Need some help guys, broke the drivers side axle in my 33 tonight. It's a chevy rear end between 55 to 64, any way to tell what year it is? I do know that it has 1 3/4 wide shoes. Thanks. Tommy
Sorry to send you off the site, but DZAuto on Chevytalk has been rebuilding those rearends for years and knows virtually everything about them. I did a search for one his threads with axle content in it. I encourage you to look at some of his other posts if you don't find what you need. http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/2069959/
5-6-7 rearends were spring leaf...coils past that...I think the axles varied different years...try looking on the axle flange edge, may have a GM # stamped on it...good luck
Been a LONG time ago ... but I seem to remember that the 55/56 had a different axle bearing than the 57 ?? Maybe some one else can verify this.
Yes the 57 bearing is diffrent and so is the 57 housing where it fits. I have a axle for a 57 laying in the garage if you were only closer.
I didn't find a chart on either Moser or Dutchman's web sites but Dutchman's did show the tri 5 as using one axle and the 58/64 lumped together. One other source shows that the differential side bearings are different between the 55/56 and the 57/64 rear axles. On this link, scroll down to section 5 and there is a listing of seals and bearings. That should get you right in the ball park on id of what you have. http://www.1955-75chevyautoparts.com/catalogpdfs/B1 05 brakes.pdf
As noted, 55-57 were on leaf springs. Spring perch centerline to centerline measured 46" on p***enger cars. Corvettes were on leafs until 62. 55's measured 47-5/8"; 56-58's measured 47-1/4"; 59-62's measured 47-15/64'. All 55-64 p***enger rears and Corvette rears from 56-62 measured 55" from flange to flange. The 55 Corvette rear was 54-1/2". The axle shaft lengths in these rears varied by model year, open or posi, and left or right. Best to get a measurement on both of your axles. All were 17 spline. First posi was cast in Dec 56 and built in Jan 57. The second version, known as the "X" case, was cast in late Jan 57 thru Feb 57 with build dates in Feb/Mar 57. It has an "X" cast into the case next to the "GM" letters. The "P" case appeared on all factory posi cases from 1 Apr 57 through the 64 model year on p***enger and Corvette models. Two "P" versions exist; a thin "P" and a thick "P". The thin version was built in Detroit and used on all 57-62 Corvettes and many 58-64 p***enger cars. The thick version was built in Buffalo and was used in 58-64 p***enger cars only.
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