The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline more oakie bushing..mine doesn't fit

I have read through the two latest oakie bushing posts, but unfortunately mine is an issue of going in, not coming out. My '46 1/2 ton pickup, the new oakie bushing will go into the torque tube about 25%, then it bottoms out solidly. I understand that it is an interference fit and being snug is a good thing, but this is way beyond snug. The videos from Jayhawker mention him turning down the oakie on a lathe. I do not have access to a lathe or machine shop. However, my plan is to jig the oakie on a bolt, pin it between washers and nuts. Mount the bolt in the chuck of a drill press and spin it against a flat sanding surface or a file. I don't have the means to measure the inside of the torque tube so I pulled my measurements from the original oil seal and the original front bushing piece, It looks like I need to take .0095 off the new oakie. Oil seal was 1.6935 and new oakie seal end is 1.703. The front of the oakie, brass bushing end, falls within the specs of the torque tube to slide in. When milling the oakie down to size would you turn down the threaded section of the bushing along with the smooth sections of the tube? My thinking is that the "threads" on the okie are fine enough that they would collapse as they are driven in and create a secure fit.

Thoughts and suggestions on my process are very much appreciated.

It's possible that the rear shaft bushing is hung up. Normally it can be pushed back to allow the oakie bushing to go all the way in. I just watched a video of someone trying to put an oakie bushing in a 35 Chevy car and he had a problem with a washer behind the seal that was up against a shoulder in the torque tube that was not letting the oakie bushing go all the way in. He had to remove the rear axle/torque tube and get the washer out which allowed the new oakie bushing to go in far enough. Maybe you can use a piece of pipe that will slip over the driveshaft and drive the bushing back into the tube. Did you drill out the pin holding the rear bushing?

The oakie bushings for 1950 earlier trucks that are held in place by dowels I believe are smaller diameter than the later ones that just depend on the press fit. Maybe it's possible that you got the wrong bushing and is too big for your torque tube.

I found the threaded part was the part that needed to be filed down ,I see in your previous posts you have the old bushings take a measurement of the old ones to compare with the oakie .check the yoke to see if it fits also .

I found the measurements from jayhawker video that I took a picture of for a comparison to give you a idea of the size but the oakie could be different size depending on who made them ,also added a few pictures of the driveshaft ,I think the older shaft is the darker oily one ,the 3 oakie one being the one were I filed down the knurled area and picture of the yoke that did not fit one oakie went partway on another .So I just emphasize that the oakie are not all the same and maybe even some tubes can be different so measure the best you can because it is hard to get out .I also did mine in the winter and had the bushing out in the cold then used a heat gun on the tube when I smacked it in .

Old bushing from jayhawker 1.721 front rear seal end 1.705 ,the new bushing he put in started as 1.730 front and rear seal end was 1.718 .The picture I tried to attach above loaded but did not show up now shows is to big .

Bigedpa;
Your method is worth a try. I would not try to take all the metal at one time.My bushing went in part way and then a lot of pounding.I put the bushing in the freeze for a day, then tried to heat the tube with a heat gun. Be careful pounding as in my case the yoke would not slide in. With the suggestions from posters I was able to finially get the yoke to slide.
Dave

I was lucky to have a retired machinist friend up in Salt Lake and he turned my new bushing down to match the old one. I measured where the old bushing was located in the tube and it did not interfere with the new Okie bushing. So I left it in the tube. It was a tight fit though.

Thanks everyone. There is no interference from the old rear bushing as I removed everything from the TT. As its winter here in Pa its been cold in the garage so I have the okie in the freezer and the heat gun on the tube. Kevinski, thanks for the measurements. This will be a process of trial by thousandths..