The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Lost the rear in the 64

Well yesterday morning I was hauling topsoil to my job on Spanaway Lake and on the second load while trying to maneuver my way down a steep incline with a sharp 90* multi point turn at the bottom I broke the rear end in Big Ugly. While I was backing back up the steep slope to jockey for position at the bottom with a full load I heard a loud pop and the old girl ceased to move under her own power. My first thought was I had broken an axle so I headed back to the shop and pulled the axles from the old 57 parts truck in the field cleaned them up and headed back for the job to in stall them. Popped the right side hub cover and sure enough it was broken, “GOOD I THOUGHT TO MY SELF” so I replaced the axle jumped in and she still failed to move. So I dragged my laborer back out to my shop with me and we pulled the third member from that parts truck and hung it from the engine crane above the solvent tank and clean it up gave it a good once over and now this morning we will be installing it, sure glad I had a spare.
I think I broke not only the axle but I think the pinion shaft popped at the same time Kinda strange that that would happen and there is no grinding everything spins smooth but no gear engagement.

Oh I might add that when she failed to move after replacing the axle we did pull the other side but it was fine dang that meant a lot more work

You haven't been hauling too much weight have you ??? (Related to the post the other day about GVW's, Hauling Capacities, etc).

Hope to see you getting it back on the road soon.

Bill

Pinion shafts and input shafts on power dividers breaking like glass was not that uncommon in the 50's 60's and even the 70's. We blamed it on metal fatigue. When we examined the break, part of the break looked fresh for part of it and old on part of it. Seems like it was always Eaton rears, not Rockwell or Timken, their predecessor,that broke. Quite of things like that broke in the "good ole days" but parts were much more available then.

good thing you had a spare. at the price of scrap those big truck parts are going across the scales at a alarming pace.

Well got the new diff in turned out to be the sliding ring that changes it between high and low it laterally blew it in to little chunkies also broke one of the fingers off of the shifting fork.
The new one is in and she is back on the road.