VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Oakie bushing

Got my Oakie bushing today , looks like a quality unit even tho it's made in India :(

Disaster with my repair bushing assembly , I tried to install my drive shaft bushing seal assembly today in my 47 Chev, now I am in a real mess. I read the directions and followed them to the letter but now I have the bushing 3/4 of the way in and the second large diameter section has swelled my torque tube out and it will not go in any more. The bushing went in so hard I will never get it out, my tube is destroyed.Any one else had a problem with this item? The package it came in says Vintage Auto Parts manufactured it but the phone number does not work,part number is V-102 HELP

This isn't a solotion but maybe its time to get the torque tube/differential out of a 1950-1954 Power Glide (3.55 ratio) or a 1953-1954 stick (3.70 ratio)
Note that the 1951 and up has a slightly larger torque tube (which is good).

My plan was to install a NOS set of 3:73 gears I purchased on EBAY in this housing, so much for my plan, now I have a destroyed torque tube and I am off the road:( :(.The bushing was made in India. If I had expected this to be a problem I would have miked everything before hand, I really thought the problem would be that the bushing assembly would be loose in the torque tube. The instructions mention some assemblies could be loose and the bushing would need to be pinned, there was no mention of the bushing being too tight in the tube.

Hi Mel,

Your profile doesn't say where in Ontario you are? I have torque tubes so let me know if you can not find one local. I also have all the tools and some video footage on how I installed mine. We have discussed this topic a lot over the last 3 years so do an Advance Search under Oakie and you should finds some good info.

I am not at home until Sunday so will not be of any more help until then.

Good Luck, Mike

This won't help you now, but it is always a good idea to measure for clearances first before anything is installed as a press fit because there usually seems to be some differences, especially if the part in question was made overseas and not in the USA. In measuring first it will tend to avoid issues like the one that you are experiencing at present. Hopefully you can figure out a way to correct the problem.

I will be calling Jerry at the Filling Station where I purchased the bushing on Monday and see what can be done? About the only thing I can see is another new bushing ,mike it and the next housing and try again. Very disappointing :( I thought the bushing install would the easiest part of the job.Stuff like this takes the fun of working on an old car in a hurry :( Also gets darn expensive when you have to import the parts from the USA .

I take the torque tube off and start by getting the bushing out by driving it back out going in from the rear of the torque tube.

I could do that Don but I would be driving on the seal end of the Oakie bushing and would totally destroy it(Oakie) in short order.Its in there VERY VERY tight.:(Its strange because the stock front bushing that needs to be removed to install the Oakie came out very easily after removing the anchoring pin.I could split the tube and get it out but of coarse the tube would then be junk :(

Also if its an interference fit cooling the bushing by leaving in the freezer overnight will help in the assembly.

The press fit of the Oakie is way way too much compared to the fit of the stock bushing,I don't understand why they would make it so tight???? Cooling the Oakie in the freezer and maybe heating the tube would not have helped in my case, its just too frigging tight.It was actually swelling the tube as I drove it in.

StylemasterMEL, to remove the Oakie bushing form your torque tube, you could try using a 3/4-inch diameter threaded rod (from your local hardware store), 5 matching nuts, a flat washer that will go inside the tube and catch the bushing, and an exhaust pipe adapter or reducer (from your local auto parts store) that will butt up against the end of the tube and allow the bushing to pass through. Place the washer and 2 nuts on the threaded rod, tighten the nuts to lock them together at one end of the rod, and thread the other end of the rod down the tube and through the bushing. Place the exhaust pipe adapter, another washer, a nut against the washer, and 2 more nuts tightened and locked together on the threaded rod. With one wrench, hold the the nuts that are locked together, and turn the other nut against the washer with another wrench until the bushing comes free.

I don't think I would use it anyway if its driven in so hard that it expanded the outside of the torque tube. If it was mine I would get it out and start over and if I had to buy another bushing so be it. Don

Oh I will be starting over alright....I don't want to reuse the Oakie, wish I had never heard of the piece of crap .I should have stuck with my search for original GM parts, I had found the front bushing and I likely can find the rear with the seal as well. Luckily I have another torque tube but it is very aggravating spending good $$$$ on crap parts.

The drive shaft has to be removed to install the rear bushing. While you are at it you can install the 3.73 gears.

I started the bushing installation process with a bare housing,,, the only thing in the tube was the stock rear bearing/seal which instructions said not to remove.

