The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Driveshaft carrier bearing for 52 3/4 ton

Just put radials on my 52 Chevy 3/4 for the first time in it's life. Round tires ride sooo much better than square ones. I can remember a carrier (mid-shaft) bearing in an old 70 farm truck I used to drive. The 52 vibrates like the 70 did when the carrier bearing would start to go out. Figure this will be the next fix. Anyone got experience with these "mid-shaft" bearings and rubber boots. Tnaks.

Dash Riprocker

Yeah, I made the same upgrade a couple of years ago, and I noticed the same vibration. For me, it's above about 62 mph.

I think what it could be is that with the ancient school bus tires on split rims that it used to have, I never noticed the vibration because I was too scared to take it above 50 mph, as notoriously as it handled on those old "square" wheels.

Riprocker,
I recently replaced my stock tranny with a T5. When I did that I got rid of the 2 piece drive shaft and just put in a longer, single one. I haven't noticed any problems-you just need to make sure the longer shaft is a bit thicker than the old ones to compensate for the length. Fewer parts= fewer problems.

If you can run with a single shaft, do it.Using those split drive shafts are just another problem, especially if you have some real horse power. I snapped 2 of them in my 59 Impala, not counting all the steady bearings and U-joints, I kept haveing to replace.Yes the driver was some what to blame, but hey, I didn't have that much problem when I drove a 57 Chevy.Mind you 59 Impala's are mechanically just a pile of crap any way.Any one that owns one of those simply don't know about which vehicle to buy . It was one of my first cars,it was only 10 years old when I had it and it was in mint original condition.

Well then....is it feasible to yank this 2-piece out of this stock 3/4 ton pickup and have the local driveshaft shop make a fatter one-piece? Reckon the pinion angle will need to be reset?

Dave: I replaced the carrier rubber, bearing, and seal on my '49 3/4 ton. It took a little work to find the parts but not too bad.

If your 3600 is like mine, the front is closed-drive-line. To go to a single piece you need to open the forward drive-line with a new tranny. The T-5 swap would be a good time to go that way. The combo drive-line has a seal just forward of the mid-bearing, where the open part starts. This seals the rear of the stock tranny as well, so at least the output end of the tranny needs changing to get rid of the torque tube.

Don't stop talkin' now guys, I'm in the process of replacing all the joints/bearings in the drive line of my stock 1950 Chevy 3600 and am having a h%$$ of a time finding parts. In fact, I can't find anything for a 3/4 ton driveline, older that 55. Where did you all come up with u-joints or center bearings? Is it possable to get parts for the front joint or any of the bushings and seals?
I need numbers or vendors.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I my be able to find a u-joint for 3/4 ton drive shaft-mid and rear. I am ordering a couple for a 52 3600 here soon.

Denny;

I went to a place called Machine Services here in the Green bay area. They deal in drive shafts, u-joints, king pins and a lot of other stuff. The number is 920-339-3000. I just took my drive shafts in and they came back squared away.

Just looked at my 46-72 parts book, looks like most of what you need may be common to all 3/4 and 1 tons up into the 60's.

Hey guys, that was eight months ago, all new parts been in for a while. tks anyway!
Denny G

Here's a "pile of crap" 62 with a two piece shaft and the X frame that was used from 58-62. It has the 409 with a 454 crank (503 ci) and turns high nines in the 140mph range in the 1/4. Guess if it had the one piece shaft it would be fast. Hayden Proffit kicked drag race butt and Dan Gurney led the British grand prix road race( till brakes went) with these cars. Scroll down to the bottom of page 2. http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/coilover/

Did the fact that the 3600's had split drive shafts have anything to do with the differential carrier being offset? It seems to me that would have compounded setting the pinion angle.

OP left us in 2006 and has never been back. On old posts it’s always good to check the OP’s profile to see if they are currently active.🛠

I was about to ask, Who's OP? HaHa! OK, I'll redirect the question to everyone and anyone.

To those that have swapped out the 2 piece drive line for a straight drive shaft, how long did the single drive shaft end up being? The reason I ask is I want to swap out the stock trans with a 700R which is much longer than the stock trans which will make the drive shaft that much shorter which is a good thing. Just wondering what length will get me past the problem zone of a to long drive shaft?

I just did one recently with a T5 transmission. The driveshaft was 60"

Probably best to measure it when you get things assembled.

Is it safe to assume you can't convert to a single driveshaft and a 4 speed tranny? I'm in the middle of an entire rear end swap and will need to reconnect the new rear to the existing tranny...somehow. 1951 Chevy 3600 with 3100 front end and soon to be a more modern rear end.