1954 C3100, Camaro Rear Axle Upgrade Help

[akeane01]

hi,
I know many have put in a Camaro 10 bolt rear axle into the 1/2 ton pickups. I was wondering if there was any guide or posts on how to do this properly.. which springs, perches, pinion angle, driveshaft..etc..

thanks for the help..

[curmudgeon]

Hello, Maybe giving more specific information can get you a better response. Assuming you are keeping leaf springs in the rear, what ride height? monoleaf? Do you want to center the wheels in the rear fender opening? Driveshaft will be dependent on engine/trans combo and position/height in the engine bay.

This is what I used to mount my Camaro 10 bolt:
https://www.performanceonline.com/19...onversion-kit/

[akeane01]

hi, I wanted to keep the ride height the same as stock. I am not sure about the leaf or mono springs in the rear. I would like to know if mono will help the ride in the front. I did not want to put a mustang II or Camaro clip in the front. I would like the tires to be centered in the wheel well. Does that mean a custom leaf spring in the rear. What is the typical angle for the pinion? I heard 4 degrees. thanks

[akeane01]

If I measure the Camaro axle length from where it attaches to the brake drum(4 bolts), the Camaro is about 1.5" shorter than the truck.. What was yours?

[xaircav]

The kit curmudgeon links to is also sold by CPP where I got mine.(4754RCK) Get yourself a CPP catalog (www.classicperform.com) because there is a large tech section that will answer your questions. Their kit uses the stock springs and has a hole in the spring perch that is offset to center the tire in the fenderwell.

[mr48chev]

This is a quick and rather crude drawing that I just did.

On the left is somewhat what your stock axle and mount to the spring looks like with the swivel mount between the axle and spring. Note that the bolt though the spring is offset either 1-1/2 or 1-3/4 inches to the front of the center line of the axle.

On the right is the "replacement" axle with a spring pad/mount that is designed to put the horizontal center line of the axle at the same distance above the spring that the old mount did on the original axle. The hole for the spring bolt to fit into is also drilled offset from the center line of the axle to mount the axle in the center of the wheel opening.



You could fabricate your own spring mount pads out of thick wall rectangular tubing if you can find some that has a section width of 1/3/4 inches. Or there is Someone on Ebay That sells offset spring pads that are 1-3/4 wide to match the stock springs.

[mr48chev]

Here Tucker has them for 29.95
http://www.tuckersparts.com/Axle-Seats.html


It looks like you would need a slight lowering block to get them down that last bit to be at the same height as stock though.

[akeane01]

thanks for the help

[mr48chev]

The mistake I made in 1973 and thousands of others have done is to use "standard" height spring pads either cut off a donor axle or aftermarket and end up with the rear of the truck actually raised up a little over an inch. That was cool in the mid 70's when we all ran the jacked up in the back look but it does set the rear higher than you would want.

[akeane01]

ok, I am missing that.. I thought the new axle with the pad would be the same.. what dimension changed to raise the truck?

[mr48chev]

Before you pull the old axle out measure from the spring to the --- horizontal centerline of the axle. That is the distance you want the center of the axle to sit off the spring with the new mounts. Spring pads like these Moroso units will set the axle closer to the spring than the old one was. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mo...Fc-Cfgodh-AF1A

You don't want those anyhow as they are too wide and you need something like in the link I posted earlier. It's just one of those things to prevent a "oops I got it setting higher than I want" things that can be taken care of while you are setting it up.