The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 64 and Earlier Axle Bearings

Hi All,

I had some correspondence with Wrenchbender a while back regarding an axle repair bearing made by National Seal for a 65. Anyone ever install a repair axle bearing on a 64 (what I got) or earlier? If so, have you got the part# handy?

Thanks,

Paul

Little bit of back story here:

I was rumbling around the forum a while back asking about rear end swaps. Well I found a 3.07 from a 69 in Mt. Airy, or TV's Mayberry, of all places, and swapped in it.

But given the hassle it was to track that one down, I didn't shake loose of the original. I'm rebuilding it in my bedroom right now, got it stripped down to the housing.

It looks like everything in the way of rebuilding one of these rear ends is just 30-spline/post 65 friendly these days, including the stuff from LMC Truck. But I'm saving the old 17-spline axles, and I just picked up an old stock 4 series 17-spline posi unit.

These bearings are really the only hangup I'm seeing now. One of the axles has a groove in it and will need the repair bearing. I'll give National Seal a call tomorrow and see what if anything I can dredge up.

In the meantime, advice and part numbers from anyone who's been into one of these 64 rear ends is appreciated.

One final thought; I like the 3.07 gears in this 69 rear I'm running now, and I'd like to put the same in this old one I'm rebuilding. It's a no-go w/ the 4 series posi I just pick up though. However, I've picked up from another forum that there's thin 3.08s available that'll go on the 4 series, but so far that looks like a myth. Any thoughts?

Here's a place you could start.
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:MgkqjRZXjCQJ:www.ratechmfg.com/gmaxlebear.htm+1963+gmc+axle+repair+bearing&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

I would recommend that you go to your best NAPA store and hang out with them for a while and see what they come up with. Timken, BT and others make them. Is this a stock 1964 Chevy truck rear end, or what? The truck 12 bolt was first used in 1965. Before that it was something like an HO52 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT! Don't quote me on that. If you know the rear end, then you'll know what you need to hunt down. Best of luck.

Hello Bluto. K10, I must respectfully disagree, as my 1963 Service manual covers the repair specs for the 'new 12bolt axle' that debuted in 1963. The 1/2 ton axle from 1960-62 is the same animal as the earlier 50's 1/2 ton trucks, other than open driveline.
Anyway, Bluto, a few years ago, I bought the complete rear end from a 1964 1/2 from a guy in Stallings, NC. This rear axle was factory posi-traction. Unfortunately, the differential ended up being too wasted to rebuild, so I ended up rebuilding the stock axle from my 1966. The point of all this is, that I still have the stock 1964 17-spline axleshafts from that 1964 axle. You are more than welcome to them, just pay shipping. Or, if you are going to the Charlotte AutoFair in April, I can meet you there.
If you want, send me a reply to this e-mail address and I will send you pictures of the axleshafts. They are used, but don't have grooves worn in the bearing surfaces.

pylek@bellsouth.net

Seth K. Pyle

Thanks for the input guys.

Pretty sure 66fleetside is onto something here. The GM truck 12 bolt has been around since 63, but the 63-64 were the "old-style" 12 bolt with 17 spline axles and different trac bar mounting locations than 65-later.

Called National Seal this morning and found that the repair bearing Wrenchbender had told me about some time ago should work for my application. That bearing number is RP-6408. The oil seal is 8477S.

Seth you have mail.