The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Rear Axle Swap

My dad bought me an axle for Christmas. It's from a 1971 Chevy truck and has 292 gears. He thinks it also had coil springs. Tomorrow (sunday) I'm driving down from Nashville to pull it off, load it and drive back. What will I have to mod to get it under my 59?

cut off the spring perches and weld on ones to fit your truck.the 71 has angled perches.a 71 is five lug.

5 lug and noticeably wider - 2.92 is pretty tall for a six around town, you'd be better w/ a 3.38, which ratio gears are available for the 55-9 trucks from a good rear end shop

Bill

I don't plan on leaving it a 6 cyl for long.
I was incorrect on the year. It came from a 67/ It did have angled perches but it is a 6 lug.

I have 3.08 gears under my '55 1st. Its a GMC 270 with an SM420. It runs down the road at the legal limit with ease until you put a loaded trailer behind it.

I'm not expert on '67 - '72 pickups, but 2.92 gears doesn't sound right to me. Once you have it in hand, I'd check the ratio manually.

Your right Steve. Just checked. Looks like 308. Thats still cool by me.

It took 3 of us 3 1/2 hours to pull the axle from the doner. The U bolts run through the frame and they were rusted all the way. If I had taken a cutting torch I would have been out of there in 15 minutes. I cut several fingers severly. All this so I can travel on the interstate and not be a traffic obstacle.

Finally have it clean. Now I'm removing the old axle. [img]http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos/00020255/11051637270.jpg[/img]

Problem.
The Universal Perches are a bit wider than the old ones. The u-bolts don't quite clear. I managed to "coaxe" them on but they are not straight. They are not going to move anywhere though. What do you guys think?
[img]http://hesproductions.com/59sub/images/axle-swap/u-bolts1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://hesproductions.com/59sub/images/axle-swap/u-bolts-side.jpg[/img]

fer starters, the Ubolts are supposed to be sitting on top of that little plate [in the 2 'pads' made by the ridges], not off the ends of it - keeps'em in position and discourages spring shifting - next I would be reluctant to be trustin my life to bolts that had been torqued enuff to spall the surface the way those appear to have been - I'd find the right size perches, or take'em off the original rear

Bill

How about finding new bolts that fit the new perches? That would require less work than pulling the rear and changing the perches.

Garrett it makes me nervous to look at those slightly twisted bolts. If one of those breaks you might have some exciting moments ending with the loss of your truck, which you might get over, and damage to passengers you'd remember the rest of your life.

I must be getting old, safety is playing into more and more of my responses...

................AND HE SAID,,,"GIMME THAT 10 LB. BEATER"............
its obvious its not put together right,youll realize that on the side of the road some day.

Steve - yer right about the safety aspect fer sure! but wider bolts won't work as the 'clamp' piece below the axle is the proper one for the width of the spring - I think wider Ubolts would just allow the spring to move sideways, and even then would require a different lower pad to avoid bending the bolts inward

Bill

I used a grinder on the perches to make vertical slots for the bolts. Now they fit fine. I will be changing the u-bolts soon though. They were fairly bent when I got the truck. The nuts are in fair shape. They tighten down as hard as I can pull but I will replace them with the U bolts.

I knew you guys would like the pictures. I couldn't resist. I will post pics tomorow of the proper install.

Don't '59's have the springs under the axles, or are you trying to jack the thing up?

I have that same axle and am planning to put it in my '50.

No, the setup is stock. When I bought it there was a 2 inch block spacer that made it even higher.

Got everything done today. All bolts are straight and installed correctly. I replaced all 3 rubber brake hoses. Bled the brakes and took it for a test drive.
This rear axle is geared perfectly! It's also quieter than the old one. Only problem now is at about 65 the right front wheel shakes pretty bad. My Dad said it was warped when they replaced the tire on it back in August. Dang! I love those old wheels but they will have to go.

Drove it Saturday and Sunday around 160 miles or so. Went out today and had almost no brake pedal. Looks like the Wheel cylinder on the drivers side leaked all the fluid. Guess I will rebuild both sides. Probably should have done that anyway.