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| | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 29 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 29 | ive got a '46 2 ton and i would really love to get a front drive axle on it. my problems are A) i cant find any front drive axles B) i have a 2 spd rear end. any ideas any one? would it be worth the time and effort to make the conversion and would it be possible to have a 2 spd front axle as well? | | | | | Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,887 Cruising in the Passing Lane | | Cruising in the Passing Lane Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,887 | welcome to the shop Jimmy - I've never heard of a 2 speed front for a 4x4, and keep in mind that the front and rear differential ratios need to be nearly identical to work .... the only way I'd think you could do it would be to find a 1T or larger 4x and swap the whole drive line in - early 4x conversions were done on big trucks for the military [scarce and more likely 6x6] or you might find a newer 4x to work with - OTOH, a 2T 4x won't be much use except for climbing walls  Bill | | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 173 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 173 | Not that I know for sure, but I would think a two speed front and rear would be impossible. I see no way to switch the two axles switch at exactly the same time. If the front is driving and one axle switches and the other doesn't there will be chunks of something scattered far and wide. That is probably why a dual axle rear is a single ratio.
1947, 1950, & 1952 Chevrolet 1/2 ton
1952 GMC 450 series Cab Over Engine
1946 Chevrolet 2 Ton
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,841 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,841 | Find a military 2 1/2 ton and swipe the running gear out of it. I'm pretty sure some of them had a 2-speed transfer case.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 29 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 29 | thanks for the input everyone. the rear axle is operated hydrovac and ive never shifted it while driving anyway so i wouldnt be too worried about one engaging faster than the other. another potential problem, now that ive been searching nonstop today, is that i have a pto drivin pump for a dump as well so i dont know if a transfer case would fit. and the military trucks seem to be nearly impossible to find, as if a 46 chevy isnt hard enough to find anyway :/ | | | | | Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 184 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 184 | If you could find a front axle with the same ratios as either your rear hi or lo you could potentially run in that ratio w/all 6 axles. You would have to have a fail-safe method of ensuring that your rear cannot be in the wrong ratio with the front axle engaged. A mechanical linkage would be the only feasible method. Electric or vacuum shift would have a chance for the rear to not shift and screw things up.
You keep referring to rear axle, in the singular. Do you have a tandem rear now? If now you would need to find a tandem rear anyway to be a 6x6.
Tad
1946 Chevy OS 1.5ton, 1955 GMC 3100, along with other various IH,Ford,Nash,MGB,.....
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