Ok, my SM318 failure was due to low 90w gear oil which I confirmed is in the rear end. Now onto tackling this issue. I have read "Some" 1950 and Some late 1950 3100 have a different bushing. I tried to locate the dowel pins but have not yet. (Maybe sanding the metal down?). See picture of the one that is currently in my truck. Will I need that "Special" bushing removal tool? Some instructions say knock dowel pins and hammer new one in, pushing old one further towards the rear? Any Wisdom and Pros & Cons would be grateful! Todd
You will need the Okie bushing removal tool whether you find the dowels or not. But you will need to determine which bushing you have in order to get the right replacement. My truck is a 51 so used the bushing without the dowel pins.I tried fabricating a bushing puller but failed miserably, so got one from a vendor and returned it. I think the dowel pins will have to be drilled out to remove them. Someone will be along to confirm that. The rearmost original bushing does get pushed to the rear when the new okie bushing is installed.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
They sell them with a partial refund when you return it. Bushing remover.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I was able to remove the Oakie bushing by using a small punch to knock it forward about 1/8 inch at a time through the dowel pin hole. Once it protruded from the shaft a bit I was able to grab it with needle nose pliers. I used a small drill bit to put little divots in the old bushing to give the punch some purchase.
Here I found my 49 torque tube in the shed looks like the dowel would be about 1/2 inch in and 7 inches for the back one . You should be able to see the round outline were the dowel pin is if you have an older tube .Before attempting to put a oakie in the tube after removing the first bushing check the old bushing and compare to the oakie inner and outer size .Measure the length of the oakie and measure the tube for how far down it can go .There is also a few u tube videos you can watch .
Also make sure the yoke fits the new bushing as well.After mine went in it was a tight fit and needed some light sanding using a piece of pipe with sandpaper.If you can’t find a puller old guy welding and fabrication was able to weld the edge of the old bushing and make up a puller using a pipe ,washer and bolt to get it out but not much to weld to and looked difficult to weld without welding to the tube .The other video that I know of is jayhawker on YouTube .Best of luck to get this repaired
Great info. Thank you. I am going to try and work on it tomorrow (locate dowel pin) and go from there. I might try the long skinny punch method first before I aquire the special tool. I am guessing a good cleaning job with maybe sandpaper and I should be able to locate the dowel pin.
Last edited by Shaffer's1950; 05/12/20263:14 AM. Reason: Spelling correction
I only had the dowel pin down the tube. The front one was not there when I pulled the old bushing out. I had about 1/4 inch spacing to the old bushing and the new bushing was a friction fit, so I did not add a pin. I did knock the bushing in flush with the torque tube and I also had to sand the yoke a little bit.
Last edited by UtahYork; 05/12/20263:56 AM.
~ John in Utah 1946 1/2Ton w/4-speed manual transmission w/1960 235 engine Here We Go Follow in his DITY Bay
- If you think about it, it has been one year ago today!
Update: See pictures. I can not locate Any dowel pin front or rear. I marked 1/2" and 7"..Sanded/ Cleaned, put a bright flashlight on the area..all 360 degrees around. So is my 1950 3100 a "Late" model when it switched? Thank you
Todd - I think you can be confident that you have the later design without the dowel pins.
~ Dan 1951 Chevy 3 window 3100 Follow this story in the DITY Gallery "My Grandpa Carl's Truck and How it Became Mine" 1966 Chevelle (Wife's Hot Rod) | 2013 Chevy Silverado (Current daily driver) US Army MSG Retired (1977-1998) | Com Fac Maint Lead Tech Retired (1998-2021)
How is the oakie replacement going if you haven’t put it in yet I think I have the old bushings from the tubes one with dowels and one newer without that I can measure so you can compare to the oakie size
Here is the old bushings from an early tube with the drill marks vs the newer tube bushings .both the seals were rock hard they may have been changed once as they appear to be rubber .the bushing that gets pulled out is the smaller one and note that there are brass lining with dimples on one ,the other was pulled out from using the bushing puller and that made the rest of the bushing very difficult to get out as the jaw on the puller does not have much room to expand to get a grip.So make sure the puller has a good hold otherwise it could just take out the inner brass like it did for me.the oakie is a newer tube type and it was different manufacturer than the one that I installed (I should have used this one as it looks closer to the size as the one I used .The one I used had to be turned down a bit .Anyway the moral of my rant is that the tubes and bushings are not always a exact fit and it is best to measure a hundreds times before hammering it in as it don’t come out if it is to big and you hammer on it .Also you have to be careful hammering use a block or brass to punch it in so it does not damage the end .the yoke on mine did not fit after putting the bushing in and had to be sanded but not much.Another thing to be careful with is when you push the bushing over the splines make sure the splines are not sharp as to cut the seal.
