Desotodav

I had quite a few SS springs made for numerous truck applications here in Oz... but I have since lost contact with my supplier. I’ve had to have a prolonged break from truck things due to a nasty separation from a cheating wife, but I hope to get back into things one day soon. I’ll have to get back to my sheds one day soon to see if I have any springs left.

Sounds like you’re all over it Bill. One question though: seeing as you have the diff centre out, have you considered searching for a car diff centre to better the original ratio for modern road travel? A 3.73 or a 3.54 makes for better road speeds at lower engine revs. i have changed over from 4.1 to 3.54 diffs in both my 52 and 53 trucks and couldn’t be happier with the results.

So sorry to hear that the BBQ could not be held this year. I haven’t made the 7140 mile trip there since 2017... but I wil do everything possible to be there with my partner Roz in 2021. As my trucks will most likely never make the trip from ‘Down Under’ to the USA, I have posted a couple of photos for my ‘virtual attendance’ this year. Stay safe my forum family. Davin aka DesotoDav in Burbank (Australia)

Long story mate summed up in 2 words... nasty divorce. We’re back in Whistler now and it’s only -18 today. We hope to meet up with Hank on our way through LA tomorrow night. Will call you for a chat one day ?

Drop me a message when you get your truck up Brisbane way Somethingski and I’ll see if I can point you in the right direction with the contacts I have made. I live just south of Brisbane and have 5 trucks.... one of them is a 108E Suburban van. I haven’t been too active here on the forum of late but I am fast finding my feet again. I’ll be back in town next week... we are freezing in the -40’s in Whitehorse Yukon at present ??

We are staying at Whitehorse Yukon for a couple more days... much colder here than Australia ? Picture shows the view from our bedroom window now at -32.8 fahrenheit...

We were just walking around in the -37 degree day at Whitehorse City Yukon when I spotted this sign on the side of an old building and had to take a photo ?...

You’re getting in early Tim ? I had hoped to be there in 2020, but life (or my soon to be ex-wife) threw me a curve ball ? I’ll be in Canada early next year, but will certainly look at bringing my new life-partner to the 2021 BBQ. She’s just itching to drive my 53 truck when I get back on track again. well wishes to all my BBQ buddies.

I haven't talked to him for a while James as have been dealing with serious marital issues. I will attempt to catch up with him as soon as matters permit.

Check the underside of the steering wheel as there should be a parts number stamped there.

I have done 2 diff centre swaps from the truck 4.1 ratio to the car 3.54 ratio and am very pleased with the results. I have gained about 10 miles per hour, which has dropped the engine revs on the highway nicely!

Thanks for that info FB ... I’ll check the drone realms.

It does indeed Paul. We call a boomerang that doesn’t come back a ‘stick’ ?

I am considering purchasing a couple of vehicle trackers for my trucks and wondered if any of my forum brother’s had gone down that route, and whether there was any preference to one brand / style over another. i have done some network research and have found that the devices differ greatly in price, special functions, and wether they are hard-wired or plug and use. I would prefer to purchase and install a covert device which I could monitor from my mobile phone - a simple unit that would just inform me the location of my vehicle (in a timely manner) should it go missing from the garage without my knowledge. Does anyone have experience with such devices?.. and are there any suggestions as to which model or type would best suit my needs?

Keep asking questions Steve as many of us here enjoy the challenge ?. A few of the trucks I have owned here in Oz have had a piece of rubber screwed to the floor (inside of the cab) where the gas tank filler neck comes through, but this was not a factory fitting. There was a small foam piece which sat on top of the gas tank between the tank and the outside floor section. It can be seen on top of the tank in the manual diagram attached. Brian (JBNEAL) pointed you in the right direction... he even made a template for that piece called 'seal 14-86-60' (see attached photo).

Front axle has a bend in it from the factory.

Thanks for the info Brian. I have now emailed both Tim and Hank seeking further information. I intend on trying Bernbaum's and VPW as well as soon as I have a chance.

I have struck a small hurdle with the 2 transmissions (which I am rebuilding here in Oz) which I am seeking advice from my forum brothers across the pond. I am unable to find a supplier here in Oz for the 'main shaft rear bearing oil seal 21-22-2' that fits in the rear part of the transmission which houses the emergency brake assembly on my 3-speed manual column shift - the part number is listed as A600420 (see attached photos). Is it possible that someone might be able to suggest a supplier for this transmission seal?... or provide a NAPA part number? as we now have a NAPA store in Australia ?

Nice old truck. i see dual exhaust pipes at the back... is your truck running dual carbs?

