I was hoping to get started with mocking up my engine and trans combo (inline 250 and 700r4) this weekend and it escaped my mind that the stock torque tube is right in the way.... Is it possible to leave the rear axle under the car and just remove the torque tube portion only? I already have a trans crossmember kit from walton fab and the chassis engineering motor brackets. If the tube was not there then I would be rolling right along! I really don't want to remove the whole axle at this point. I need to keep the car rolling around until I can get to point in the build where i'm removing the body from the frame. Oh and if you're in the east texas/longview area and would seriously like to come help with my project and are trustworthy then let me know! I am more than willing to buy pizza and beer for a helping hand lol.
yeah you can remove the torque tube but its hard and leaves you with a car on blocks. Swap the rear out with an open driveline and use the same car you are with the engine trans swap and you will be fine.
Weld the pivot points on the axel so the axel cant flip down, then cut the toque tube out. You can still roll it around and replace the rear end later.
So there is no way to remove the torque tube and leave the axle's in place and be able to roll the car?
That what I wanted to do but then I see that guys on here want to find the powerglide axles to swap into their manual trans cars for the better gear ratio. mine is a powerglide rear and if I cut it up then it's useless right?
You could try to unbolt the axle and get the tube to drop under the cross member. That should get you the room you need.
Can't you drop the torque below the trans mount? Then block it down. First trans I ever change I didn't know to lift the rear end and the torque hit the ground next to my head.
Take the back plate off, pull the C-clips, and pop the axles out. The wheels have to come off to do this, the axles have to be pushed in a bit to get the clips out. Then drop the front of the tube and pull the diff and shaft from the housing, Put the axles back in and wire them together using the C-clip grooves, so they can't walk back out. You can now block the axle pivots so they don't flop around, and put the wheels back on. Ta-dah! You have a roller! And a 'Glide rear ready to sell to somebody.
awesome! thanks a lot! I didn't want to crack it open without knowing if this could be done. I happen to have some wire handy and I'm going to get started on this right now
Push the front end of the torque tube "down", and block it in place with blocks of wood; the floor keeps it from going "up". You won't have much room to work around it though. Butch/56sedandelivery.
all done! it works great and I can still roll the car around. i'm not trying to steer it around at crazy angles of course. Just be able to continue with other parts of the build before I can get to the open driveline axle swap. I couldn't justify going out and buying dollys and welding up something that would keep the back end at right height. Thanks again R Pope!
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