Geoff Weeks

That is a relative statement, compared to engine, no, compared to lifting it off my leg, yes! Next question is: What and how is the truck used? Can you afford to "down the truck" while doing it yourself or is it your source of income? If the latter, you might be money ahead in "biting the bullet" and paying to have it done. If I had no other way to get to it, and it had to come out the bottom, I would go to a scrap yard and ask for the metal plate they put over trenches in the road (1" or thicker" steel plates to lay down, drive the truck on and remove with a floor jack. Next question, Ok, you got it out, now what? If you need to repair or replace it is going to have to come out from the "hole" you are working in between the axles. Little gained by pulling it forward for a look, then finding you can't remove it for repair and have to button back up and re fill to take to someone. Look at the whole picture and decide what make the most economic sense. I did all my own, but had the equipment to do so, and more than one truck so could down one and work on it while still making a living. Because he listed it as a Meritor axle, and in the 2000's I am sure it is a front loader. Meritor hasn't made top loaders for decades as far as I know, At least I have come across any that weren't old. (when they were called Rockwell, Timken or Detroit axle)

Look around the carrier for an un used bolt holes. I know my IHC (Spicers) had two threaded holes you can put "jack bolts" into, I think my Rockwells did also. At the shop we used a floor jack with an adapter to remove. When doing them myself I did from above with a winch line of my winch truck. We had one carrier at the bus company that was stuck but good. My co worker took out a bolt and threaded the bolt hole with a bottoming tap the next thread size up. Then he put a ball bearing in the bolt hole and a bolt (the ball bearing prevent mashing the threads in the housing and precludes the need for the threads in the carrier from going all the way to the bottom) then threaded a bolt in. Just had to break the seal and it worked. I am sure on all the new stuff they have left out the jack bot holes, like everything else that is helpful, they cut it to the minimum they can get away with. I did one trans/ clutch in the"dirt" with a engine crane and plywood. I wouldn't recommend if if anything else is available to you. I layed out two sheets of 3/4" plywood (Have you priced out plywood lately) and the steel casters still indented into the plywood making it hard to roll/move. If I had to do it again without the winch truck. I would try and find a stout tree limb I could park the truck under and use a chain falls or come-a-long on a chain wrapped around the limb. A long single line has enough "give" that you can easily move the weight at the end a foot or more to get the carrier out and back in. whoop's missed that is was a "tipper" so tree limb will not work. Can you attach a chain to the underside of the body and used a come a long and truck hyd to lift it out the top? (again on a single line).

Wow, I don't think so! https://www.ebay.com/itm/175576184243?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=175576184243&targetid=1645685074008&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9018177&poi=&campaignid=20133407470&mkgroupid=147476396765&rlsatarget=pla-1645685074008&abcId=9312979&merchantid=426121152&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3LuLw97k_wIVT97jBx389wD2EAQYASABEgI71PD_BwE

Waterpumps are not plentiful, but any one for the engine family right up to the last 308 in the sixties should bolt on. I have rebuilt with common industrial waterpump "face seals". The impeller can be a bit fragile, so be careful if you disassemble. You'll need a puller to get the pulley off the shaft, they seam to be on tight! I haven't seen a "rebuilt" one for sale in a long time.

With the electronic "converters" 12 volt isn't the problem it was. Often I saw burned up gauges and wiper motors back in the day. Now there are good ways to protect and feed 6 volts to these things. The heater (if it had the old 'barn door" heater) had a special motor that could be run both directions to direct the warmest air to the cabin or the defroster. People have not found a 12 volt replacement. I would not give the starter motor a bit of thought, running on 12 volt, it should do just fine as long as you want. 12 volt generators abound with the wide pulley. I have had a 17SI on my K with a wide pulley (producing 6 volts) Alternators often run smaller pulleys to turn faster, producing power at a slower engine speed. Unfortunately the wide belt can be a problem here. They can't transmit as much power as a modern V belt. It is easy to overpower the wide belt with a modern (high output) alternator. I think anything over 60 amps will be a problem, you may even have problems at 60. I have picked up several old generators, and they all worked fine all these years later. One of my K's has a rare 50 amp 6 volt generator. Also a friend gave me a 100 amp 6 volt Leece Neville alternator from the 40's or early 50's. I have 3 269's with 5 spd transmissions, two in trucks and one spare. Parts that are hard to find for these trucks are wiper motors (in good condition) Main and rod bearings, Gasket kits Liners (these engines are dry lined) Inner seals for the rear axle bearing nuts Felt seals for the front wheel bearing. The engine family started in the late 20's or early 30's as wet lined (FAx series) and grew to the dry lined (BLD) and then to parent bore (BD 282 and 308) lasted until the late 60's although they weren't common after the SV line of V8 engines out in the late 50's, most trucks got the V8 unless the customer ordered the 6.

