Register now to get rid of these ads!

Hot Rods 1953 vs 1954 chevy 3100 front axle

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by fafaniruzik, Jun 17, 2016.

  1. fafaniruzik
    Joined: Sep 16, 2009
    Posts: 93

    fafaniruzik
    Member

    Is there any difference in the front axle assembly from 1947-53 and the 54 55?

    Looking for a front axle locally and want to broaden my search requirements.

    I have a 47 chevy 3600 thriftmaster and would like to get the front axle swapped to a 1/2 ton so I can upgrade the brakes to disc.
     
  2. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    says 41-55 1st series use the same axle. This is the 57 parts book

    [​IMG]
     
  3. fafaniruzik
    Joined: Sep 16, 2009
    Posts: 93

    fafaniruzik
    Member

    Thanks. That's a handy list. Is it available for download somewhere?
     
  4. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member


  5. Cosmo49
    Joined: Jan 15, 2007
    Posts: 1,551

    Cosmo49
    Member

    You think you need disk but you don't. How do I know? OVER 100,000 miles on a daily driver only vehicle '49 Chevy 1/2 ton. That said, the next generation of brakes starting in '51, the Bendix type are much cheaper to rebuild and adjust.
     
  6. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'll argue with Cosmo49 on that one as no two guys have the same driving habits or use their trucks the same way. Stock or mild engine, not much driving in traffic and don't drive at freeway speeds or above for lengths of time drum brakes are fine. Serious engine under the hood, drive in heavy traffic on a regular basis, drive long hard road trips at freeway speed limits or above for hours on end I'd suggest disk.
    That said I wore my truck out at least three times with close to 300,000 miles on it. Drum brakes for about 50 K, with a 194 Chevy II six and then a 283. Then a Camaro subframe with disk brakes and a mild 350 that I put well over 100 K on with one road trip to Texas and one to Ogden from Wa state. Quite often I ran the truck at well above the speed limit and needed to be able to stop from speed. Took the truck apart because I wasn't happy with my rear suspension and the fact that we had built a twist into the frame and a couple of years later I put the body on a 54 frame running a 250 six and 3 speed and ran that setup for well over 100K wearing the engine out to the point it wouldn't start for lack of compression. That was a lesson in defensive driving as I always gave myself the extra car lengths to stop behind the newer sporty cars with 4 wheel disk brakes. You do learn to drive defensively but that goes for every one of us who runs drum brakes on our hot rods. Personally I want my 48 to be able to stop and don't plan on running over some BMW because he slammed on the brakes in front of me and I couldn't stop in time. The Model A will get the drum brakes and serious defensive driving when I drive it.
     
    gimpyshotrods likes this.
  7. fafaniruzik
    Joined: Sep 16, 2009
    Posts: 93

    fafaniruzik
    Member

    Would like to keep it stock but brake parts for the earlier 3/4 ton are harder to come by
     
  8. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    I have a axle and 51 and up Bendix brakes just up the road in Dayton but no spindles that I will probably never use.
     
  9. fafaniruzik
    Joined: Sep 16, 2009
    Posts: 93

    fafaniruzik
    Member

    I almost got excited. I thought u said Daytona. I live in Orlando now. Need to fix that. But i did find a guy who a 41 axle assembly from a delivery wagon. Should work. I'll have to make sure the spindles are for a truck wagon and not a car wagon.
     
  10. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    "delivery wagon" not sure what that is...there's a Panel Truck, which is a truck, and has a solid axle. And there's a Sedan Delivery, which is a car, and has independent suspension.
     
  11. fafaniruzik
    Joined: Sep 16, 2009
    Posts: 93

    fafaniruzik
    Member

    Then it should be the panel truck, it has a solid axle with six lug hubs. Which means all should be well, if I'm not mistaken 41 through 54 spindles for trucks should all be the same. If I'm mistaken correct me.
    Then I plan on swapping to a 5 lug hubs (for the sake of making parts easier to find) and then getting a rear end to match from the junk yard.
     
  12. jetnow1
    Joined: Jan 30, 2008
    Posts: 2,152

    jetnow1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from CT
    1. A-D Truckers

    Spindles for 3600 are not the same as spindles for a 3100(half ton). 6 lug would be 3100.
     
  13. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    yup, different spindles. Look in the parts book, in that link I posted above, it will tell you things like that.
     
  14. fafaniruzik
    Joined: Sep 16, 2009
    Posts: 93

    fafaniruzik
    Member

    Well I picked it up anyways. Need the axle at the very least. The books say the spindles should be the same as a half ton truck. Which is what I'm going for. I need to lose the 3/4 ton spindles because nothing really works with them [​IMG]
     
  15. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    neat...the sway bar...only on Panels and Suburbans. All the way up to 1959.
     
    fafaniruzik and Cosmo49 like this.
  16. Cosmo49
    Joined: Jan 15, 2007
    Posts: 1,551

    Cosmo49
    Member

    Winner winner, chicken dinner!
     
    fafaniruzik likes this.
  17. Does anyone know if the spindles from a 50AD through 59TF series is the same?
     
  18. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    nope, the 1946-50 are different than the 1951-59.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.