The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 37 truck 4speed gearbox

Hi,guys,Kevin from New Zealand.having trouble disconnecting driveshaft,behind 4speed, have pulled back ball joint collar to expose universal trunnion ,have removed wire clips,but cant slide the bushes off the cross to free driveshaft, ?what now? cheers Kevin. :confused:

Welcome to the 'bolt Kevin. I'm not familliar with your setup but I'm sure someone will read the post and help out. Do you have a shop manual? It appears to be down right now but here\'s a great resource online if you don't. Sellers on eBay also list reprints frequently. Good luck.

On my 1940 3/4 ton truck, I have the same 4 arm spider type joint.
The trunnion bearings have to driven off. I used a long punch and gently tapped them from behind. They should come out fairly easy. Once you remove two the joint will seperate. If you need some pictures I can send you some illustrations from an old repair manual I have.
Hope this helps.

By the book, ” To remove this universal joint, remove the speedometer gear and shaft from the joint ball retainer, to eliminate the possibility of stripping the teeth of these gears, Separate the joint by removing the cap screws holding the retaining collar to the ball retainer and slide the ball back onto the propeller shaft housing. Remove the nuts from the bolts holding the joint rings together and split the joint. Remove the cap screw holding the front yoke to the end of the transmission main shaft with a special long shank wrench. Remove the rear yoke from the end of the propeller shaft. In assembly the operations are just the reverse with the exception that care should be taken to see that the trunnion bearings are assembled to the yokes with the beveled side of the bearing towards the inside of the yoke. The universal joint holder will assist in holding the front half of the yoke and the front rung while the nuts are being started.
After the universal joint has been installed the joint ball and collar in their proper places , fill the universal joint ball with transmission lubricant through the battery ground strap hole at the rear of the transmission case. The joint will require no further lubrication, as additional lubricant needed is received from the transmission.”

thanks,for your thoughts.I have a Chev 37 service manual,and i followed the steps to the letter..I have removed the wire clipsfrom the trunnion bearings,and can slide the bearings to the outside,but they wont come off because theres not enough room,they are up against the ball retainer housing,before they are free to come off..Some of my contacts have suggested removing U bolts and sliding the axle back,so driveshaft is clear of spline.cheers Kevin.

G[day Kevin,

You'll need to do as Wasat again detailed. Make sure you unscrew the cap on the rear of the torque tube ball. You should be able to slide the ball back then to give yourself a bit more room. There are four wee bolts on the uni. Undo the metal lock tabs and undo the four bolts, you should then be able to slide the yoke back on the driveshaft splines. There should be no need to undo the u bolts. Yell out if you need any more info.

Cheers mate

Bob

Kevin

I removed my u-joint on my 51 just two weeks ago. In order to remove the u-joint, you need to remove the floor over top of it. Sounds to me like you have already removed the 4 3/8" bolts from the joint, I would tap on the wing bushings lightly with a hammer and they should pop off the transmission joint.

If you want to remove the joint, then use a floor jack and raise the torque tube to the floor of the cab and remove the joint from the top.

Check out my webshots page, I did a small album for it....

Hi guys,

If I'm not mistaken, there is a difference between the 1937 U-joint for a three-speed and that for a 4-speed transmission. I too have the 4-speed in my 37 1/2 ton, and at first I tried to follow the directions in the service manual, etc., but eventually came to the conclusion that this information really didn't apply to the U-joint on my truck. In the end, I took out my transmission twice!?!?!? for reasons I won't go into now; the first time, I pulled it when I pulled the engine, through the front. The second time, I pulled it from the rear by releasing the axles from the springs, etc., and pulling the tree (third member) backwards.

The point is that the 4-speed U-joint doesn't come apart the way that the 3-speed U-joint does. I, like Kevin, could not get it apart after pulling the clips; it does not have bolts and does not seem to be able to be driven apart (even on the bench after being taken out of the truck).

Long story short--the transmission has been in there for several years now, working beautifully. If I didn't need to detach the springs, the brake lines, etc., and pull the third member, I feel really stupid. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get the thing out otherwise. It's my guess that you'll have to pull it from the rear.

Good luck,

Jim

I started to reply last night but couldn't figure out a way to explain it so I didn't. BUT what Jmmmmm37 has stated above is about what I wanted to try say. I pulled my own 37 1/2ton 3 speed years ago just like everyone is talking about. This year I am working on a 37 for a friend and in tearing the truck apart I found that I could not get the tranny and drive joint apart either. I personally think someone put a 4 speed tranny out of another truck in the pickup. I think the big trucks had a driveline that would break apart in the middle and then you could pull the front half out of the tranny. The people who put the current tranny in HAD to put the tranny and engine in together and line the drive line up to the tranny as they pushed the engine in. Its the only way to do it unless moving the rear end....NOW, the 4 speed didn't have the little "notch" at the rear of the tranny like the 3 speed does and there in lies the problem. I figured it out looking at the pics in the manual flipping back and forth from 1/2ton to 1 1/2 ton. Its tricky but you can tell it as you read and look. Well, now that I have confused everyone........I'll shut up. But I understand the problem..just can't explain the answer!! Maybe someone else, NEXT!!

Jmmmm 37,Kevin here. Yep your onto it,thats exactly the way it is.Looks like the diff will have to go backwards away. I had a 32 confederate with 3spd freewheel with the other system,seperating by removing the bolts and all fell to bits and getting it hooked up was good fun too,but youget quite good at it after 2 or 3 goes. I recently bought this pickup 18 months ago.it is in Stovebolt Gallery owned then by Andy Douglas, Yellow and Black. 37.I love it,drive it every day off to work, great builders truck.Its always pysically been hard to shift into 1st ,so use 2nd to start off. the selectors had lost there ballbearings and only the springs remained,so changing gearswas a hit and miss thing,even trying to jump into gear at idle.once in top it was fine.Ive fixed this problem sometime ago. Anyhow the other day using 1st to climb out of steep site,got into 2nd then this banging started in the box,it stopped when i declutched. I crept home,removed the top off g/box ,and banging coming from main input shaft,bearing,thinks might have collapsed. so ,thats why its coming out.Cheers kiwi Kev.

37 4 speed trans removal.Ok managed to remove the box at last. Couldnt split trunnion,as explained.so dropped U bolts and let go hyd brake line,and pushed diff back,.until drive shaft cleared uni joint. Took weight of box on floor jack,and lowered away. boy am i glad i didnt balance it on my chest.I could hardly lift onto the bench.Had look inside and quite a bit of wear obvious.Have decided to drop tranny out of my 38 ,1.5 ton tipper project.,, and bolt er into 37 to get me mobile again,and work over the other at my leisure.thanks for your help,cheers Kevin.

Thanks for the update Kevin. I wasn't aware that there was any difference with the earlier trucks, but know now. Glad I've got a 41 though.

All the best

Bob