Merle Coggins

Is the shutter/vibration coming under acceleration under load, or with no load? I concur with the engine mount checking. Could also be a rear spring shackle issue, allowing a little axle hop, or twist that puts the u-joints in a bind. The 3/4 ton trucks originally would have had tubes with bias ply tires but can be cleaned up and used tubeless with modern tires. I’m running 235/75R-15’s on mine. It should have 5-1/2” wide rims.

How ‘bout this one? It’s a Prius chassis anyway...

That is a very good question. Refer to my previous posted picture... 1. Hub retaining Nut 2. Brake drum/wheel hub 3. Brake backing plate 4. Axle housing Between 3 and 4 are shims. No gasket. The shims are used to set the bearing preload upon assembly. 5. Inner seal. (Retains axle oil in the axle housing) Rear Wheel seal already identified, and noted that it is a dust seal for the bearing 6. Axle shaft 7. Bearing Cup. As noted it is a press fit into the axle tube and is retained by the brake backing plate. The puller is needed to pull the assembly out as this bearing is a tight fit into the housing. 8. Bearing Cone. This bearing is grease packed like the front wheel bearings. The bearing is press fit onto the axle shaft.

Yup, like they’ve said. Rear fenders, “DODGE” on dash, and “DODGE” name plate on the nose all make it a ‘53. Take your serial number and put in in the decoder at http://t137.com/registry/help/decode.php

Also from my truck manual, Lubrication Section, Every 20,000 miles. This would be the same as your Suburban axle as the 1/2 and 3/4 ton truck axles were the same design as the cars. In reference to the plug in your photo...

I have had good luck with a slide hammer. Others have reported having good luck using the brake drum as a slide hammer. Put it back on loosely, with the nut on a few threads. If that doesn’t work find some spacers to put between the drum and the axle flange, then tighten the drum retaining nut to pull out on the axle shaft. You may need to reset with longer spacers a couple of times before it’s all out. I was able to use some deep well sockets and washers to accomplish that task once. The washers and sockets sit nice over the brake backing plate studs.

Should be the same setup as our trucks have. Outer seal is dust seal for the bearing, inner seal is oil seal for the axle oil.

That seal is just a dust seal for the grease packed wheel bearing. The oil seal in inboard of the bearing.

OEM drag links are fixed length and ball joints are not replaceable. DCM Classics are reproducing them with tie rod ends so that they are replaceable and adjustable.

I didn’t look at their movement while installed, and once removed there doesn’t seem to be excessive movement in the joints. I figured that since it was still the original piece it was probably worth the effort. Plus the adjustable ends allowed me to re-center the steering wheel. It was a little off since doing the disc brake conversion because of the steering arms moving inward to fit the caliper brackets. And I didn’t do any measurements before and after the drag link change, only after that and the steering box slack adjustment. I’m wishing I had done this years ago. The steering is much more responsive and easier to drive down the highway.

Yup.. like they said. It's a capacitor. They are used to suppress electric interference for radios.

Yes, Dennis had a Ford Ranger bumper on his truck when he got it. He then came across a complete frame with a front bumper and used that to make his truck right again. The Ranger bumper looked OK, but it was too short. But frankendodge is asking about a rear bumper...

Rear race? I assume you are refering to a bearing race, but which one?

As Mike said, the rear cross members add structural support for the spring mounts. If you move them you risk added stress points in your frame rails due to the loads on the spring attachment points. This isn't the best picture, but it's the best one I have that shows both cross members and their location at the spring mounts.

