Bob,
I agree with everything Jeff Nelson said about 3/4 ton rear ends below. It's
the same as a one ton, except for ratio. They almost never break if you
change oil once a decade and change seals every other oil change (20 year
cycle). Keep it stock for a working truck. GM had an army of engineers
designing it. I don't think you will improve it with "backyard engineering."
Front ends are tough. Last year I rode in a Mercedes 16 passenger bus
through Israel. It had an I beam front and rode fine. Some of those roads
were last improved by the Romans.
The 11" Huck brakes are weak on 52 and older so you may want a Hydrovac
booster. Once they switched to Bendix brakes fronts bumped up to 12" and
stopping power is adequate.
While I'm on my soapbox, Yesterday I got a call from someone looking for a
4.11 rear for a 3/4 ton to replace the 4.56. He's going with a 350 engine
and overdrive tranny. He wanted to go 70mph. We worked the numbers and
turned out about 2500 rpm at 70 mph with stock 4.56 and .7 overdrive. We
agreed he didn't want or need a 4.11 rear any more at that point.
Bob ADler
In a message dated 10/14/99 09:37:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
jnelson@paducah.k12.ky.us writes:
<<
1. I haven't found that having a 3/4 ton truck has made parts hunting that
difficult. Some of the trim parts can be a chore, but suspension parts and
mechanical parts are not too bad. I'd stick with the 3/4 ton frame.
2. I would recommend keeping everything stock. It sounds like the truck is
going to be a working truck and that's what these beasts were originally
designed to be. If you think about it, many of these trucks have been
running on original suspension for 50 years. That tells me that they were
engineered to be tough. Certainly, the original front end will feel all of
the bumps, but when rebuilt and adjusted to original specs the drivability
is fine. I guarantee that the original, I-beam, front axle will shrug off
abuse (to be expected in a working truck) that would make a Mustang or other
IFS roll over and moan.
3. Can't comment on the rearend question, since I've never had to do
anything major to the stock rear end in my 53 3/4T. Again, I'd look at a
solution that was a close to original as possible. 3/4T truck rearends are
built tough and don't go wrong a whole lot.
These are just my humble opinions. For further backup and more about the
engineering reasons for keeping your truck stock, you might email Bob Adler
(Advdesign1@aol.com) off the list. He has worked with and studied the AD
line of trucks for years and understands and respects the original
engineering that went into the development of the AD line of trucks.
Good luck on whatever approach you take.
Jeff Nelson
Paducah, KY
1953 3600 >>
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