1954 AR 160

....and the diff smelt of bananas......



Jarrod.

Just spent a hole hour writing up a big storm of things I am working on with the truck and some how deleted it all.
Stand by while I rewrite it all.

The work on the truck is slow but I am moving forward with it. I have a cummins 6bt lined up for it. I will be picking it up in January. Being so close to xmas I want to sit on my pennys for the time being. I get that I will need to make a adapter plate up for the box but its nothing I am not willing to do. I dont know about engine mounts but once again I will cross that road when I come to it.

I have got my hands on a front diff for her. Which has got me stumped on how to go about things and I am hoping few of you migh help with advise. I have a 2 speed diff in the back and I really dont want to take it out. The 2 speed will be very good when Im out in the hills. But 4wd will also have its strong points when out bush. Can I mach the diff ratios with out taking out my 2 speed. I have the transfer case and a secon gear box if I need it. Well I have all the parts that are needed for the job. I dont know the diff ratios at the moment but I will have that info sometime next month with some luck just need the time to pick up the front diff and parts. I also have a extra single speed back diff that has been given to me.

The other info I am hoping someone on eh migh have some insight on is.
I have been offed a bunch of old acco parts. The air brake system and the power assist steering from a old rusted out truck. I am worried about the brakes when out in the hills more so the hand brake then any thing els as it is a tail shaft jobby. I would really like the type that lock all 4 wheels. I like safty when I am out alone. Cutting wood all ready has its own set of dangers with out getting run over by my own parked truck. I gess my question is can I adapt the air brake system to the truck or am I in for some major head f@#ks.
As for the steering I am not overly worried but it would be nice when once again out in them hills.

Thanks in advance for any info that you guys can offer.

Wow Gary, that's quite a project lined up. Will be an awesome truck when done, love the looks of R lines. Cab looks very tidy. Out of interest, are you planning on registering? Only thinking of all this work and the engineering needed - not an issue if just a farm truck, but then a lot of effort for it if just that. What made you go for a cummins? Have you been hanging out on 4btswaps.com?

Sounds like you have the engine and trans on a good path. But you mention ratios front and back - this is where things might get tricky. Getting a random front diff and your back diff to match up is like winning the lottery (well maybe a low one anyway), and unless it's pretty common you may find swapping gear sets hard to do as well - as in hard to find the right ratios. A better way would have been to find your rear ratios and hunt for a front to match one of them. Or maybe get the front ratio and match the rear. But you also need to think about your final desired ratio - 4wds will generally be lower than ideal for on road use. Although if this matched your lower diff ratio it might be ideal, just have to remember to be in low when in 4wd. I remember looking at ratios a bit and working out the high in my c1800 matched one of the ratios in the front of a C1600 4wd so you may be lucky after all... You could in theory do something really out there like use a gearbox after the TC to match the rear to the front ratios, but it would take a lot of work, a lot of space, some crazy linkages, a lot of brain power, a bit of luck and an unusual engineer to sign off on it for roadworthyness. Just see what ratios you've got, the model of front diff and take it from there.

On air brakes - to lock all four wheels you need full air (S cams basically) with maxis an all chambers. For this you need Big axles all round - a total swap out in fact. Also a much more complex air system, very good brakes and the luxury of no brake fluid anywhere but a lot of work and expense first up. Some trucks came with air park brakes in the back along with air over hydraulic service but they had very specific brake cylinders in the rear, not something easily adaptable to your R line. Never heard of air over hydraulic with air park up front. If you want air over hydraulic and minimal work, swap the vacuum booster for an air booster (sometimes called an airpack) and you don't have to touch your slave or master cylinders. Of course you still need a compressor, tanks and valves etc.. But if you have all this from an acco you're ahead. Not sure if any accos had this set up though - inter wise I think it was only some of the bonneted ones, the accos mostly had an air treddle valve with an air operated MC. You might need to change the slaves depending on bore sizes and then I'm not sure there were options for your axles. Personally I find a trans park brake can be pretty good - the untouched one in my C1800 is actually pretty respectable, compared to a cruiser that is!

If you can't get diff ratios to match perfectly you could use different aspect (or size) tyres front and rear to get them closer.

Also bear in mind you don't need a perfect match on loose surfaces as a little wheel slip isn't a problem.

Most 4x4's use the slip factor to take wind up out of the driveline due to differently worn tyres or just turning corners.

now me being farmer Paul and RAG (rough as guts) I cant see why you cant get s cam backing plates or maybe just modify the backing plates you have weld the corresponding brackets on the axle housing for the S cam and the cans and put the plumbing in job done

and modify the shoes got put a roller on for the S cams and pivot on the bottom can most likely use the same bottom pivot

I have had trailers that I could quite clearly see had been hydraulic or air over hydraulic maybe vacuum over hydraulic yet they went over the pits never a problem

yes it would be wise to consult someone smarter than me like an engineer which you will have to for the engine and trans mods

strange as it may be a lot of European trucks single drive prime mover types have maxis all round yet US trucks have no brakes on the front axles at all dunno if its still like that in the US

could you get a bigger acco parts truck with 4x4 with maxis on would make the change a lot easier or perhaps a rusted out cab and swap cab might work better for the engineer

dunno lots to think about keep us posted

Paul

Paul:

If you don't have steer axle brakes in the States, they won't let you on the road. Back in the day, a lot of road tractors were built with no front brakes, but after a full Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety re-bore in the late eighties, the requirement for front brakes (with no pressure limiting valve) was introduced and all trucks without front brakes had to be retro-fitted by 1992 (IIRC). Now that we are blessed with ABS, no worries, mate, just stamp on the whoa pedal and hope for the best. After all, the computer is smarter than the driver, not so? It's even getting so a separate trailer brake control is a thing of the past. The big road outfits started doing away with them in the nineties, figured that drivers overused them and flat-spotted the trailer rubber. Benefits of progress, I guess.

All the best,

Mark

sorry guys internet is caped atm will reply to you comments in a week when my net rolls over again. To much youtube. I would use phone but I have fat fingers.

Mark I had been told they didnt have them something to do with the ice and snow driving something I no nothing about I have seen photo's of trucks without them thanks for the input like some many things we can only guess what happens over the other side of the world come to think of it I have no idea whats going on here most of the time LOL

Paul

Mrsmackpaul wrote: now me being farmer Paul and RAG (rough as guts) I cant see why you cant get s cam backing plates or maybe just modify the backing plates you have weld the corresponding brackets on the axle housing for the S cam and the cans and put the plumbing in job done

and modify the shoes got put a roller on for the S cams and pivot on the bottom can most likely use the same bottom pivot

I have had trailers that I could quite clearly see had been hydraulic or air over hydraulic maybe vacuum over hydraulic yet they went over the pits never a problem

yes it would be wise to consult someone smarter than me like an engineer which you will have to for the engine and trans mods

To do it the proper way you'd have to get backing plates made for your specific axle housing would you not? It's an interesting idea what you're talking about and I would consider it - I would have thought no inspector would ever let them through though, would give them a heart attack round here and they're nothing like over on the coast! Are you thinking just do it and don't tell or get the engineers involved? Or are you QLD?

Maybe the easiest would be to adapt an S cam backing plate rather then modifying a juice one