I have a 47 fleetline , pretty much a basket case. I am trying to work out my suspension and brakes first. it has original front and rear axles, brakes are inoperable. A friend has a 51 chevy front axle complete with steering , freshly rebuilt that he wants to give me..swears it will bolt right in. I can find no information to support his claim..does anyone on here have any experience with this kind of swap?
Well, a '47 Chev passenger car has independent front suspension, so an axle doesn't bolt in. A '51 Chev "axle complete with steering" will bolt into a '47 Chev pickup, but not a car. '51 up car brakes is what you need.
If the 51 is a car, it will work on the 47 Fleetline. It's freshly rebuilt and FREE! If the 51 is a truck, you'll end up with a 47 Fleetline Gasser. By the way 302GMC, there were two different trucks in 47, so a 51 Truck I Beam will be too long for the early 47s.
1942-1948 passenger car front suspension. The steering arm connect direct to the pitman arm. It is cross steer. 1949-1953 front passenger car suspension, does he refer to this as front axle or is it a solid axle with leaf springs from a pickup? The pitman arm on the steering box connects via a short arm to the bellcrank that the steering arms connect to. It utilises push pull steering. Both frames are top hat design with bolt in front ends. I've no idea if they interchange and are a direct bolt in.
The Jalopy Journal
