1962 GMC 4x4 Front Axle with disk brakes.

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by Erl

I have an original 63 front end. Send me a private message with your phone number.

Erl

PM Sent.

Thanks

[msgross]

Originally Posted by Erl

I have an original 63 front end. Send me a private message with your phone number.

Erl

gotta love the connections that you make on this board... tons of information and helpful friends...

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by msgross

gotta love the connections that you make on this board... tons of information and helpful friends...

Agreed. Its nice to be a part of group of folks that all have a common interest. I'm still new to the forum, but so far I like it and its been a positive thing.

[JPBrecheisen]

For those that are watching:

I got the ball repair done, and got some paint on it. The pics are not the best, but it turned out pretty well. Its humid right now so the paint is still drying, but should make a nice smooth surface for the new knuckle seals to ride on.

I picked up a cheap dig camera today, so hopefully I can post better quality pictures instead of using my beat up old phone.

[JPBrecheisen]

Here is a better picture so you can see the repair. I posted the "before" picture as well so you can reference the improvement.

[j.kirn]

ON stovebolt in the e-bay and craiglist finds there is a guy in california with a axle

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by j.kirn

ON stovebolt in the e-bay and craiglist finds there is a guy in california with a axle

Thanks for the lead. I'll check it out. I had to make an extended trip out of town so progress is at a stand still until I get back. Still looking for parts, so I appreciate the tip

Jonathon

[47thriftmaster]

Nice work so far, should turn out nice even with the disc brakes. How about some pics of the truck as well?

[JPBrecheisen]

Been travelling a ton for work lately, but here is the update since its been forever. I aquired a spare closed knuckle from Erl in TX and should be pulling the brake parts off this weekend to clean up an install.

I wanted to make this truck original since it was so complete when I found it.

[JPBrecheisen]

I missed the request for the pictures of the whole truck.

I have a few posted in the forum at other places, but here are a few of it that I have handy.

Jonathon

['63GENIII]

I like it JP! Hey is there any way to get a pic or two of that rear bumper? I think it may be the same as the one that I'm about to put on mine. BTW, I REALLY like the discs on the closed knuckle axle. Definitely not the easy way but very creative and keeps it close to original. Props to you on the hard work there.

[JPBrecheisen]

Here is the finished product with seal installed. If you look earlier in the thread you'll see where I did a repair on the axle housing area where the seal rides. It looks like its a nice smooth even surface again. Hopefully it will hold up well. It make smooth even contact like it should with no uneven spots or any binding.

Now I will work on getting the drum parts off of my spare axle and getting them cleaned up. I'll need to hunt down some brake hoses and shocks...those seem to be difficult to track down.

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

I like it JP! Hey is there any way to get a pic or two of that rear bumper? I think it may be the same as the one that I'm about to put on mine. BTW, I REALLY like the discs on the closed knuckle axle. Definitely not the easy way but very creative and keeps it close to original. Props to you on the hard work there.

I can take some more specific pictures if you need. Here is a shot of the rear from the pics I have when I bought it.

['63GENIII]

Hey JP. Thanks for the pic. The bumper is almost identical. Sweet looking truck for sure!
Posted via Mobile Device

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

Hey JP. Thanks for the pic. The bumper is almost identical. Sweet looking truck for sure!
Posted via Mobile Device

Did you need any more photos? I can take a few if you need them.

I have seen a few like this one except not with the extra holes for the lights this one has.

Let me know, I'll be glad to snap a few if you need it.

[JPBrecheisen]

For those following along, I wanted to add this information.

I posted some comments and pictures on a thread started by danw210 as he was having similar issues.

When installing the disk brake spindles, you'll find they have a bearing to support the outer axle stub vs the bronze bushing that is original equipment (to my knowledge) for closed knuckle drum brake equipped axles. The I.D. of this bearing is slightly smaller than the I.D. of the bronze bushing. This will cause issues as the outer axel stub won't fit inside the spindle bearing.

What can be done is turning the bushing/bearing surface of the outer stub down a smidge so it will fit inside the spindle with bearing.

I located an extra set of outer axle stubs and had them machined to fit the later model spindle with bearing.

As you can see, it fits onto the axle with no issue.

[JPBrecheisen]

Got the wheel hub reassembled and installed along with the drum brakes. I couldn't have gotten it to this point without that front axle I picked up. So far, so good. Now for the other side....

