1951 Chevy 3/4 Ton Project

[Chevy51]

Whew!!! After much parts chasing,I finally got my 51 back home and in the garage for the winter. If you all remember I converted the frontend from 3/4 ton frontend to 1/2 ton straight axle,because the 3/4 ton axle would not work with the Camaro disc brake spindles,and I changed the stock rearend,to an S10 4x4 Blazer which was not wide enough,59inches,and I made up the difference with 1.5 billet aluminum spacers,which gave me the width I needed. The reason I kept the S10 rearend, I only gave 50.00 dollars for it,and after inspecting it for condition of the gears,it was posi-tract 373 gear ratio. With the 200R overdrive transmission,it definitely ran down the road a lot smoother. Still have to get the frontend aligned, and some adjustments.Here are some pictures after I got it home. Clarity of the pictures are not that great,I took them with cell phone.Thanks

[raycow]

It's looking real good. What engine do you have? If it is not an inline, how did you get the exhaust to clear the steering gearbox?

Ray

[Chevy51]

Thanks,Ray, it has a 350 4bolt main,with mild cam, and hugger headers. The guy that had it before me did all the conversions. He kept the original steering box. It clears everything real well. My next thing is I want to put power steering on there,as the funds allow.

[lmdangerous]

Any chance that you compared the backing plate bolt holes( as in spacing ) between the 3/4 ton spindle and the 1/2 ton spindles?? Did you by chance bolt the caliper bracket to the 3/4 ton spindle??? If it worked then The basic kit( brackets ) will get me going . I have the hub, rotor, and caliper figured out- just have not bought or found the bracket .No one list for a 3/4 ton , but if the 1/2 ton backing plate spacing is the same ( bolt pattern , etc.) then I can use that. and I am good. I have finally located a decent 4.10 chunk - so I am not the slowest on the planet. Nice truck, and nice job on the conversion. I wanna be able to pull my goose neck trailer so I am going to try to hang on to my 1 ton stuff.
LMD

[Chevy51]

I picked up all the hardware,which was off of the 1/2 ton,and I had to use the straight axle off of the 1/2 ton,the Camaro spindles would not work on the 3/4 ton axle. The pins that hold the spindles on were too small for the 3/4 ton axle. In regards to the back plates, they were already set up for everything. I obtained the parts, and a friend did all the work, so I couldn't help with measurements,Sorry!

[raycow]

We still seem to keep circling around this same point. Here's the background: A commercial caliper mounting bracket is available for the stock 1/2 ton truck spindles, but not for the 3/4 ton. The 1/2 and 3/4 ton spindles use different diameter kingpins, so a spindle-only swap would involve quite a bit of machine work. That's why it is more common (if you want disc brakes) to swap the complete 1/2 ton front axle, because it is pretty much of a bolt-in.

Imdangerous is asking about the backing plate holes, either because he doesn't want to do the axle swap, or maybe doesn't have a 1/2 ton axle available. If the backing plate hole pattern is the same on the 1/2 and 3/4 ton spindles, then he could use the 1/2 ton caliper bracket on the 3/4 ton spindles and be on his way.

Now here is the clinker: You keep saying that you are using Camaro spindles on a 1/2 ton axle. The design of these parts is so different that such a swap would be much more difficult than 1/2 ton spindles on a 3/4 ton axle. That's why we need to see pics of the actual installation of your truck.

I hope this helps to clear up the confusion.

Ray

[Chevy51]

I am not a mechanic,and I don,t have access to a hoist. I was attempting to get some pics, with it sitting on the floor. It is hard to access to get a clear picture of the back plates. I don't think I am confused, I just know that the parts I had available to me would not work on the 3/4 ton axle. That is the reason I had to use the 1/2 ton axle. Sorry I couldn't be of any help.

[lmdangerous]

Not a problem. I am just glad to find a place where I can bounce this stuff around before I get in the middle and find out it won't work. Ill take any info I can find . NO harm done and with more than one set of eyes and brians -it can only help. thanks for any help.LMD

[RCbowtie69]

nice ride