Kevinski, I am waiting for the Special okie puller tool and new okie bushing. Ordered from Filling station. Tracking says should arrive today (friday). I will update when I pull old bushing, hopefully Saturday. Thank you for posting bushing and sizes. Todd
Did not go well....Yet.. It only pulled the bushing out. The 5 .75" old piece is still in the tube. Now the tool will grip it but it slips as I try and force it out. I tried putting the bushing in but the tool just pulls it out, not the entire bushing seal tube piece. See the picture of the piece it pulled out. Any insight on this? Thank you.
That’s what happened to mine also I ended up making a slightly bigger pipe with the tang that pulls up to spread the fingers on the tool a little farther.You can try wrapping the round plunger with the tang with some tape and put a little grease on the tape so it does not pull off the tape will make the fingers spread out farther and hopefully grip the rest of the bushing .if you look at the picture I took in the last post you can see that the tool fingers gripped the rest of the bushing on a angle . It tool a lot of tries keep at it.
This is what I made just a hair bigger to spread the fingers .Another possibility that I have not tried is to put the brass back in with red lock tite then let it cure and try again.
As an absolute last resort, remove the pinion gear and driveshaft from the torque tube and drive the Okie bushing out with a long piece of pipe and a BFH. Be sure to check the tooth contact pattern between the ring & pinion gears with Prussian Blue so you can exactly duplicate it on reassembly. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
My oakie bushing was taken down a little to fit the first attempt on the older tube I used a file and filed it evenly around until I was confident it would fit then sanded with sandpaper smooth .I then left the oakie in the garage as it was cold winter so the oakie was colder than the freezer and used a heat gun to heat the tube .The oakie went in all the way but I found out that the yoke would not go in and also the driveshaft was difficult to turn.I think the driveshaft were the bushing was pushed back was gummed up making the driveshaft stiff to rotate the yoke did not fit because of the hammering and from fitting tight in the tube .I learned that maybe if I used brake clean to spray in the tube around the bushing that is left inside would have cleaned the other side so it is not so gummed up and will help the bushing slide forward when putting the oakie in and the yoke can be tested to see how well it fits before putting the oakie in and if it is tight after you can wrap a piece of emery cloth around a thin pipe that will fit over the spline of the driveshaft to sand it .
The second attempt I used a newer tube and had someone who had a lathe to turn it to fit but still had to sand the inside after it was installed for the yoke to fit properly.
FYI, the original bushing carrying the u-joint yoke that came out of my 1951 torque tube measures 1.7635 OD, and 1.3995 ID. It's all steel, with no bronze internal bushing.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
A drill press, a couple of fender washers, and a piece of all-thread rod makes a pretty good substitute for a lathe. File, then use emery cloth for a final finish. Measure twice- - - - -cut once!" Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Jerry, funny you say that. I checked 5 times. But apparently it is tighter further inside the tube . It's stuck at 1/3 rd of the way in...so frustrating. I even put it in the deep freezer for awhile. Also anti-sieze added. The "tool" won't even pull it out. The bolt on the "tool" is 3" it should be 6" I'm guessing. Called it a day.
HMMMMM- - - - -sounds like a longer bolt or a piece of all thread is in order. I've also used a slide hammer on that type of puller when replacing the slip yoke bushing on automatic transmissions. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
The origional bushing are two different sizes as is the oakie different size on each end the inside is also different on both ends so you should have 4 measurements to match to make it fit properly
I can only measure one original part the front bushing. The rear has no way of coming out. So based on the front bushing I duplicated that size to the front & rear of the new okie bushing. Off to find a 6 inch bolt to Hopefully pull the okie out and start again.
According to Jim Carter's website, the 51-54 Okie bushing has the following dimensions: Seal side O.D. = 1.70in, I.D 1.06IN, Drive shaft end O.D. = 1.76IN I.D = 1.34IN TOTAL LENGTH 5.75 IN. Note that the rear end is slightly smaller than the front end, which may be why you hung up before getting it flush with the end of the torque tube. Here's what they say for the dimensions for the earlier bushings: Seal side O.D. = 1.69in, I.D 1.06IN, Drive shaft end O.D. = 1.73IN I.D = 1.34IN TOTAL LENGTH 5.75 IN. Again, the rear end is smaller than the front end by a few tenths.
Looks like you may have had an early torque tube that never got the pin installed for the bushings. Possibly GM made that torque tube a little smaller and relied on a press fit over the retainer pin for a little while.
You could try some heat on the torque tube to expand it just a bit and get the bushing back out.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
The bushing I took out of my tube with no dowel pin was outside 1 11/16. That is close to the 1.70 inch diameter that Kevin posted from Jim carters site. The inside diameter looks to be the same on both earlier and newer Okie bushings. That makes sense as the driveshafts should be the same diameter for the yoke to go on the splines. Hope you can get it out. If a longer threaded rod don’t work maybe if there is enough sticking out you could put a clamp on the Okie bushing at the end and tap around it to wiggle it out? I will take another look at the old inner bushing to see how close it is to the extra Okie bushing I have