May some help for your gauges. Haven't used him yet myself but some people have and are happy with results.

I know this is a older thread, but having two of the same model truck, I thought I would comment. The good reason for staying 6 volt is the wipers and gauges. Both are pain to change. Today you can get "solid state" voltage converters so that is less of a problem. A picture of exactly what is wrong with the present starter would be helpful. I have built three 737z starters and finding parts was never a problem. 12 volt through the 6 volt will not be a problem, in most cases a smaller 6 volt and 12 volt starters use the same armature, only field coils differ. Larger starters 12 and 24 volt armatures are the same, again with differ. Hand cranking: I have a 525 CID that I have hand cranked, but wouldn't want to do it often! Also cranked a 9 cyl P&W radial with an inertia starter, you best get it to run on one try, or your done and bring in a fresh body for the 2nd try! I will be fitting an air compressor for one of my 269's. They were an option, you could get a K-7 with full air brakes. Not common, however. If you show me the problem with the starter you have I may be able to walk you through repairing. I have H-4 six volt headlights, on my K's and feel every bit as good as 12 volt versions (55/60 watt).

IDK, the 1940's roads were hard top in many places, 45-50-55 were not unreasonable. The truck in question seams to have been pressed into military service, it has the "military" steering wheel and there is a patch for a three point antenna mount. There is a hole in the dash that may or may not have been for a "spy in the cab tachograph". Interestingly the GVW is 16500, which is low for this model My other is 21500. It may have been spec'd for a set job, but at that time it just may be what was on hand at the time.

I've got the factory parts manual, so if you need numbers for something, ask. We might want to take this to some other place, because the thread topic is more about U joints in general. I'm new here so not sure where it should be.

There are aftermarket brush band covers, if that is where you hole is,

If you need a complete starter it is Delco number 737Z

Those are 6.5 or 7 (it is the inside width between the rim flanges" I can tell exactly.. Wow you got the "optional cover!" every one I see it is missing. Re Starter, is yours missing? they are easy to rebuild and aftermarket part (armature etc) are not expensive. They have a oil cup on the brush end of the commutator that needs to be lubed often as there is no brass bushing in that end ( steel shaft on cast cover). Mine start un assisted at 0 deg F on six volt, so I am keeping them at that voltage. That way the gauges and wipers will not be effected nor need special adaptation. I have a crank that fits the engine but was not for the truck and needs to be longer to use. Both mine have 2 spd rears and 5 O/D trans, but they could have 4 spd and single rears, or any combo.

They look wider than mine, do you have any clearance problems? I once tried some wider rims and the inside rear was close to the springs, and the front to the tie rod end. Nice you have the hubcaps. they often go missing. The battery box cover: I don't think the trucks ever came with them, I have yet to see a truck with one on it. I had mine made.

what is the rim width? I am wondering how well they would fit on the narrow (er) rim. 9.00's normally go on a 6.5 or 7" rim. As I said my rims are stamped with the max tire size My truck with disk wheels has 6.5" 6 bolt wheels, the spoke are only 6", which is why they are stamped with the 8.25 tire size.

Mine are still in their work clothes. what size rims do you have on yours? I've got 6.5 (edit 6 inch on the 8.25, 6.5 with 900's) with 8.25x 20 rubber and they are stamped max tire size 8.25. The one with 9.00 had disk wheels.

