Chevrolet Truck Steering and Suspension

I am refurbishing a 1950 Series 3100 pickup truck for my son who thinks Chevrolet pickups of that era were " the Cord of trucks." That's fine, but he also intends to use the vehicle for daily transportation. My son is an artist, who would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a spark plug and a Zerk fitting.

So what would normally have been a straight-forward restoration project became an effort to make the old truck a little safer, marginally more reliable, and less maintenance-intensive. This involved some loss of authenticity but, as I kept telling myself, it's really not a Cord.

I learned several things in the course of the project, the most important of which was not to trust parts purchased by mail for a daily driver. Some of these parts are good, OEM quality. Others are suitable only for static display. Nor should one trust street rodder engineering. I purchased a cross-steering kit from one vendor with the idea that it would eliminate numerous grease fittings and update the steering to modern standards. The kit turned out to be nightmare. Even with exhaust pipe modifications, the steering box probably would have overheated, at least two universal joints were needed to join the steering column with the new steering box, and the drag link was not remotely parallel with the tie rod. That last feature, in my opinion, would have resulted in severe bump steer. I sent the kit back.

What follows is some notes about the front end, which I am still working on.

Shackles

Early Chevrolet shackles oscillate on threaded bushings, intended to keep the bodywork in rough alignment with the axles. Other vintage cars used the same arrangement, which could not have contributed much to stability and, in any event, quickly wore out.

Modern elastomer bushings give a slightly better ride, eliminate grease points and should last longer than the OEM style. BRM (937-298-2665) catalogs shackles for about $60 a pair. Sold separately, their �moly-nylon� bushings cost $13 an axle set, but you will have to do some fairly serious modification to get your original shackles to work with them. You could also turn the bushings from polyurethane (available from plastics suppliers) or phosphor bronze. Of course, bronze would require some provision for lubrication.

U-Bolts

After 50 years or so, the U-bolts that hold the axle to the springs develop deep pits at the base of the threads. This is what engineers call stress corrosion and seamen call " steel rot." Obviously such bolts must be replaced. A search on the GM computer and a call to Detroit failed to turn up any. (�1950? That�s before I was born!� ) Suspension shops can usually fabricate the round U-bolts used at the rear, but the 90 degree bends used front-axle U-bolts are beyond their capabilities. Finally, a call to BRM solved the problem.

Springs

At about $200 a pair, new springs seem like a good investment. You can have the springs made up locally, using the originals as the pattern. The shop may also be able to order pre-fabricated springs from Dallas Spring or another of their suppliers.

Spindles

It�s good practice to have the spindles magnifluxed. This inexpensive process detects microscopic surface cracks that cannot be seen by eye and which may, over time, result in catastrophic failure.

Auto parts stores should have undersized spindle nuts which will restore worn (but not stripped) threads.

Wheel Bearings

Modern cars use roller wheel bearings, which cost less than balls originally specified by Chevrolet and should last longer. But make sure you get quality parts. The inner bearing sold by some mail-order houses is non-demountable. That is, the bearing cannot be separated from its race. This means that the race must be a slip fit on the spindle to allow the brake drum to be removed without displacing the grease seal. The race probably does not turn on the spindle, since there should be less friction between the bearing and race than between the race and spindle. But it is �half-fast� arrangement that no OEM would contemplate. Chevy Duty says their bearings are demountable, like the original Chevrolet design.

Balls