I arranged a Ford 2.92 diff for a friend of mine to install in his 46 Dodge truck a while back and got a message back from him after it was installed saying that he was now expecting to get speeding tickets from his highway driving ? I have completed 2 diff conversions from 4.1 to 3.54 in recent times for my 52 and 53 half ton trucks. I found the process cheap, and also beneficial for highway driving. I am in the process now of installing a bolt-on adaptor between the speedo cable and gearbox which will correct my speedo reading for the 10mph gain (the correction ratio was 1.15). A few thigs to keep in mind if you are considering installing a car diff centre: I found that the car axles were about 1 and 1/2 inches shorter than the truck axles on either side.... the yoke for the car diffs was different but there is no issue with changing your truck one over to the car diff... the axle count on my trucks have been either 10 or 15 spline, and the car diffs which I have used have both been 15 spline. I think that the diff centre change is a well worthwhile exercise as it comfortably allows me to cruise the highways at 60mph now. I understand where you are coming from Al in wanting to keep your truck original, so you will be pleased to know that the change is not visible (apart maybe from the diff ratio number and possibly the casting number stamped on the diff centre). I have not seen a 3.73 diff here in Oz, but the car diff centres that I have worked with have been stamped 4.1, 3.9, and 3.54 (or as a fraction of 3.9 over 11). I wish you well with your venture. Great article too VEEMONEY ?

My old 53 Dodge coupe truck is still resting under a car cover in the shed for now and is surrounded by charity items (hospital beds and wheel chairs etc.) which I am yet to load into shipping containers and forward on. I'm packing another 2 x 20 foot shipping containers at present, so I might even be able to get to the coupe truck again soon. I have been working in my other shed in my spare time of late and decided to sort out some differential and transmissions. I refurbished a 3.54 diff for my 52 truck recently, and have just sent the guys another 4.1 diff centre as they will be refurbishing that diff for my 55 truck. We tested the speedo for accuracy after the conversion from 4.1 to 3.54 and it appears that I have gained 10mph. I have already done this diff centre swap in the 53 coupe truck, but it seems that it may still be some time before I get to enjoy driving that truck on the road. I found that most of the diff housings in my shed were rusted through on the underside where the shock absorber mount bolts on with the u-bolts, so I removed the diff centres and took the housings off for scrap metal as this will create a little more room in my small shed. I found some old leaf springs to add to the load for scrap as well, so I ended up with $80 back in my wallet. I cleaned up a few of the transmissions in my small shed and dropped them down to my transmission fella down the Gold Coast yesterday. I've asked him to pick two of the best column shift boxes and work on bringing them back to life. I think he was a little surprised when I dropped down to his shed with 7 transmissions. I will use one of the refurbished transmissions for the 53 coupe truck, and the other one will be done for the 55 truck. I'm not sure how good the transmission is in the 55 truck, so I might get to pulling that out and dropping it to down to my mate as well. I'm a little hesitant to discuss the 55 (C series) DeSoto truck as wifey told me that I'm not to build any more trucks ?

I had a stalling at traffic lights problem with my 52 truck a while back and it turned out that the points in the distributor were worn out and causing the stalling issues.

I knew that the 3.54 car diff which I dropped down to the diff guys was a good one... but I didn't know that it had been recently rebuilt and had all new bearings! The guys changed the 3.54 car diff over to suit my 10 spline truck axles and I hope to be driving the truck again tomorrow. They are also going to piece my 4.1 back together from spare parts from my shed as I had that 4.1 diff totally rebuilt about 3500 miles ago.... and I have just a few spare diffs at the shed. I even found a few truck diffs with the 15 spline count - wished I found them earlier as that would have made things even easier. I actually took the opportunity to have a little clean up at my parts shed and will do a run to the scrap metal yard tomorrow. I still have a few diffs in trucks in the other shed, so I figure that stripping out the centres and scrapping the rusty carriers would save me some room in the small shed. My home-made hub and axle pullers worked hard! I have the hub puller tensioned on one of the diff hubs that wouldn't budge and hope to find it free in the morning. The next project at my parts shed is to have a couple of transmissions rebuilt and get rid of some that had been in the weather for too long!

Were you looking for the small rubber seal?.. see post #5 of this thread as Jerry said he got his from DCM Classics. i an picking up the 3.54 diff for my 52 truck this morning as I have dinally got around to doing the 4.1 to 3.54 conversion. I have an adaptor to bolt between the speedo cable and the transmission to correct the travelled speed.

I was sorting through some more old tools down at my shed this morning and thought I'd bring a few more home to clean up. The little set squares and bike wrenches cleaned up well. It turns out that the brass tool at the bottom of (attached) photo is a saw tooth setter - Eclipse No. 77, Made in England. I'm thinking about storing all of these old tools in a tool box in my truck as I reckon they would be a good conversation point at some of the cars shows which I attend.