I borrowed a friends micrometer and I miked a stock NOS GM front bushing and the O.D. is 1.725". The O.D. of the portion of the Oakie that is to press into the front of the tube is 1.765", YIKES way too large. You can't tell me I am the only person that purchased one of these defective bushings .Something strange going on here with the supplier

There are 3 different oakie bushings. One for '37 to '39 models, another for '40 to '50 models, and another for '51 to '54. What part number did you order and what part number did you receive. Sounds to me like you just got the wrong bushing.

I have a 1947 Stylemaster "car"(currently off the road)I ordered for same and got a package marked V-102 marked 1940-50 Torque Tube Bushing & Seal,,,,,,part is Made in India, company name is Vintage Auto Parts Inc.Part came with 2 instruction sheets one marked V-101. Hows that for confusing???

The 1951 and up is the larger one and is 1 15/64"
The parts book dosen't give the OD for 1940-1950.

That does not sound right. 1 15/64 is only 1.234". That sounds like the ID rather than the OD.

1 51/64" for the 1951 and up
1 23/32" for the 1950 and prior.
I had 15 rather than 51
and found the demension for the earlier

I think there is a large element of luck in fitting the Oakie bushing/seal combination. On my 39 the bush puller just removed the bronze liner in the bush and nothing I could do would shift the steel section. You really need another larger puller to remove the steel section. And yes I had removed the lock pin.
I refitted the bronze section using the universal yoke as a driver and put the replacement seal/bush on the shelf as a reminder to do things properly the next time I try.

Back to the Okie (or any torque-tube bushing) not fitting. It seems to me that the size of the bushing, as stated by Gene, would be milled to a perfect size fit. No matter where it is manufactured.

Those size specifications are just not so difficult to meet or check. Accordingly, it seems to me that C0TF and FS wouldn't sell something as simple as a torque-tube busing that doesn't fit. What is wrong with my thinking here?

Charlie

Hi Mel,

What luck have you had doing an Advance Searchon this topic? A lot of good posts are indexed here and before you get in anymore trouble you should go through them thoroughly?

Have you read up on the proper steps on installing the Torque Tube Gasket Kit which you will have to do when you have finished with your Oakie Bushing? This is another area where our index will help you. All this is related and mimics why folks jump in and do an Oakie repair, and some probably needlessly. They originally have a vibration in their drive train and don't realize what is causing it? It could be bad motor or transmission mounts, a bad universal joint, improperly installed Torque tube gaskets, but they go right to the toughest job on the drive shaft and think reading a few manufacturer's directions are going to get them through the job. They have missed the research step in the process that needs to be thoroughly done before attempting most major repairs.

If you haven't done your homework your ......

Good luck, Mike

I see that the OP lives in Canada and has a previous post about a shift shaft bushing that did not fit. He got it from the same supplier as his oakie bushing. I am wondering if he has a Canadian model Chevy, and if so, are they different from US models. Did Canada use the metric system in the 40's? Seems unusual that the same supplier has two different types of bushings that don't fit this car.

Received my replacement Oakie today from The Filling Station, thank you very much Jerry, some of the Oakies were packaged incorrectly:(, I just happened to be the lucky guy that got one.My torque tube is junk now but I have an extra TT to try again , which is good :)

Hi Marvin,

I hope you have taken some time to check out our old posts on replacing an Oakie Bushing. Go back to around 2004 for a good look at advice. The Filling Station also has some tech articles on this topic on their website.

Here are some tool ideas. Driveshaft bushing stuck

Good luck, Mike

But I ignored my own advice. I made a puller and removed the steel bush backing. I miked the OD of the oakie bushing and found it to be 3 thou smaller than the GM bush on the U/joint end. The seal end was 9 thou smaller than that. As I didn't know the '39 dimensions I thought it would be a loose fit. Wrong. Getting it in turned out to be the hardest thing I have ever had to do to a car. The amount of force needed to hammer it in was nothing but abuse. I was using a 5 pound hammer and the amount of blows required can have done no good at all to the banjo housing. Knowing what I know now I would never consider changing the bush this way again. Including the time needed to make a puller I don't think I saved any time at all over the original way to do it. Pulling the third member would have enabled me to remove to oakie bushing, measure the inside of the torque tube and relieve the bush a little if necessary. The mental stress would have been a lot less.

I had a similar issue, the bushing stopped moving at the last inch. Instead of beating the crap out of the bushing with a hammer, I put a 4x4 piece of wood on the concrete floor, put the TT in a vertical position with the banjo end up, and raised it up about 2 feet, and let gravity do its job. After 3-4 hits it finally went in.

