mattb73lt

Stripped the new rear axle housing completely. I had robbed the gear set out of it for the original axle, after a friend gave it to me years ago. I was going to scrap it until I found some cracks welded up on the axle under the frame now. Lucked out there. It all came apart with some effort, but nothing broke. Some corrosion found on some of the aluminum castings. If they're too far gone, I can rob the other axle.

Nothing super exciting to report. Donor frame is all stripped down, just need two cross members removed and then off to the sandblaster. But, the right frame member is done and primed. Tried to do both but there's only so much time, and I figured I concentrate on one and not rush. These posts help to give me something report to keep the momentum going. This is really hump work, but it's getting done.

That is really nice, very well done.

I've got a 4.62 rear and a double overdrive Triplex going in this one. Nearly the same as I set up in my other B, but with 24.5" rubber going on this one. Cruises nice at 65, with more top end. The Triplex gives good flexibility around town and highway.

It was a Ford L series with a Cat in it that was dead.

A couple of years ago I posted a question of the frame stretch, I think Freightrain responded with some pics of his stretch. That and a few other responses confirmed that it was pretty sound to go forward that way. Most of my measurements are close and just need to be tightened up a little. Right now I'm thinking that there's 1/4" difference from inner to outer spacing, that could be made up with two 1/8" shims down the overlap. I still need to finish cleaning both sets of rails and then finalize everything. My plan is to use the two Mack cross members where the original axle is, then staggered bolts in between. There'll be two more cross members where the donor axle is. The Mack axle will fit the springs that are in the donor frame. It has a Eaton twospeed under it now that'll be removed. The plus is the body is already mounted and will just need to be remounted. Looks like there'll be about 7' added to the wheelbase.

My original plan was to fabricate everything and then mount the body. As I looked at the donor frame, I found that it would slide over the original making the stretch and mounting much easier and quicker.

After positioning the donor frame in front of the barn, spent today assessing and stripping the frame back to where the overlap ends. I'll have just short of 8' of overlap on the frame. Found some scale and rot that'll have to be addressed. Good progress this weekend, next several weeks I'll have limited time so it'll be slow

WOW, that's a barn!! Really nice and good for you!!!

Busy day!! Went to my storage yard and brought home the back half of the project, separated it, and brought back the parts I don't need yet. Leaving just the frame at home to be stripped and prepped. Three round trips in the B-43 and all before the rain started, I'm beat!!

Thanks, I waited a long time to get to it. The thread keeps me motivated to get something done each week so even it's something minor. Your Tandem B is really nice though, I'll have to track you down at one of the shows to see it up close.

I had no idea that B was yours. I saw it last year, I think, at the Bolton show. WOW!

Fixed the frame where the previous owner notched it to get the front cross member out when he took the Cummins. Came out pretty good and looks like it was never done. Still filling holes as free time has been limited. But a little bit here and there is getting it done.

Yes, pretty significant stretch to a single axle roll back I have stored in a friend's yard. The frames are close and will slide together with an 1/8" shim down the length of the overlap, which will be over 6' plus creating a double frame. This is the donor frame and body that I had to move for the barn work.

Swiss Cheese Saturday. Busy weekend, only got a half day in. Stripped all the remaining plumbing out and all the cab/transmission mounts, brackets and anything that wasn't going to be used in the stretch. Then identified all the holes that needed to be filled from the tandems, fifth wheel and assorted things that were cut/drilled into the frame. I was able to get most of the holes filled on the right frame rail before the end of the day.

My favorite style B, something is just right about the whole thing.

Nothing significant completed int the last few weeks as yard work has consumed some time. But, today was really significant. I moved the frame up in front of the barn so I can start in on it. It hasn't been there in at least 15 years. It was a good day.

I've parted a few trucks that had the small square offset boxes that are ratio adapters for errors on the speedometer when you change something like the rear end ratio, Freightrain posted a picture of one. I've had several problems over the years with the speedometer and the drive off the tail shaft. The pencil gears and spiral drive I posted mostly came from donors I've had. Those reside in the tail shaft housing Freightrain also posted and did a really nice electronic conversion to. The issue is determining where your problem lies and how you want to fix it. There are many solutions (GPS, electronic) that can cure these issues.

I have one now, too. I use it to check all my cars as one has no speedometer ( Model T) and 6V so it eats battery life while in use. Very useful for determining speedo accuracy.

That should help get us in the ballpark of the issue. Those gears I posted reside within the housing that Freightrain posted and the pencil gear is about 4" long. His modification is nice as there are no moving parts for the "drive" and will probably outlast all of us. The thin collar is against the bushing the cable connects to. On my B-42 there is a small plastic adapter that connects the replacement cable to the pencil gear. On the pencil gear there will be a small series if numbers for that gear. The mesh is important as you will wear out the gears quickly if there's a significant mismatch. As for the chart, I made one for mine for every gear using all the ratios/final drive/tire diameter (RPM=Gear#=MPH). Helped a lot as my speedo was inop when I first had it on the road.

Wow, that's awesome. Some really good info for the future if I need to go that way. The reluctor would be a challenge. Very similar to the RPM sensors that Bell Helicopter uses and calls Mono-pole Pick-ups, measuring the magnetic fields of gear teeth as they pass.

Now there's a fix. So that pick-up (sensor) needs to be 90 degrees from target? Did you do the machine work or send it out?

They do. There's a number on the shaft and I also count the teeth. Some of these pencil gears are trashed because of that. They can be slightly off, but the mesh is important. I believe that spiral gear I have was done in because of that, Along with the pencil gear.

It may be. If the cable, speedometer head and connections all check, then I would suspect the pencil gear or spiral drive. The pencil gear is really easy to pull and check.