VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 '30 Steering Gear Adjustment

Thanks Bill. Just looked at how many hits it's had and it read 38,910. WOW!!

Where do you find the number of hits a topic had????

I just hit his web site, scrolled down to the bottom of the page and read the hits. It's up to 38,921 be cause I hit it myself a couple of times today. I'm talking of his '31 chev web site.

Cool! Because it sounded like you were talking about hits on Chevy Chatter.

I took all of the play out of my steering by adjusting the steering gear box on my 31, also adjusting the tie-rod ends, set the toe-in at 1/4", bubble balanced all four tires, inflated them at 35psi, just recently installed tapered front (inner and outer) wheel bearings that I recently purchased from Olcar Bearing Co. I am now experiencing a more stable 31 Chevrolet. I`ve also just installed Larry Jackson`s 350 ring and pinion gears with speedo adapter, re-torqued the rear trunion bearing to 20 ft lbs, re-shimed the U-joint ball housing which totally improves the ride. Those 350 gears are great! We can go out on the big roads now. My wife and I are now ready to see the USA in our CHEVROLET!!

Great news, congrats...

Did you install the 3.50 yourself? Any problems?

Gator! Yes I installed it myself, with a little help from my dictionary of four letter words. The only real problem I had was the darn rivets. Larry has a set of dies he loans to anyone who buys his gears but he`d loaned them out and they have never been returned. So I decided to bolt them on with grade 5 3/8X 1 1/4" fine thread but the holes in the ring gear were sized to the thickness of the rivet which was 11/32", and after burning out several drill bits I took it to a machine shop and had them milled out to accomodate the 3/8" bolt which I thread locked with permanent Red. Other than that everything went good, The backlash on these gears are .009 and the book says .003-.005 which was confusing until I spotted the correct setting etched on the new ring gear!! Shimming the pinion and adjusting the backlash was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. My wife and I are ready to go on our clubs(VCCA) Fall Tour Oct 9th. I know the other people on the tour will be glad I`ve got those gears now since I`ll be able to keep up with those modern chevrolets, (1947-50).

Are you sure the bolts will be OK? Can you drill thru the ends or the bolts and insert a cotter key? or spot weld them on?

Could it be taken some place to put rivets in, or not?

Grade 8 bolts with red thread locker is much more secure than rivets! It takes next to a nuclear detonation to break the nuts loose. But if you heat them then they can easily be removed. No the temperature is much more than the rear end will generate unless you catch the oil on fire.

I'm with Chipper......if bolts are going to be used, Grade 8 with the red thread locker is the only way to go. Grade 5 bolts are not strong enough.

Good to know. I plan on getting the 3.50 gears also.

Stop and think about it! Grade 5 with red thread lock are stronger than the mild steel 11/32" rivets and that is what I happened to have available the day I put it together. I have since put over 100 miles on this installation with no problems. So, My opinion is that grade 5 "is strong enough" much stronger than those original rivets. If you know anybody that wants the rivets I have them. To correctly install the rivets you will need a set of dies that Larry Jackson had made and loans out and pressed with a 10-20 ton press. I did not have those dies since he loaned them out and they have not been returned, and I was not going to pay a machine shop to make them. Gator, " if your going get a set of those 350 gears you might want to call Larry to see if he has any available since he usually does not keep them in stock. His phone number is 805 441 2627.

Yes, a grade 5 bolt is stronger than a mild steel rivet. However, when two pieces are riveted together the overall unit is extremely strong. Grade 8 bolts are usually recommended if the ring gear is not going to be riveted to the carrier.

Thanks for the info and the heads up.

Gator! I talked to Larry Jackson and he said that he only had one set of 3.50 gears left. Just thought I`d tell you. If you decide to get them you will definetely not be sorry.

Someone will probably pick those up in a heart beat too. The Larry Jackson gears are the only way to go!