All done... Glad I did this before the trip. I got an early start this morning. Was out in the garage around 6:30. Got the steering box adjusted right away and was on to the manifold job by 8:00. I thought I was going to have a delay for a supply run. I wanted to grease the front suspension components before lowering it down, but my grease gun was empty. I dug out my second grease gun and it had just enough to grease the front end. Delay avoided... The manifold sway went fairly smoothly. I had 3 studs come out, so I had to drain the coolant. It was 3 with the conical nuts and cupped washers. It took a fair amount of heat to break the bond between the nuts and studs, but they finally loosened up and were reusable. The good part about that was that those areas were easier to clean up the old gasket material without having to work around the studs. A little sealer on the threads and it all went back together without any fuss. Had it running by 10:30. Got things cleaned up and backed it out of the garage for a test drive. Needed to run some errands anyway, including a stop at Fleet Farm for grease. Runs great. Steering is awesome now. Much easier to drive now. It smoked quite a bit at first until all of the gunk was burned out of the replacement manifold, but that cleared up fairly quickly. When I got back home I jacked up the rear and greased the rear suspension and driveline. All good to go now. A BIG thank you again to Todd for hooking me up with the manifold. The crack was worse than I expected. Red arrows are pointing at the ends. Wouldn’t have been long before it was a 2 piece manifold. All done... and retorqued after running it for a few minutes, and again after my errand run/test drive.

I believe what you are calling the valve cover is indeed the head, unless you have something besides a flathead Mopar engine in there.

OK, back up a bit here... Wire off the ignition switch goes to the ballast resistor, same terminal as the flasher feed. Yes? The wire at the other end of the ballast resistor is the one that goes to the + terminal of the coil? And this one has 12 volts all the time, or just with key on? Wire going to the distributor/points should be on the opposite terminal of the power source regardless. This is wrong if it is also on the + terminal. Move it to the - terminal. Now that I know you have a pos. ground system the negative 12v at the coil terminals makes more sense. With no completion to ground through the points you will read 12 volts, even through it is going through the ballast resistor and the coil primary circuit. This is because there is no current flow. It is only potential voltage. Remove the wire going to the distributor and use your meter in the Ohms setting to check for continuity to ground. While testing this remove the distributor cap and inspect the points. When the points are closed you should have continuity to ground on the distributor wire/terminal. When the points are open there will be no continuity. If no continuity with the points closed you will need to do some more investigation within the distributor. Possibly a bad internal wire or burned points that are not truly making contact.

Yes, I'm confused now too. You have a 12 volt system that is positive ground? That's quite strange. I don't know why someone would go to the work of upgrading to 12 volts system and not switch to the more common negative ground. I'd be switching that if it were mine. So, you are saying the the wire from the - terminal of the coil goes to the push-button switch and then to what appears to be your starter solenoid? Again quite strange. Are you sure it's a ground terminal on the solenoid? Have you used that button for anything since owning the car? As for the + terminal, you say one wire is always 12v hot, and one goes down to the distributor terminal? That wouldn't make any sense either. You'd be sending voltage directly to the points. Whenever the points close it would be a direct short on the 12 v power source. And the wires going to the carburetors appear to be powering up electric choke coils. Those would need power when the key is on. Based on this information I'm surprised that it even ran in the first place.

Could be a number from an aftermarket engine rebuilder/supplier. What size engine? What are the casting dates on the block and/or head?

Got a couple hours in the garage tonight as my wife and mother were out and about, leaving me home alone. All cleaned up and ready to mount... once the paint cures. Saturday morning I want to adjust the free play in the steering box. Between that and a new drag link I’m hoping to remove all of the free play in the steering wheel. Then I can get the front end back on the ground and tackle the manifold change. If all goes well I’ll be test driving it by noon.

Which transmission? I believe the 3 speed trans is a bit shorter than the 4 speed, which would require a different length driveshaft.

If you have a canister that takes the sock type filter the Napa / Wix brand can be a very tight fit. I have found that if you roll it on a hard surface, like rolling out dough, it'll get a little thinner. However, if you want to end the struggle go find a Baldwin JC405. They are a much better fit.

Sounds like you have a good handle on it.

And if that's the case, you could wire the kickdown switch to a relay to interrupt the voltage feed to the Pertronix unit and achieve the same effect.

Ah, yes... been there... Up Nort...