture is that the new bushing, as it seems there is very little metal on the bottom.

Picture is of the new bushing installed .The shaft sticks out , I should have taken the picture from straight on but my arms were not that long.

Got it , now I see it

Kev, I'd suggest putting something like a shaft collar around the end of the torque tube, and using a 2 or 3 jaw gear puller to push the driveshaft and pinion bearing out the back. Hammering on anything with a bearing on it is a really bad idea. Reinstalling the pinion can be done the same way by using a puller held into place by the carrier bearing saddles and pushing on the center of the pinion gear.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry that’s a good idea.I will see what I can put together.

'Well looks like it finally came apart, thanks to Jerry for the ideas.Once apart the driveshaft looks in good shape.Also took the inner bushing and seal out of the tube .Going to take it slow and read up some more before putting together also have a lot of cleaning to do.Kevin

Yes thank you.

I took the 49 chev tube apart to see what was with the oakie bushing and looks like everything was okay with the way it was pushed in but the bushing is the wrong size for the yoke .I also dont know why it would not spin as nothing seemed like it was tight from looking at the bushing .Anyway since it is apart I have been cleaning parts and getting ready to put the new gears back in.The one pinion bearings were failing the other looks good .I found out the spare carrier I kept from a tube I had that was filled with water is a American truck carrier but both rear ends that I took apart have brass shims,sliders whatever they are called that are behind the spider gears and axle inner side gears so no go for that .I am going to check with a machine shop to see if they will drill the Canadian carrier like Curt fro Alberta has done .I noticed the new inner pinion bearing has a nylon cage rather than metal like the original ,I took off the side rubber on the bearing also .

Slow progress got a few parts cleaned and painted .I took the pinion bearings off the old pinions .have the outer pinion slipped on with the lock ring was going to press the inner bearing on and noticed there is only 8 ball bearings on each side as compared to 12 or13 on the original.Anyone know if this will make any difference .Thanks Kevin.

A check of the bearing shows the origional part number to the new bearing and look the same on the new departure site.I got the carrier stripped down and found that if you want to save the carrier bearing you can take the retaining ring off that holds the cage on and take the bearings off I would mark the tops of the roller bearings first .then the puller will not damage the cage and you can pull the bearing off then have fun putting the bearings back in .If you have a Canadian truck as mine is and were told you need to get a carrier from a U.S.truck you don’t have to .To make the Canadian carrier fit the ring gear the bolt pattern is off by about 1/16 on each hole inward.as explained by Curt B bolter from Alberta .I chose to modify my Canadian carrier like Curt has done as there is more involved than just getting a us carrier.A U.S. carrier will fit the new ring gear and if you decide to go that route you will also need the U.S. side gears and spider gears as they are not the same and won’t interchange .The Canadian rear also has brass spacers in behind the side gears and spider gears.Here are some pictures of the assembly ready to go back in I will need to make up the pinion tool and figure out what I need for a dial indicator to measure the assembled clearances.

Here are the differences I noticed between the American and Canadian rear end parts.To start the American rear axle can be identified by the 3 raised stripes on the outside of the axle housing .The carrier bolt pattern is off by about 1/16 on each hole towards the centre .The carrier itself were the carrier bearings are are longer on the Canadian carrier (this is why in the picture it is taller.Inside the carrier were the side bearings go there is a difference in the diameter as well as the Canadian carrier is deeper allowing for the side bearing to sit properly.The side bearings on the two rear Canadian axles are taller and have brass spacers between them as well as the spacers behind the spider gears .The American rear axle has no brass spacers .Some pictures to help show .

A few more pics

Looks like mid week coming up we will have some warmer temperatures.looking to wrap up this mess I got myself into .Have a few questions before I get started . 1 how do you torque the nut on the pinion .and 2 I have read that some have put the piñon in without the driveshaft on to get the proper shims ,I like this idea but how does the pinion come out I don’t really want to be prying on the new parts before I get the shims correct.Thanks Kevin.

Looking at the old ring and pinion out of the truck and noticed the markings anyone know what they mean.

Probably something to do with depth setting for the pinion. The +1 probably tells what shims need to be installed. But that's just a SWAG.

My swag would be f is fixed 69 in 1969 and most likely like you said something to do with the pinion .On both Canadian rear gears I see there is thicker shims than I have been reading on the American swaps .Thanks

The +1 indicates the pinion depth is .001" back from the "nominal" depth which was standard for factory assemblies. Check the new pinion gear to see if there's a corresponding +/- dimension, and change the thickness of the shim pack between the rear pinion bearing and the gear to compensate for manufacturing tolerances.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry I will check the new one to see if there is any markings.I can imagine many cars over the years have some of your markings hidden within them .Kevin

This will help with adjusting the shim pack.

Thanks for the imformation chart .the new pinion has the number 88 on the end.

Pretty sure that's not a shim dimension.

Just threw that out there as it is scribed on the end of the 355 pinion .I have found a lot of differences in the Canadian models ,the two axles I have have thicker shims behind the pinion that I have read about from others not quite 88 but close to 50

Just to follow up I have the rear centre section put back together.I found someone to set up the gears and all looks good .just have to dress up the front oakie bushing to get the yoke to fit .Going to Finnish this up at the end of the summer

I got the rear torque tube back together and in the truck ,connected to the transmission .replaced the axle bearings and just waiting for my brake shoes to come in to put the truck back on its feet.To sum it up if anyone is doing the 355 gear swap with a Canadian truck don’t bother with using a carrier from the USA built trucks .I don’t know we’re the imformation came from to use a carrier but there is to many other differences that go along with it even found that the spacer block is shorter on a US model .The rear axle can be identified by the side of the housing .The US version will have 3 stripes on the one side were the Canadian model does not so it is best to do the swap using the same rear end .and the only difference would be to drill out the Canadian carrier to match the ring gear like Curt has done .On to the next fix .Kevin