The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 8 lugs?

I have a question. On the 1954 Chevy 3100 that I'm trying to get which all I have to do is buy it and get it home, the truck has 6 lugs on one axle and 8 on the other. I'm not sure which one because my friend's dad owns the truck and I just asked my friend to look. I was just wondering what trucks of this era would have 8 lugs.

not sure on the 3/4T, however the 1T and larger do.

3/4 ton and 1 ton AD trucks have 8 lugs.

A model 3100 is a 1/2 ton truck.

My guess is someone swapped a 3/4 ton rear and did away with the enclosed driveshaft, and gained some slower gears.

Post some pictures.

Grigg

3/4 and 1 ton have 8 lugs
Larger than 1 ton, are the
1.5 and 2 ton, they have wheels with 10 lug holes, but only 5 studs in each front hub, 10 rear.

Grigg

Grigg, I wish I could post pictures, but one reason I can't as even now that I got permission from my mom to get the truck(I'm 13), I don't have possession of it and no one has the time right now to take me to the truck to get it. Reason 2 is that I don't have a digital camera, and I have a scanner but it always takes forever to get our pictures developed because we keep forgetting to get them developed. By the way, what are the gears on those axles?

JD, as Grigg posted it sounds like the rear end was swapped out for a 3/4t. In which case it is most likely a 4.57 or could be a 5.17.
When I was your age, that be a half century ago, I bought a 1934 Studebaker three window coupe. At that age I simply didn’t have the experience or knowledge base to really know where to start on a restoration. I soon realized that restoring it was way beyond my capabilities at the time. I tore it apart, did a few things to it, learned a few things from it, but never got it all back together and finally gave up and bought something that I could drive.
Back then, out in the country where I lived, if you could reach the pedals, you could drive around the neighborhood without anyone bothering your. I sold the coupe eventually and now all these years later with decades of mechanical experience under my belt, Looking back I wish I would have kept it. The thought of restoring it now would have been a real possibility.
I also wish I would have kept the 1938 LaSalle, ‘41 Caddy, ’51 & ’52 Chevy Coupes, the two ’53 Olds, the 1955 Pontiac, ‘60 Biscayne, ’64 Impala SS, the ’72 Nova and finally our 1974 Triumph TR6. Oh well, lesson learned, don’t get rid of anything, you never know what’s gonna become collectable!
Well, good luck on getting that truck JD and don’t loose site of your dreams, it just take time for them to come true.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, good thing for me, I've wanted this truck for 2 1/2 years and want it now more than ever. And I can't stand to get rid of something unless I REALLY HAVE TO. Fortunately, at my school, it has automotive classes to restore vehicles and the only thing you have to do to get in is to get a c-average and fill out a paper. Thankfully, the truck doesn't need a whole new drive train. It's mostly rust and a few holes. Weird thing is, the truck has less holes in the body but more rust than my dad's '86 Chevy that he bought new. Can't wait to get the truck and start working on it.
I just wish my step-great grandma hadn't got rid of my great grandpa's 55-56(?) Chevy 6400. I didn't get anything that was his to remember him by. Her part of the family got every thing.

Also, I live in the country and as you did I can drive around without anyone bothering me. Since my dad has a '50's Farmall tractor, and the engines are pretty simple compared to today's motors, I can work on the engine and other mechanicals pretty fine. As for body work except for the holes, the body is sound, just covered in old paint and rust. The holes I'm gonna patch when I get it. All I'm doing now is waiting for better weather to go buy and get it.

Another question, since the body is sound and the only holes in it is the floor pan, a small hole in the tail gate, and a small/medium sized hole in the firewall that I've already had a conversation on this site with people on what I should do to fix those, does it sound like a good idea to just fix those holes in it and then turn to the mechanicals to make it safe to drive so that I CAN drive it? Or should I just fix the holes, get it running, and then do the rest in school. What I want to do is fix holes, get it running, make it stop and be safe to drive, and do the major body work and proper restoration in school.

I would get it home, get it running, then be sure the brakes are great.

After that I would remove rust around the holes and paint with POR-15, then put a floor mat over the ones in the cab, and drive it.

Next would be the mechanical stuff, engine, transmission, front wheel bearings, and other mechanical stuff. During this time start to accumulate any sheet metal and trim parts you will need, but save them for installation all at once with the restoration of the body.

Then in several years once you have a great understanding of sheet metal and body work, then start on the cosmetic restoration. If you do that part first you probably won't be very satisfied with it in just a few years when you know more.
The mechanical stuff could be easier to nibble on as you learn, and cheaper to redo little bits if you have some difficulties while learning. The sheet metal you either get it or not, and because that's the part you and everyone else sees first you will want it done right the first time, and redoing it cost a bunch in just paint, not counting all the labor, or new metal if you really did a poor job the first time..

Two things to think about:
"If it is worth doing it is worth doing right."
and "If you can't afford to do it right the first time, you can't afford to do it over."