That is a valid point, they did put carrier bearings (both trucks have them) . They may have done "seat of the pants" engineering, however. If it didn't vibrate too bad it was good to go, now we know how and when the harmonics will kick in. I am itching to see how it runs out when the new shaft get here.

My guess is they didn't have a clue. The reason being that the truck I'm working on with the small tires I believe it came with (7.50x 20) would put driveshaft speeds at or near critical at around 50-55. With 8.25x 20 tires the max speed is around 60 MPH with the engine at 3000 rpm, max recommended speed. Even if you figure 45 MPH as max back in the day, it would be in dangerous territory, with the smaller rubber. My other K-7 sits on 9.00x 20's and that would put the max speed near 70, something it cannot reach. empty weight is 10,500 lbs 269 CID isn't going to move it that fast.That one I can see why it wasn't a concern 3000 rpm x O/D ratio of .823 puts the driveshaft at around 3650 rpm. Because the spec's for tire size are so far removed from driveshaft spec's I don't think they would have tied them in some way ("your can't order that wheelbase, with that tires size") I think they just were not well versed on the problems associated with shafting at that point. I could be wrong, but that is my take on it.

My Marmon with 2spd rears sets up a vibration up against the gov in low range top gear, I haven't plugged in the numbers but I suspect that puts the shaft into or near critical. It has a Eaton O/D 15 speed, I never run it there, when I was climbing a hill and nearing where it vibrated, I would upshift the rears and down the main and carry on, so shaft speed is decreased. If I get bored I'll have to measure and plug in the numbers, but I bet that is what it is, feels like it anyway. Only shows in top gear, so any engine speed in lower gears doesn't vibrate, has to be driveshaft speed related. I never ran the truck up against the gov in high range on the rear axles.

It is why I cringe when I hear someone say they are taking an old truck and adding O/D aux and an O/D main to gain road speed. The reason they aren't spitting driveshafts left and right, is the shorter the shaft the higher the critical speed, but it can't be "assumed" that just because the added O/D shortened the shaft you are not in critical territory. As my problem seams to indicate, totally stock might even be a problem. I have the factory manuals and they spell out the size and length of the shafts the truck came with, plug those into Spicer's calculator and one can see there is a problem!

Best is I understand, it is a speed at which the shaft starts to get a standing wave set up in it. If you run at that speed for long, the shaft will start to "whip" and deform. Eventually it will fail catastrophically. Depending on speed it can fail in a very short time period.

As someone who was a mechanic. I can look at something and say "that isn't strong enough" but can't tell why and when it would fail. Not an engineer. However I was always surprised by the skinny little driveshaft on a truck that have 21500 GVW. When you add in the O/D in the main transmission, I just knew I wouldn't be re tubing the driveshaft back to stock size. Both my K-7's have the stock drivetrain. When I started researching it I found something interesting. There are many "charts" on the internet listing critical speed for drivelines, most aimed at racers. (afterall, most would think the OEM did their homework). When I found Spicer's calculator on the net, it show much more conservative values for max driveline speed. I think the difference is between "all day everyday" usage and racing. There was also something listed that I hadn't heard of "half true critical speed" which was safe to pass through, but to be avoided as cruise speed as a 1/2 harmonic can be troublesome. So I am ending up with a much larger shaft (but aprox the same length). The U joints on my shaft now were obsolete by the end of the K's run (late 40's) and although mine are still ok, it is not possible to find replacements. If a new shaft is going in, new yokes for available joints only makes sense.

The air vent for the centrifugal fan discharge is a dead give a way that it was powering a generator. I can't think of any other application that would have that.

Then not the same guy, It would take some doing to pry him from out west to NH I think. Last time (many years ago) I stopped in for a visit at his place in Idaho, he was just building a nice shop, so don't think he'd be keen on moving.

Most likely, lives in Alaska/ and Idaho or did, now mostly in Idaho I think. Used to post under Tundra on JOT

Jim, we need to start an "antisocial" media! Glad to see you are still here and posting. Still have the Marmon, but don't know for how much longer.