The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1946 Chevy COE I-beam axle

I'm new to the forum and hope I put this question in the correct section. My question is for the 1946 Chevy COE. Can any tell me the front axle width from wms to wms?

Hi WesZ71, welcome to the forum. Are you aware of the GM Heritage site, look at the Vehicle Information Kit for 1946 Chevrolet Truck.

Here is the site the 78buckshot was referring to. Lots of good information on it. Not sure that the site will have that specific info (WMS to WMS) however. Can't hurt to take a look.
[on edit] The closest thing available to WMS-WMS dimension is front axle tread (center of tire to center of tire) which is 60-9/32 inches pe the Vehicle Info Kit. You could get pretty close by checking if the wheels have any offset and allowing for that. But that would still be off a little because of the camber of the front wheels (closer on the bottom than the top.)

I wasn't aware of the website and thanks for the info. Reason for my question is I want to start a project of putting the 46 COE cab on a newer chassis. I have a donor chassis from a 1978-79 Chevy C60 1 1/2 ton truck. Just looking at the front of the donor chassis I'm thinking the front axle is too wide and that the tire are going to stick out of the fenders. I want to try and use a newer model chassis with the I-beam axle but have the same measurement of the original factory chassis had.

When you're out of moderation (you only need a couple more posts), send a PM to Homer52. He's putting a 41 GMC COE on a Motorhome chassis and can probably advise you what he went with. Front track width on a 41 Chevy (and I assume a GMC) COE is either 61-5/8 or 62-1/8 inches depending on wheel offset.

Thanks for the help. I will look him up and see what he used . I"ll try and get some measurements from the C60 tomorrow or the weekend.

There are other options to getting modern disc brakes on early solid axles, maintaining correct tire tread. Top of this(Big Bolt) category, article by Grigg gives full explanation, using ‘90 to ‘01 +- kingpin out spindles on your axle. I have done several, only cost is new kingpin bushings, $12. ea. last job.

Ed

I have been reading his post on the disk brake conversion. My situation is I only have a cab without a chassis and axles at this time. I had thought that I could use the chassis from a 1978-79 chevy C60 that I have. However after looking at the C60 its looking as if its axles will be too wide and push the tires out to the outer edge of the fenders. I want to run leaf spring suspension and the factory 20 inch wheels and tires. The truck will only be use to cruise around and maybe an occasional truck/car show. Any additional help would be greatly appreciated.

If you only have the cab, it might be worth looking for a conventional truck with 2 ton front axle to put your cab on. Another option would be to find an IFS GM truck and cut the front center section to fit your cab tread. If you are going to that much work, it might be easier to use 22.5” wheels rather than 20” wheels.

Ed

After learning the the C60 front axle is a lot wider and would have the tires sticking out of the fenders. I searched an found a frame from a 46 COE. Here's my plan for the 46 that I have. Its just going to be a pleasure driver truck and will not used to haul or tow anything. I'm planing to install a SBC 350 with a manual or a auto trans with power steering and disk brakes to the I-beam axle. Plans are to still run the 20 inch rims/tires. Probably need to give the front suspension on the frame I found a complete rebuild and new springs. When giving the frame a pressure washing I discovered that the axle has had some previous repairs. Also been trying to read up on the information by Griggs on the P-30 axle and the axle and disk brakes swap from the 3500HD also. Here are some pictures of the axle and frame

Well now it looks like you have a good base to build from. I would probably look for a different front axle set-up as you are thinking, I would not trust the repaired king pin eyes for security or alignment.

There a number of conversion being done on Youtube. Do a search.

How tough would it be to set a COE cab onto a van chassis? Seems like the engine and front end would already be configured pretty much correctly, and old GM vans with moss on 'em are a dime a dozen around these parts, anyway. Especially if you're not using it as a truck for heavy hauling, I'd think a 3/4 ton van chassis would be adequate. Find one with the bigger rear brakes vs half ton.

Wes, you could look for a GM two ton front axle(6 bolts holding sheet metal hub cap on) to replace your repaired axle, then add disc brake spindles/hubs. ‘91 to ‘01+/- spindles must come from truck with tie rod behind axle.

Ed