64 Econoline straight axle rebuild

Yep..........nothing like a thread highjack to make info flow in a simple manner..EH?

Well, After long deliberation I decided it was easier to find an entire good front end and swap it. ( and cheaper)

Econoparts (Tim) in the Cincy area fixed me up with a low mileage front end out of the same year van. (1964). I cleaned it all up and inspected it & it looks to be very tight and in great shape. Painting it now.

My old front end is now still hanging off the springs but stripped down to just the axle and spindles. Planning on dropping it this weekend and installing the other front end.

I found the problems the original had in the strip down process.

1- tie rod ends worn bad.

2- king pins had a lot of play.

3 - one king pin cap on drivers spindle ( screw in cap with grease fitting) was stripped and just laying on the spindle. Dry inside too.

4- wheel bearing nuts on each axle were not even finger snug!!!!!!!! And had loose cotter pins dangling in them!

5- when driver wheel was pointed straight the passenger wheel was cocked off to the right side.........NOT GOOD!

Good news is brake lines all broke free without stripping or breaking. Drums, backing plates, wheel cylinders and shoes all great shape as was the steering box.

And I drove this thing home 130 miles!!!!!!!!

Anyway.......cleaning and painting under doghouse floors...inside wheel wells, belly pan and entire front axle assembly.

Should be running down the road sometime next week. First trip will be to get a front end alignment.

Then it's back to stripping the interior and redoing it.

One thing I found is swapping out the front end is a piece of cake and if I ever need to actually install new king pins I KNOW I could easily handle that chore.

Great stuff! I think your topic should get a sticky now... great detail!

sasktrini wrote:Great stuff! I think your topic should get a sticky now... great detail!

I should have taken pics............DUH! ( as I kick myself in the rear).

Then it would have really been worth it.

Not a bad job if you take your time and use generous helpings of PB Blaster...............

I need to be hooked up with a new front axle, too.
How much was that for you?

I'm getting tired of counter steering......

Econorat,Im headed to Knoxville in a week to drop parts off to someone on my way thru to Florida. I could bring you an axle if you like. PM me if you 're interested.

Awesome, pm sent

Got mine all done today.........I ran into a few snags along the way.

Seems my original axle had oversize u-bolts holding it on..........just a hair bigger. I had to drill out the new axles holes to accommodate my springs and u-bolts. ( expensive 1/2 drill bit......high speed heavy duty drill and water from the garden hose running in the holes while being drilled to keep it all cool)

Got that done.........then found a collapsed rubber brake line........ordered a pair from Advance auto ( $19.99 each)......new brake shoes ( new not rebuilt 10"X 2 1/2" = $14.99 a set)

Put it all together today.......torqued evcerything with torque wrench to specs..........cleaned and repacked wheel bearings and hubs with new " DRUM BRAKE TYPE" wheel bearing grease MAKE SURE YOU GET THIS ONE RIGHT!!!).........ran it down the road about 80 miles. TIGHT AS HELL.

Now.........replace my fat, old 14's on the front with nice new tall and skinny 15's.............get aligned..........

Thankfully Econoparts (Tim) dealt me a very tight and low mileage axle. King pins were like new and even the tie-rod and such all good.

Thanks again Tim.

ECONORAT......jack yours up securely....use lots of PB blaster.........soaking for days...........take your time. Not a bad job at all.

Good job crazee !
I've noticed that I had to re-torque my u-bolts after a few short runs.
But...I've wire brushed the leaf springs to clean all the rust out and put some grease on all the mating surfaces.

My axle got worse, there's too much play now, about 1/2 inch when i wiggle on the wheel.
I'm having a hard time to stay within the lanes on the interstate.
Guess I won't drive it for a while until i can fix it.

Cheers.

donivan65 wrote:Is the toe in set right?

Yeah.........sounds more like toe in ( alignment) than king pins causing your issue.

Check your tie rod ends...........then align it. You may be surprised at how good it steers after.

I've got 15 inch American slots on the rear.............14inch American slots on front.

The front wheels are deep dish with fat short tires. It "looks cool" with that stance............but I'm looking for a set of 15inch wheels for the front.............and plan on mounting tall skinny tires...........then go get mine aligned. This should make it pretty much handle at it's best from past experiences with these type vans.

I'm also considering installing one of those tie rod/steering "stabilizer shocks" to steady the steering on rough roads and hitting pot holes.

No it's not the toe. Further up in the thread I explained it.
But by the way, how do I check the toe in?

thanks

Took the wheels off to bleed the brakes today.
Wiggled the rotor up and down and I can clearly see the spindle bolt jiggling around in the axle bushing.
Why should a wrong toe in setting cause this???

I could get an axle with a 5 inch drop from a friend, that was made for his 1966 econoline.
I measured the wells and I have 6.5 inches clearance from top of the tire to the wheel well.
Anyone knows what problems I could run into installing that axle?
I guess I would need a lift kit of some sort.

Thanks.

econorat wrote:Took the wheels off to bleed the brakes today.
Wiggled the rotor up and down and I can clearly see the spindle bolt jiggling around in the axle bushing.
Why should a wrong toe in setting cause this???

I could get an axle with a 5 inch drop from a friend, that was made for his 1966 econoline.
I measured the wells and I have 6.5 inches clearance from top of the tire to the wheel well.
Anyone knows what problems I could run into installing that axle?
I guess I would need a lift kit of some sort.

Thanks.

My advice is to go get another stock axle from Tim in Cincy ( Econoparts).........He had several when I was there a few weeks ago. Find one with tight king pins........clean it up......lube it up.......install it..........take it and get it aligned ( usually around $60 or less). I have the alignment specs if you need them.

My opinion is you'd be best off.... the easiest.......... that way.

Then...........at your leasure...........rebuild your original axle and set it back for the next time ( if there is a next time).

What messes these things up the most is lack of lubrication........lube these babies often.........Grease is cheap, fast & easy. Way cheaper, faster & easier than repairing worn axles.

BTW------->
1964 Econoline factory specs for front axle---------->

Likely applies to all pre-68..............

1964 specs =
CASTER= 5degrees +/- 3/4 degree
CAMBER=3/8 degree +/- 1/4 degree
Toe-in= in inches 3/32 +/- 1/32
TOE-out= (turn out on turn in degrees) 21 1/2 degrees
King Pin inclination ( angle of inside wheel when outside wheel is turned 20 degrees) 7 1/2 inches

TORQUE LIMITS
spring to hanger front = 30-50 ft. lbs.
spring to hanger rear= 20-32 ft. lbs.
spring to front axle ( spring clip nuts) = 50-60 ft. lbs.
stabilizer link to front axle= 40-55 ft. lbs.
stabilizer to link= 12-17 ft. lbs.
stabilizer to link nut= 12-17 ft. lbs.
spindle connecting rod to spindle arm = 45-55 ft. lbs.
spindle arm to spindle nut= 100-250 ft. lbs.
drag link to left spindle arm= 45-55 ft. lbs.

Bump. do the bumpty bump. so's I can reference it later..

thanks!!!

Good thread! Thanks