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I recently bought a 1940 pickup. I plan to use the straight axle front end that has been rebuilt with disc brakes. The truck is going to have a V-8 with headers. I plan to drive the truck on the street and also race.(approx 50-50). Anyone out have any advice as to a steering box setup or a link to an article that covers this issue?

Charlie,
Welcome to the group!

I have a 40 gmc. I plan to use the stock axle with disc brakes as well. I will be using a 302 gmc 6 in my truck. Although I hate to send people down this route... a mustang II setup and a beefed up frame might work better in your application.

These trucks were designed to go 45 to 50 mph and had approximately 85 hp. A V-type engine with better than 300 hp is probably more than that old frame can take without twisting.

If you do use the stock axle... do the tighten-up. change the kingpins, tie rods, bushings, and bearings. Buffalo Enterprises can make disc brake brackets for your axle.

good luck
John

Charlie,

I have a 1940 Chevy that I am working on slowly. One upgrade I did was to use the Stainless Steel Brake's Royal King pin kit. It replaces the stock bushing style king pin with one that uses roller bearings. I also converted my front hub to use roller bearings instead of the stock ball bearings. At this point I believe the front end is as modern as any MII when it comes to handling the load that my truck will deliver. It may not ride as nice as independent suspension but that is how I want it. I also have disc brakes in the front.

I will say however that I am using a 1947 - 1955 1st series front axle. I switched to that axle because the 1940 hub and king pin are different.

I also put a sway bar on the front axle as well.

Maybe in the end I spent as much as a MII swap. But if someone ever wants to put my truck back to original, they can.

Oh.. I forgot. I am switching the steering box to a 1942 - 1946 box. This is a bolt in upgrade to the 1940 box. Highly recommended.

My 46 has 2.5" MoorDrop I beam, plus factory sway bar and good tube shocks with radial tires really handles well. An even fatter sway bar would be a plus as well. Also the 42-46 truck steering box will swap in the 40 with modern ball workings.

Bill S. how did you convert to roller bearings and do you have part numbers or a source for a kit? I'm still six lug with stock artillery wheels, would like to go disc brakes but stock rims wont clear.

the 41 steering box is also a bolt in replacement for the 40, it is the recirulating ball type and is an easy swap.

The guy I boughtthe truck from was going to use some kind of a set up using a Saginaw box with a Chev truck tilt column. Anyone out there seen or heard of this setup?

I think the 41 box is like the 42-46 box and you just say a 41-46 box.

Charlie, I would say the Saginaw with a tilt is more of a pure street rod type set up. It just depends on what you want. Bill's 40 and JiMerit's 46 are more home built custom and built in a user friendly style. These are trucks a guy can work on in his garage at home. I've got a 37 and I have done some of what Bill has done on his truck and find the truck to be quite nice to drive, easy to work on and unique to the cruise night scene.

Bill, I'm in line behind JiMerit for the info on the roller bearings and the SS king pin set up with the rollers.

Of course, that's just my opinion!

Joe

I am also interested in the royal king pin set up. Sounds like it was designed for an advance design axle. I'm wondering what are my options for a 1940 3/4 ton axle.

The SSB roller bearing king pin setup and the roller bearings for the hub are for Advance design axles. I switched out my 40 axle for a 1947 - 19551st front axle. It is a bolt in replacement and it accepts the later advance design hubs. You automatically get better brakes by replacing the original huck style brakes with the new axle. I didn't stop there I bought a disc brake setup from CPP (Classic Performance Parts) I bought their roller bearing upgrade at that time as well. If you go to http://www.classicperform.com and click on there 47-55 chevy truck link The part number for this upgrade is 4759RBKU. It is down the page under performance brake parts.

So Bigbadswingdaddy is right. I got my 47-55 axle free from someone swapping to an IFS. It was well worth it. It looks original and Mor-Drop dropped it 2 1/2 inches for me.

Like Joe says: I am working on this at home and the last thing on my mind is a chevy 350 and MII IFS. I want my truck to look like it was done at home but in the 50's.

Oh I forgot. Sorry about the 41 steering box. It is the same as the 42-46 box. I was told however the internals are unique to that year and hard to come by, so I have been telling people to do 42-46. Maybe that is wrong. Of course now that I write all this. I couldn't tell you how to tell them apart.

Jim,

I keep going back and reading the other entries and seeng things I should say. The stock artillery wheels would work with the CPP disc brakes if you relieve the brake caliper from some of the extra casting material that just barely rubs on the rim.

I unfortunatly inherited my grandfathers tendency to find the absolute hardest way to do something. I bought 16 inch artillery wheels from a fellow stovebolter and sent them to Stockton wheel to have new/wider rims put on them. They called yesterday and I should be getting them back in a week or so.

You can also use a spacer, probably 1/8", to gain caliper clearance.