Rear axle tech triva

Jan 28, 2007 8 Replies

Had a issue come up today while reinstalled the axles in the truck rear end that I had regeared to a 3:54 TT from a 4:10. The axles would go in all but the last half inch and the outer bearing were not seating in the housing. I was at wits end, checked to make sure the axle was not hitting the thrust block, looked for any obvious reason for the problem, nada. Called Ted Harbit, had him scratching, but no idea. Now between Ted and I, we've got a 100 years of Studebaker wrench turning between us, and we were still stumped. What did I find out the problem was ? ( Hint, it's stupid once I figured it out with the help of the rear end shop, maybe stupid enough for Ted to think I would have known better. )


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Not sure what you mean, but nothing doubled up.( Big hint: you would normally never have this problem just swapping axles in a TT, nor would you have it with a open rear axle.)

Michael - Roseland FL wrote:

The splines for the side gears and for the clutch hubs were not aligned.

Gord Richmond

BINGO ! never had the issue before, because I never had the center section apart when swapping axles, and they need to be aligned. I turned the axle a bit until the spider gears lined up with the already engaged clutch hub. It just never occurred to me before since they stay "in time" when you just pull the axles. BTW, there is no clutch hub with the open rears, so don't sweat them.

Gord>

while we're talking rear axles.....can anyone explain something in terms a mechanical moron can understand (I have a general idea how things work - but my hands-on skills are limited to washing and waxing)........

reading road tests - old and new - writers label rear axles as "full floating" "semi floating" "3/4 floating", etc.

just always wonder what the heck they're talking about!

Jim

everything gone but the '57 Clipper ....and it WILL be done this year!

A full floating rear axle has the hubs riding on a spindle built into the axle tube, ie 3/4 ton and 1 ton and bigger trucks. The axles have a intergal cap that bolt to the hub. This cap is what drives the hub/wheel. The axle shafts carry little or no weight, the wheel/hub/spindle/axle tube are the load bearing elements.

The others would mix elements of FF and the n> while we're talking rear axles.....can anyone explain something in terms

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