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Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 6th, 2017, 12:01 pm
by Rob29
Hello, my son and I just entered the antique world with a 29 AA. Once home we found that the back axle was not parallel with the front. We thought (hoped) this would be an easy adjustment. However, it appears that root cause is a slight bend in the torque tube near the rear flange. Is this fixable somehow? I've been looking for a replacement tube but haven't any luck. Thanks for any ideas.

Rob

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 6th, 2017, 1:57 pm
by bud valerius
send me a photo ,I have several worm drives i have parted out (economyelectric@hotmail.com)

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 6th, 2017, 7:10 pm
by 1crosscut
Welcome to the hobby. Bud is very knowledgeable on these old trucks and should be able to help you out with the parts that you need. I've not seen a torque tube that was bent. Are your radius rods bent too? I would be interested in seeing pictures of it and also of your truck as I'm sure others would.

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 6th, 2017, 7:26 pm
by Stakebed
agreed, those are some beefy tubes to get bent...
where are you located? its a big heavy item to ship...

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 7th, 2017, 5:20 am
by bud valerius
You might look at your rear springs to see if they are installed the correct way . Measure from the center to each end of the spring I think one side is longer if so you will have to turn one around . I do have good torque tubes and radius rods for sale

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 7th, 2017, 1:04 pm
by Rob29
Thanks for the welcome and replies. I'll check out the springs tonight. Regarding the radius rods, assuming they are what connects the rear axle to the front of the torque tube they have been cut off and replaced with I-channel stock, what looks to be a very long time ago. I thought they were installed poorly and were the problem but taking them off and dropping the rear end didn't help. Attached are some photos. I'm NW of Chicago.

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 7th, 2017, 1:24 pm
by Bob C
That almost looks like the pin may have come out of the coupling at one time and pushed the metal out.

Bob
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DSC07823.JPG (245.21 KiB) Viewed 7823 times

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 8th, 2017, 6:58 am
by Rob29
We wondered about that bump in the tube. It seems factory made but with no obvious purpose. We're going to pull the tube off this weekend and try and confirm it's bent. Since it's not a perfect taper it's hard to tell for sure. I measured the springs and they appear ok. The distance between the front and rear axle is one inch longer on one side so something is off.

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 8th, 2017, 8:13 am
by Bob C
Have you made sure the front axle is straight, they bend fairly easy.

Bob

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 8th, 2017, 1:00 pm
by Rob29
Good thought, thanks. Just checked and the front axle is nice and straight.

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 9th, 2017, 1:06 pm
by Rob29
I can't get the torque tube off an unless I'm missing something it appears to be related to the bump in the tube shown in the photo. Can someone please confirm that bump is not supposed to be there. I certainly don't want to cut the torque tube off if it's unnecessary. Thanks.

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 9th, 2017, 1:55 pm
by Bob C
Have you removed the speedometer drive?

Bob

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 9th, 2017, 4:35 pm
by Stakebed
yea bump is deff not supposed to be there... are you aware there is a snap ring in the u joint end?

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 9th, 2017, 5:54 pm
by KimVanOrder
no bump on my 28. Don't cut the tube. Keep at it. there is a way.

Re: Bent torque tube on 29 88-A

Posted: July 9th, 2017, 7:33 pm
by 1crosscut
Remove the speedometer cover and driven gear. Then wipe away the grease etc... around the exposed end of the drive shaft so you can see the snap/lock ring that holds the speedometer drive gear in the torque tube. Use a small flat bladed screw driver or such to worry it out of there. Once you get the ring out you can work the speedometer gear out and pull the torque tube off.
Been a while so guys help me out here. Is the seal at the end of the torque tube closest to the differential going to hang it up some coming off? If I remember right it seems that you may need to work the torque tube back and forth a bit like a slide hammer to pop that seal out allowing to torque tube to then slide off.