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55 to 59 chevy truck owners

935K views 3K replies 212 participants last post by  DOUBLEDICK 
#1 · (Edited)
My name is Richard Johnson and I am building my second Apache truck.I drive this truck every day and am doing everything I can to make it a pleasure to drive and still be a good work truck.I like modern drive trains and stock body and interiors.I am looking for other guys that have and drive these trucks to talk to and share Ideas and designs for custom made parts with.I have sent private messages to a few people on this board and only one person responded.At his request I sent him pictures of my custom sway bar mounts so he could make some for his truck.Without sway-bars these trucks are no fun to drive.I am curious to see what others have done and share ideas.
 

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#2,454 ·
Oregonite said:
Take your driveline out and grab your yoke and see how much you can move it in and out. Is your pinion nut loose?
none at all, it doesnt wiggle, slide in and out, or side to side...

here's quick video so you can see what i see
you can see how i checked the yoke, is this correct, it didnt seem to have any play at all, also you can see how the right side gear turns with the case, the left does not, and when it does it turns slightly then rolls back, also ou can see how there is a little wiggle in the pinion lock and the pinion gears when they are angled (not straight up and down)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MBEC17ZsuQ&feature=youtube_gdata
 
#2,456 ·
It's hard to say when those grooves happened they could have been there before, since there are no signs of metal shavings. Your next step would be to pull the axles out. To do that you need to take that bolt out of the carrier and remove the round pin and that block between the ends of the axles. Then push the wheels in and remove the clips on the end of the axles then pull your axles out and check your pinion gear. The spyder gears should come out too. It does look like anything is binding or is it?
 
#2,457 ·
Oregonite said:
It's hard to say when those grooves happened they could have been there before, since there are no signs of metal shavings. Your next step would be to pull the axles out. To do that you need to take that bolt out of the carrier and remove the round pin and that block between the ends of the axles. Then push the wheels in and remove the clips on the end of the axles then pull your axles out and check your pinion gear. The spyder gears should come out too. It does look like anything is binding or is it?
okay, i dont think think anything is binding, as you can sort of hear in the video it clicks as it spins, it sort of feels like it starts to bind for a second in the rotation, and as i said when i spin the wheels it some times turns the drive shaft, but only for a bit then it stops, the wheels feel like they spin freely, and when they spin the side bearings turn as the wheel turns but the case/yoke dont turn consistently if at all if i am spinning the wheel. when i turn the yoke the right wheel turns acordingly but the left starts to turn then rolls back
 
#2,459 ·
Oregonite said:
Are you positive there are no metal filings laying in the housing ?
no, i am not, there is still a little bit of oil in there and some stuff stuck to the cover and bottom, however it is softer almost like gasket or gasket seal more than metal shavings, i can soak up the oil and see if there is metal shavings, if i do find metal shavings what would that mean, would that change the decision to fix/adjust this rear end or just swap it out?
 
#2,461 ·
Oregonite said:
If there is metal something is wrong. If you don't want to tear into it any further I completely understand but it's the only way you'll know for sure. It's a good way to learn though!
i dont mind tearing into it, and definatly want to learn, and from what it's doing i think there is definatly something wrong since it isnt really driveable, im just wondering if i should grab that other rear end $325 might be a little high, but in NorCal and having new brakes it might not be tooooo bad of a price, i guess if i do grab that other rear i can always tear into this one later and learn on it, but i will feel real stupid if it just needs something tightened and adding oil/gasket

of course i'd still have a 12 bolt when all is said and done
 
#2,464 ·
well, i ended up picking up that 12 bolt from CL, i just took the rear end not the whole ladder bar set up, any advice for cutting off the old mounts, i dont have a plasma cutter or anything, do i just take a cutting wheel on my angle grinder and cut them off then grind it smooth, and for the new perches i need 3" is that correct? what should i expect to pay for a set of perches? My neighbor said he'd weld them on for me once i get it lined up, or there is a rear end shop not too far from me that said if i bring them the old rear end and the new rear end they will move the perches for $150, which doesnt seem too bad if new perches are going to cost me $100 anyway, and then it will all be done quick and easy and i'll just have to bolt it back in... but then i dont learn anything... hmmm
 
#2,468 ·
evilbeef54 I just cut them off with a torch and used a 7 inch grinder to smooth them off.Transfer your stock parking brake cables into the new rearend before you weld on the perches.I hung the rearend in on the u bolts loosely with the pads just setting in place while i set the pinion angle and centered the rear end before I tack welded them on.I dropped the rearend, welded them solid then reinstalled it.The rear springs don't sit level so you have to figure that in if you just measure and weld.I failed to account for that and had to cut mine off and weld on a new set.That's why I went to the trouble to hang it in place before tack welding.I have done allot of things wrong and had to redo them but that's hotrodding
 
#2,473 ·
great road trip. i'm not a car show guy, power tour is a 7 day, 6 hr cruise to a car show.
i chose to leave late in the morning, show up at 4:30 pm (while all the early guys were leaving), sign in, look at the classics and customs and leave... join a cruise pack, leave a cruise pack, join a cruise pack, repeat... lots of new cars that i chose not to cruise with, but lots of classics to cruise with. my co-pilot took 800 pics, still sorting thru them. i'll get some up on photobucket soon.
i did hook up with a 57 suburban for most of the trip. this 57 was the cover truck on june 2011 custom classic trucks mag, sweet ride indeed, maybe a little over board, definitely out of my price range.
 
#2,474 ·
Well, my shoulder appears to finally be healing up sfo I should be able to get back to with on the truck, for those spring perches I should just need a 2" pad, anything weird or different with the pads when I am looking at the trailer store or online? When I did a search before a saw a couple different types for angled out straight and stuff like that
 
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