torque tube help please!!

[Old School Kid]

Well the old girl had to come home on the stretcher yesterday... Thanks 72Freak...

While out for a little Sunday drive I came to a stop and the crunching began. It will go into gear just fine it just feels like the tube is binding up internally. I know nothing about the inter workings of a torque tube.. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.

I know a lot of people have made the change over to a open setup... Is there a way to fix the torque tube? Don't really want to get into changing out transmission,drive shaft and rear end yet.$$$$$

Thank for all your help..

[dwcsr]

You need to take the rear and tube out to find out whats broken. It may be just the front U Joint or the gear itself. Either way it all has to come out to fix. As for parts there are parts around on ebay and other sites such as Stovebolt.com. Get a shop manual if you don't have one. You'll need it for this repair I don't know many people that have actual knowledge on repair of torqtubes. Stovebolt would be the place for that info as well.

[mr48chev]

Dave is about 99.99% correct in that it is either the U joint or the ringgear/carrier.

I think I'd stick a pan under the rear end and pull the rear cover and take a look inside to see if the gears are bad or the pin holding the spyders are bad. If that is good you are only out some silicone sealer and a couple of bottles of gear oil to put it back together. If it is bad it's time to find a different rear end. If that looks good pull the coupler off the back of the trans and look at the U joint.

Or you might jack up a wheel and rotate it back and forth to see if you can hear the noise from below. With the trans in gear you should be able to tell where the clunk is coming from. Don't forget to block the truck up.

[Old School Kid]

thanks y'all

The clunk seems to be coming from up front... beginning of drive shaft.

Are these torque tubes under pressure? Whats the best way to take apart to get to front u-joint?

[mr48chev]

This is where we need one of the restorers in the brigade to chime in with photos or scans if possible.
I think most guys block the truck using the frame rails and then unbolt the U bolts on the rear axle and after they take the bolts out of the retainer on the back of the trans that holds the torque tube to the back of the trans they push the rear end and torque tube back just enough to allow them to pull the U joint and yoke assembly out.
http://www.chevsofthe40s.com/dept/Tr..._Bushings.html
If you scroll down the page you will see what the U joint should look like and what the yoke/joint assembly should look like. If it is just a bad U joint you will probably have to take the joint to the parts house to have it matched up or find one that has books that go back that far. I couldn't find it online outside of the vintage truck specialty shops but it should be available locally.

[mr48chev]

Here is a scan out of the 47/54 Chevy truck assembly manual.

By looking at the insert in the upper right corner you might be able to unscrew the jam nut (A) and slide the collar back enough to see the U joint. Watch your fingers as these things bite once in a while.
This one should be right side up.

[MrTucker]

I just took mine apart last weekend, I can snap a pic showing the u-joint exposed if you'd like, but it's straight forward.

The torque tube is not pressurized. You unbolt and remove the carrier bearing mount, then the section of torque tube attached to the tranny slips forward (towards the engine) exposing the u-joint. Then you can simply undo the 4 small bolts holding the holding the bearing to the trunion (in the diagram above) and the torque tube can then be separated from the tranny. Once it's separated, you can lower the torque tube down to the ground. There is no need to removed the rear axel, unless you just want more room to work...

This may sound confusing but once you get into it, it's pretty simple.

Oh, and be carefull to NOT remove the section of torque tube from the tranny - it will drain all of your tranny fluid on your driveway, then your wife will freak out on you...ask me how I know...

[MrTucker]

Here's a quick pic with some lables I made really quickly...

Let me know if this doesn't make any sense.

[mylow53]

i use to go thru those ujoints about one a year. the grinding sound could be one of the bolts that came loose....
GT

[Old School Kid]

Great help y'all!!! I'll climb under her and see what I can find...

Thanks again