bkahler

When I converted my 51 B3B to front lights to turn signals I removed the original bulb sockets and silver soldered new dual element sockets. For the rear lights I bought some reproduction tail lights, removed the bulb sockets and silver soldered in some dual element sockets. Worked like a charm.

I used a NOS Signal Stat 800 that I found on ebay. Signal Stat 800 Signal Stat 900

My personal take on the issue of turn signals and tail lights is, yes, you should have both. Thirty years ago, maybe not as important, but now there are SO many idiot drivers on the road that sometimes it doesn't pay to be original. I don't regret switching to 12 volts (it wasn't that hard) and I've got front and rear turn signals and brake lights. I also installed LED headlights, although me driving at night probably won't happen very often, if at all. Others have their opinions and I respect that. This is just my personal view.

LEDs are polarity sensitive so maybe the ground and positive need to be swapped.

I think spherical aberration is a good description and it's probably caused by the curve of the arm. Looking at the back edge at the top and at the bottom the gap seems to be equal. The two orange lines that are circled are where the back edge is vertical. Those gaps look to be the same. Just about every other edge on the bracket has curves.

For what it's worth, here are a few more pictures.

Merle, what year/model is your truck? Mine is a 51 B3B and Los's is a 49 B1B. I wonder if there might be some slight differences in the assemblies that required spacers depending on model or year. I have the left front wheel and hub removed right now so I'm going to grab a bunch of pictures, maybe they will help explain what's happening. Brad

The only other thing that comes to mind would be a bent spindle. I can't see how that would be the case because I would think a bent spindle would be either bent up or bent to the rear, not down as it seems to appear. It will be interesting to see what things look like when you take the rotor off.

Quick question, do you have the inner spindle bearing installed in the rotor hub? If the bearing is missing that would explain the tilt. My front rotors did not come with any bearings or inner seals.

I had to shorten the tie-rod 3/4" which is the thickness of the two 3/8" plates that were added as part of the kit. I opted to replace the tie-rod because it was bent in several places. You might be able to get by cutting 3/8" off each end. Until you cut the tie-rod you will have excessive toe-in. You might get lucky and will be able to screw the tie-rod ends in farther 3/8" inch, I couldn't on mine which was another reason I made a shorter tie-rod. Here's where Merle cluded me in on the issue with the tie-rod being to long.

Here's a link where I am describing modifications to some of the bolts for clearance purposes.

Here's some pictures of my Rusty Hope installation. I just happen to have the left front wheel off the truck right now. If you would like I can get more pictures tomorrow morning and post them.

Mine is not configured the same as your illustration. Link 4-26-11 on my brake is different than shown in your illustration. My gearbox came from a B-3-F 1.5 ton truck. The picture blow shows the brake that was originally in my B3B. My B3B originally had the column shift but someone replaced that transmission with a non-syncro 4-speed floor shift transmission and it had this brake assembly. It appears to match your illustration.

Here's a few pictures of the parking brake installation on my 51 B3B. The transmission is a synchronized 4-speed floor shift out of a larger truck. However, I believe the parking brake components are the same for the 3-speed transmission.

I know the moving feeling. I moved mine 3 times. Looking forward to watching your progress.