Gator! My wife and I just got back late last nite from a 400 mile club tour with a bunch of old chevies,we had 2 absolutely beautiful days traveling into 3 different states to 2 different Octoberfests, and our 31 did great with those new 3:50 gears. Don`t get me wrong, you can still enjoy your chevy without changing those gears but it just makes it more user-friendly in to-days traffic and we can keep up with those snobs in their late model 40`s. The same rpms it took us to go 45 now moves her along 55-60 with no problems.

Really cool, Hoppy, I was convinced earlier to go to the 3.50 but was worried that it might be more than I could do. I have never worked on a rear end of a '32.

I assume (yes I know what that means LOL) that there are detailed instructions on installing the new gears.

Did you change the gearing on your speedometer?

Someone said on Chatter (JYD?)that there was a study done on the 4.11 & the 3.50 comparing them, maybe it was in the G&D several years ago? Would it be possible for me to get a copy of that study or article from one of you guys?

I called Larry on the 7th and he called me back last night and I am now the proud owner of 3.50 gears, just waiting on the total to send him, he will call again tonight.

Larry would like for the rivet tool to be returned to him so he can loan it to others, so if any of you are that person who has forgotten to return it; all is forgiven please just ship it back, no problem...

Real nice guy, don't know if he will be making any more of the gears...

When I get to installing the gears, you guys will be getting some questions from me, I'm sure...

Gator! Did you get the last set of 3:50`s from Larry? I bought a reduction gear box for the speeedometer from Larry,I think it was $65. I will be glad to help answer any questions I can since it was the first time for me too. Larry Jackson is a very patient man and spent alot of his time on the phone with me. My home phone number is 636-441-3096 (St. Peters, Mo).I also replaced the carrier, pinion and axel bearings that I got from Olcar Bearing Co.(910-693-3324). They are located in North Carolina. This is not absolutely necessary but I just wanted to spend some of the kids inheritance and not have to worry about them, plus his axel bearings are sealed. If Larry`s rivet dies don`t come back you could do what I did and bolt the ring gear on, but I had to have the ten holes enlarged 1/32" to make the 3/8" bolts fit since the gear is 11/32" The job is really not that difficult if you go real slow, which is at my age the only speed I have left!! That study on gear ratios was probably written by Larry. He told me he had written several technical articles in the G&D several years ago and has been with the VCCA a long time. A Super nice fellow(he has a 30 Chevrolet) and also knows alot about brakes and told me he drives his 30, 65-70 mph and tells me his brakes work almost like modern ones, they better a those speeds. Good luck Gator and give me a call or e-mail me if ya wanna talk!! :) :)

I just thought, I probably violated the Chatter rules with this discussion on rear end gears, under the topic of steering gear adjustments!! Oh well!!

Not the first time we have 'veered' a little. This raises a question for the "topic keepers"; can you guys move 5 or 6 of these postings into and under a new topic heading (which you would need to do also)? And then post a note here telling us a 'new' topic was started?

"Slow" is kicking it into passing gear for me right now...

I thank you for your offer of help when I get to the gear swap, I will need it.

Even if you have grade 5 bolts in your shop, I believe the ring gear should be bolted with grade 8 bolts since the shearing forces here are more than a usual bolt application requires. I found that most grade 5 bolts have a regular or a course thread (National?) and most of the grade 8 bolts I find have a fine or (S.A.E.?) thread. Is that the usual situation?

Gator! I talked to Larry Jackson last night and he said that yes, he had written an article in the G&D sometime in 1990 or 1991 (he can`t remember) with pictures and technical info regarding swapping the 3:50 ring & pinion gears. If any VCCA member has copies of this, could you post the date and month? He also said that he is taking names of people who would want a set of 3:36 ring and pinion gears for the 1937 Truck. He has 12 names, and needs approximately 25 to make it cost effective to set-up and run those gears.

Anyone have the article from the G&D?

Try February 1992 G&D pages 13-16.