[JPBrecheisen]

Also got my slot mags cleaned up and my new tires installed...I think they look pretty good.....I hate how messy my garage looks in these pictures

[bhc41051]

Hey JP, I'm replacing the front brakes on my 62 K10. Did you buy new springs or did you use the ones that came with drum brake set up off the 63? My top spring doesn't seem tight enough...

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by bhc41051

Hey JP, I'm replacing the front brakes on my 62 K10. Did you buy new springs or did you use the ones that came with drum brake set up off the 63? My top spring doesn't seem tight enough...

I replaced them. I think you might be able to get them from a normal auto parts supplier, but they are the same springs that are used on the 11x2 front drum brakes on a willys jeep and are available from Walcks 4wd.

Here are the ones you should need.

http://walcks4wd.com/top-shoe-spring.html
http://walcks4wd.com/lower-shoe-spring.html

The other thing about these drum brakes that can kinda mess you up is that the brake shoe with the longer lining goes towards the front of the vehicle because they are non-servo brakes. More modern drum brakes are the opposite.

You can use the picture I have posted as a model and you should be ok. Mine are installed per the 1962 maintenance manual. Take a look at where the yellow spring connects to the brake shoes as well. That is how the book says to attach it.

So...longer lining towards the front...and the long end of the spring goes in the round hole on the front shoe while the short end of the spring goes in the slotted hole in the rear shoe.

I hope this helps.

I am travelling overseas, so if i don't get back on for a few days, thats why

Jonathon

[bhc41051]

Thank you very much Jonathon, You were right I had my primary and secondary shoes switched around, and my spring was in the first slotted hole instead of the round one.. I did figure out the Jeep parts, I bought my springs and those clips that hold the shoes in place from kaiserwillys.com.. I should be good to go now. I removed my drivers side brakes before I realized someone had robbed the shoes and hardware from the passenger side. So I really didn't have much to go by when it came time to put everything back together..
I'd love to find one of those yellow Spicer Hub tags.. very cool!

[JPBrecheisen]

Originally Posted by bhc41051

Thank you very much Jonathon, You were right I had my primary and secondary shoes switched around, and my spring was in the first slotted hole instead of the round one.. I did figure out the Jeep parts, I bought my springs and those clips that hold the shoes in place from kaiserwillys.com.. I should be good to go now. I removed my drivers side brakes before I realized someone had robbed the shoes and hardware from the passenger side. So I really didn't have much to go by when it came time to put everything back together..
I'd love to find one of those yellow Spicer Hub tags.. very cool!

No problem, glad I could help. When I took mine apart, the shoes were backwards also. I didn't think anything of it until i read the book and talked to a few Willys/Jeeps folks about how to correctly install them.

Glad you found the parts ok.

I am not sure if the "spicer joint" tags were used on the GM truck or not. I know for sure they were used on the Willys/Jeeps with the closed knuckle model 25/27 front axles. I guess they had to use those because the Willys/Jeeps used different types of front axle joints over the years (spicer cardan cross vs rzeppa etc). I am not sure if the GM/FORD truck ever used anything besides the spicer cardan cross type joint. I was told they used to tag the front knuckles on the Willys/Jeeps so when they cam in for service, the mechanic knew what they had without having to disassemble it first. If you wanted to find a set of tags, you might be able to find them on an old model 25/27 closed knuckle. I didn't even know mine where there until I cleaned off the knuckles.

Good luck with your project, let me know if there is anything else you think I can help with.

Jonathon

[JPBrecheisen]

Been a while since I've been on to update. I got the passenger side all put together. Working on the drivers side. I'm going to stay with the original style drums but will probably make the upgrade to power brakes. The previous owner installed a dual master cylinder with booster, so I think the drums with the power assist will stop it just fine. I hope I can get some time to finish the drivers side up so I can check it out.

I also had LARES CORP rebuild the steering gear. From what I have found, they only used this style steering gear from 1960-62. I have some references that say they used it until 1963, but I think that was the switch-over year. I gained a 1963 front axle from another guy, but it had the later model gear on it. I only have found one extra steering gear like this one. I think its a bit of a unicorn. I'm glad this one was good enough to rebuild.

[swamp rat]

Lookin good!

[vectorit]

Nice!