Also, make sure the rear seal was seated properly....I almost crushed mine when I looked inside at the last minute to see if there was any blockage.

When you say that the bushing was incorrectly packaged...are you referring to the oxidation on the surface? Mine was like that. I had to clean it off and use gear oil.

After my struggles fitting the Oakie Bushing my vibration problems were cured. However now I find a worse problem. Oil transfer from the transmission to the diff has increased to half a pint per 20 miles. Somehow the bushing has damaged its seal and the existing seal as well. This makes it impossible to drive very far without emptying the transmission. The plan now is to remove the third member and pull or drive out all the seals and bushings including the Okie from the torque tube, fit a new seal to the Okie and refit it to the Torque tube. This is going to be tough considering how tight the Okie was to put in. I'm thinking of making a puller using half inch threaded rod. Having the torque tube out will let me examine everything before fitting the prop shaft and avoid any problems. Should have done this to start with. Watch this space.

Is there another source known, besides this company in India, for the Oakie Bushing ?

Are there different oakie bushings?

I'm looking at on in my hand right now and on one end it has the word "NATIONAL" and opposite that and on the same end the numbers "50448 or 9." That last number is not as clear.

What does this one fit?

Charlie

Here's an advertisement for oakies.....

Bob....I don't know where these are made.
Charlie.....this literature shows 3 different models.


There's a phone number shown....give "em a call.

Hope this helps.

Hello Ken,

Your info is a great find.

I believe this VINTAGE brand is the one that caused the original poster of this thread, "Stylemaster Mel", all the grief, when installing.

Mel mentions the V-102, which seems correct for his application, but the tight fit he encountered tells me he actually received the V-105, which is for the larger diameter tube, found in the '51 to '54.

Bob, you're correct about the "Vintage" brand. Guess I should have reread this thread before posting. It does sound like an incorrect packaging error on the supplier's part. I used this brand years ago when I installed one in my 48 and while it was tough hammering, it did go in and worked well.

StylemasterMEL.......sorry I couldn't help. Rework due to someone else's mistakes can be very frustrating. Good Luck.

Still, good info, just the same.

My diff is now in pieces and the torque tube on the bench. The cause of my transmission to diff oil flow is this. The pounding given to the Oakie bushing to insert it dislodged the oil seal from the end and it is now sitting loose between the old bushing and the new one. An old schoolteacher of mine once told me there is no shortcut to a good job. 57 years later I now see what he was getting at. Much bad language down here in the South Pacific.

I bit the bullet and pulled my diff. It wasn't that hard just heavy for an old geezer like me. A trolley jack at each end with a homemade cradle on the heavy end did the trick and I wheeled it out. I took the diff off and removed the pinion and drive shaft.I then had a look down the torque tube with my inspection camera and saw the new Oakie seal sitting loose in the torque tube .The hammering had dislodged it from the Oakie tube.I made up a puller out of 1/2 inch threaded rod and started pulling everything out.A couple of times I thought it was going to strip but after an hour or so of winding I had everything out of the torque tube. I took a close look at the Oakie and found the seal was only a thumb press fit in the steel tube and had been stuck in with RTV. Bad! I got a new seal and Loctited it in then peened the inner edge of the Oakie tube slightly. Now it's held securely. I then put the Oakie in the freezer for 3 hours and refitted it using the "drop the torque tube" method.Three bangs was enough. I left 1/8 in protruding to center a puller in case it ever has to come out again. Won't be me! Reassembled the diff with the bonus of removing 14 thou excess backplay in the ring and pinion.Fitted back in the car and all was OK. The lesson from this is measure and check everything on the Oakie before you hammer it in. Evidently Indian micrometers measure differently to ours. Incidentally mine was a V101 in a 39 car but I would check any of them now.

Removing 14 thou from a "seasoned or used" ring and pinion may be cause for a new howl ?

Hi Colin,

Thank you for taking the time to walk us through your repair process. Your good description of the process gives us the knowledge to take on this project. Please update us again after putting some miles on your car.

Best wishes Mike

That had crossed my mind. The 39 specs called for .004" to 008" backlash.
Mine had .023" so I took out .014" leaving it at .001" over specs. The diff is quiet so it looks like I got away with it. My only glitch was a drip from the bottom diff cover bolt. Oh well, it will match the one from the universal joint ball. I'll have to buy another drip tray.