Grigg

So what you're saying is to just remove the rust around the holes for now and paint around them with POR-15? The ones in the floor board will need more than a mat over them!!! But as I said, I've already had a post on that and since I don't have a welder, although I might be able to get someone to weld in the metal, am probably just going to screw down some wood or some sheet metal I have that's too thin for welding. Then you're saying to do the mechanicals, which when looking at the engine, it looks in GREAT shape(proves nothing), and after that, do the sheet metal?

Right, The idea is to stop any rust, and do any patches in a temporary non damaging and easily removable fashion. Then once the truck is mechanically sound and you are knoledgeable and ready for the sheet metal repair/restoration, then you can start.

A good looking truck that won't run reliably or stop is not worth much when you need it, unless you put it in the front yard for a flower planter....

I too learned how to play with vehicles and engines by starting with a 52 Chevy 1 ton (when I was 16 or 17), I remember getting the tail lights working just before my birthday dinner, and going to get the state inspection sticker the next morning.
Then a few years go by and I end up driving the same truck around the country, 8,000 miles from coast to coast and back with some detours, all in 28 days. The truck did not look like much, all I ever did to the body was oil the rust spots, but mechanically it was near perfect, and we had only two problems on the trip, a broken fan (very unexpected), and a bad generator bearing (was rebuilt before the trip) nothing big, and both easily fixed in a few hours.

Tackle the mechanical part, then worry about the body.

Grigg

Good, Grigg. I'm the kind of person that doesn't really care for a shiny vehicle. I like one that has character and that I'm not afraid to use. Strangely enough, my friend's aunt thought of buying the truck and putting it in the front yard and putting flowers in it. But, even though I don't really care what it looks like and this truck has no holes on the body except for pin holes and the tailgate, wouldn't one that had holes on the bed or something look weird with pokey dots around the holes???!!!

Just thought of something, maybe the axle on the truck broke or something and that's why they swapped out the axle. Maybe that's why they went with the 3/4 or 1 ton axle so that it had less chance of breaking. And the way the holes in the truck are, they are not jagged or have weak spots around them. So it looks like someone found holes or weak spots and cut them out.

Denny, not to be picky, but the ratio choices for factory AD 3/4 tons are technically 4.57, as you noted, and 5.14.

1 ton AD would originally have been 5.14 only, unless swapped with 3/4 ton R&P.

Grigg

The one comment I'd add to this discussion is that since the 8-lug axle, probably the rear, isn't stock, it may not be an era correct 3/4- or 1-ton. It could be from almost anything and as a result the gears may not be anything like the 4.57 or 5.14s.

Well OldSub, do you have any idea what the gears might be if it's not an axle from the AD period?

It will depend on what axle it is. You'll need to ID the axle to narrow it down. It can be anything from a 3.54 up to a 4.88. It all comes down to what it came out of.

8 lugs and unknown year could be as slow as 7.17 ratio, as that's as slow as you can stuff in a Dana 70.

To find out the ratio you can jack up one or both rear wheels and start turning the wheel(s) and counting both those turns and the driveshaft turns, then a little math and you have the ratio. That's the fool proof way of finding out what ratio you have. Do a search on how to find rear axle ratio on this site, as I know I and others have described the procedure a few times now.

Grigg

I know how to do it, or at least I knew because on the Tech Tips(?) page I found it somewhere

I'd have guessed something like 3.0 to 7.0 as the range. Can I get 7.17 gears for my Dana 70? Not that I'd actually do that...

Any chance of posting some pix of the diff? It'll help with IDing what you have.

You are right on, for a Dana 70 the fastest gears that "were" available are 3.08, I have searched and searched and can't find any. They were never made aftermarket, and it's been a long time sense Dana made them, what few they did make.
And yes, 7.17 gears for a Dana 70 are easily available from all the usual drive train parts shops. 3.54 are the fastest gears available for a 70.

Grigg

I checked Randy's Ring and Pinion and you are right. My Dana 70 has 4.11 gears in it and it looks reasonable to change it to something my fuel budget might like better. It might move under a truck afterall. Its been sitting out back for a couple of years.

Looking through that site it should be easy once someone has identified a rear to get a good indea what the options are, or at least what is available today.

Oops, Grigg, wrong finger again, your correct, that be a 5.14 if it's an Eaton.
Denny G

you might want to check with the dodge camp they have a dana 70 with 3.08 gears in the early cummins trucks in 3/4 ton and 3.55 in the 3/4 ton vans with the 360

Gota be carfull with those Dodge 3/4 ton vans (and fords, too). Alot of them with the 3.55 gear actually have a Dana 60 that is semi float. While plenty strong, they are not as strong as the full floater.

Well, it seems that I misunderstood my friend. Although he did say that it had two different types of axles, he really hadn't checked and was just going by what his dad thought. Guess he keeps forgetting to even though I keep asking him if he checked.