Thanks, Damon! Now I'm back to getting the hood ready to prime. Not looking forward to stripping paint, but someday it will a-l-l be done~
Truck porn ! WOW ! I really like Paul's rear end ! . Not as much as SWMBO's of course but that really does look nice and being a MANLY GM TRUCK it of course has 6 lugs unlike those weeny non workable rigs that only have 5.......
That is correct, young man! I might need to check into a spacer that will get me over the hump of the hub on the Colorado. Right now I am using 4 washers on the three lug studs that are holing the old wheels in place. Those old wheels keep calling out to me to use them instead of getting fancy chrome reverse with moon caps...
There is always Plan B And that is: Pop the axles out (really, it took me longer to gather the proper wrenches), and bring them to a machine shop, with one of the wheels you'd like to use, and have them turn the hub down to the correct diameter. There was enough meat in my case (but I need a spacer anyway, to center the tire between bedside and fender). And, while the axles are out, it might be a good idea to spend the short money and replace the axle seals. Some fresh dif lube (mine was dry when I bought it, I suspect yours was too- its a junkyard thing), and you are GOOD!
Hey Mike, did you get your studs swapped out? Did your axle have a barb coming out of it that had a hose that ran to the axle? Maybe I'll just PM you here sometime soon with a picture of what I'm talking about...
Zig, Yes I did swap the studs. That precluded the spacer installation in my post. And the hose barb is for a vent. The donor truck had a small vent/cap that was fastened to the frame rail. You'll need one.
Go figure~ A vent for the differential... I need to Google Colorado rears and see about capacity, fill, drain information. (soon) Thanks for the info, Mike! I was thinking that barb, removed, would be a great fill hole. If it was threaded, then get a plug. So much for thinking. I assume the bottom bolt in the differential cover is the drain~
Son of a biscuit So I washed my truck, spiffed up the tires, got my lawn chair and had a sit. I had this idea I should go get a couple of the hubcaps I had laying around, clean them up and thrown them on the wheels for the time being. It seems these GMC hubcaps fit the old split rim wheels, but don't come close to fitting the 6 lug rims~
Adapt, improvise, and overcome. Surely, there's got to be a way. "Yes there is, and don't call me Shirley." ?????????? What do you think, Paul.... can they be adapted to work maybe? I love the look of the original-style hub covers on these trucks. Damon
Hubcaps Paul, look at my thread "Hubcaps", i made a sheet metal adapter, to use the original caps on newer 6 lug wheels! Not hard to do, with basic tools.
I pulled this thread back up for Steve. It might have some info that will help you decide what to do?
Zig - Thanks for bringing it to the top There are a few things out of my depth here but I think I could ask a few more questions and figure most if not all of it out. I am not a mechanic of any type but I can usually figure things out by reading directions (in spite of what my wife says) or looking at pictures. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Now the only question is where do I find a Colorado rear end in southern California. To the internet I go......
Married old with new~ Here's the stuff you'll need to hook the old shaft to the new rear end. Napa part # 447 (u-joint) Napa part # 530-10 (u-joint strap kit) With Kansas tax, $37.77 without, $34.68. The old u-joint did not want to leave it's home. The only u-joint I ever replaced, I believe I drove it out with a hammer. This one had a hard time seeing it my way with a friggin press! It's a done deal now, however. Question, Why the hell haven't (they) come up with a way to use straps all the way around? You could have grooved straps, right? One step closer to being back on the road! I hope I didn't mess anyone up, I just noticed when I went to (finally) post this picture of the joined ends that I had 448 as the part #. Somehow that just didn't sound right, so I checked. It WASN'T! 447 is what you need for this. Again, mine was a 3/4 ton, so the end of the drive shaft was already "open".
U - Joint ' FUN ' Co$t it the reason why not . FWIW , once you have the old bearing caps out , it's a simple & smart thing to polish the inside of the yoke with fine grade abrasive paper so the new caps will slide right in . I have an old (very) English Factory Shop Manual that says : to change the U - Joints simply remove the snap rings then " tap the yoke on your palm , the bearing caps will fall into you hand " ~ yeah , RIGHT ! .
Yeah , THEM ! Those whacky Brits ! . Oddly , I like LBC's quite a bit . I have one parked out side in the L.A.P.D. Garage right now....
So as I get ready to plumb all the brake lines, do I need to put any sealer/tape on the unions and what not? Thanks! (It seems like I didn't put anything on any of them because everything is flared.)
