1961 GMC 1500 Axle

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So a guy brought his classic 1961 GMC (with the 300somethin c.i. V6) with problems with his axle. i climbed under and noticed that the axle housing that connects to the diff housing is loose and looks like it has been rubbing around while he drives down the road. we stuck a level on it and determined it was definatly out of whack. i dunno if this makes sense, hopefully the pictues do.now inorder to make it tru again we are thinking of pulling the axle, straightening it in a jig and welding it back together. i dont want to because i have welding axles. anybody else have a better idea?this ones a little bluryim guessing this is the identification tab. anybody know what it means?? or where i can get another axle if it cant be welded?I break things for a living...
Reply:I would just throw a 10 bolt in it and call it a day. 14 bolt if he's planning on going crazy with it.Lincoln Promig 180
Reply:Thats the gear ratio........43 tooth ring gear & 14 tooth pinion.......3.07 ratio!Flashhttp://flashracecarbodies.com
Reply:so where can i find an old 10-bolt? is it something that will take some internet searching or do i need to get out the old phonebook and start calling old junk yards?I break things for a living...
Reply:http://peytonperformance.com/Since your in Texas, get in touch with these people, they have rear-ends for just about everything made. They are in Waxahatchie (sp). Really nice people & have always been a real help to me!Flashhttp://flashracecarbodies.com
Reply:I'd go to a yard myself. Lots of them nowdays have online searches of other yards and can find what you need. I've never had any luck doing the search online myself. I know most of the older yards around me, the ones that leave the cars out in the weeds and not all piled up or stripped for parts in a warehouse. A couple of calls would probably get me pointed in the right direction. If not I know some big yards that are a ways away, I'd need to do a road trip. I leave axles to a straight pull and replace or send them out to the pro's. Too much of a PITA to get everything right and lined up with the gears..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:smokin, check your messages!Flashhttp://flashracecarbodies.com
Reply:I don't think it will be so simple to substitute just any old axle into this truck.First off, I would bet that this truck is a 1000 series rather than a 1500, because the 1500 would have a removable carrier. Unless this is a 1500 with a Spicer axle; but the memory bank archive doesn't think so.So I think it's a 1000 series; if it is, first off, you will need a 6 bolt wheel flange if you want to match the front wheel bolt pattern. Next thing, except for K models the trucks had rear coil spring suspension; and since we can see shadows of the torsion bar independent  front suspension, we know it's not a K. Therefore, the housing carries brackets for coil spring mounts and a panhard link bracket. The brackets would have to be transferred to a substitute axle. Next thing is that the coil spring trucks had suspension travel engineered so that the drive shaft did not use a slip yoke. To avoid a major drive shaft rework, the replacement axle will have to mirror the original dimensions and travel geometry.So whoever can handle such an axle  refit, could probably also repair the original axle's loose tube.But the failure is strange, because except for bad wrecks, I don't remember seeing axle tubes separate from the carrier. And I don't ever remember seeing the two smaller holes near the large plug-weld holes. Don't recall such light plug-welds in the big holes either. Maybe this axle has already been messed with, we'll have to look closer and maybe get the rest of the story.Good Luck
Reply:Thankyou for your input. Some more history on the truck:As far as whether its a 1000 series of 1500 series i dont know. i know it has a 6-lug pattern. the owner was thinking that it was a heavier duty model, kinda like a modern day 1500HD. Im guessing its not a K series because it has coils in the back. ill take more pictures tommorrow and get the vin#, im hoping that will be able to tell me a little more info on the truck. the plug hole welds were the first thing i noticed (didnt know what to call them) and pointed them out to him - could i clean those out  and weld it there once i re-aligned it? what i would like to do is try and find another one i can bolt up to it. im going to go to transportaion dept. tommorrow and ask the mechanics where i should go find parts for it. my main concern is somehow i dont apply enough force to hold the axle in place so that when i do weld it i make it worse than it was.I break things for a living...
Reply:I think you would be fine welding in the plug welds, lots of people weld axle tubes to the housing.  The tubes are just regular steel, the housing is usually nodular or ductile iron. (I believe)  Just give it a good preheat and weld with 7018 or nickle rod, and give a good post heat as well.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:in the 4x4 world we weld on the diffs alot.  Preheat and a nickle rod and post heat to slow cooling so the tube and the diff cool at the same rate.  I would pull it and line it back up and then do the welding.  You could possible replace with a 12bolt rear axle from a chevy (I think they are 6 lug). You would have to move the bracketry.over to the new axle.
Reply:Just make sure everything is square and inline. I've done many axle tube changes with the various Drag cars I've built. Just remember your welding the tube that holds the axle bearing, not the axle its self.Brett B & B Fabrication and Welding Inc.Spalding, MI.
Reply:Just welding the plug weld will not work anymore, there is too much slop where the axle tube mounts to the diff housing.  And what kind of jig are you planning on using?  You need to get some bushings machined up that are the same outer diameter as the bearings and you can run a heavy straight rod through the entire axle to true it up.  You're actual axle tubes may be bent, you gotta make sure everything is straight and true through the differential and axle bearings.  Then weld the axle tubes to the diff.All that said, 60-66 Chevy/GMC's are abundant, not the most desirable collector wise, so I would just go find a different rear axle off one.  Because unless you plan on doing a lot of these axles, making a jig for it would be more costly than to just go get a different axle.
Reply:I have never personally welded an axle housing up, but I was reading an article in Petersen's 4WHEEL & OFF-ROAD and they had an article on welding it up with a MIG welder.  I posted the link if you want to give it a read.  Like I said i have never tried it myself.  Just more information to cloud your decision.   http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/techart...ing/index.html
Reply:I don't see why it would be that hard to weld trailing arm perches and spring pads onto a junkyard 14 bolt axle. You would need one out of a C1500 HD to have the right width probably.Lincoln Promig 180
Reply:What part of Texas are you in?  Pyle Brothers on the east side of Houston is pretty good, and might be worth a call for sport...I build quite a few (four or five a year) rear ends for Mustangs, and TIG the tubes to the housing using 309L filler...Chris
Reply:well i just talked to the guy and last night he took it to a local welding shop. they pulled it and were able to re-weld it and were successful in getting it straight. my worry is that somewhere down the road it will break, but now i know how to fix it if it breaks again - new axle housing. thanks for all ur help guys.I break things for a living...