Wanted: Axle parts

[Lynn Eades]

Firstly, Austin, welcome to the forum. Your on the right one.
This is the cage from a Rzeppa joint. I would be concerned about the rest of the joint, having seen this.
They are the same type (bigger of course) as some of the WWII jeeps (and dodges)

[AustinM]

the rest of the joint is pretty rough but i think it is still ok. i might look to replace the male piece that goes inside everything

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Austin

Went back to the parts manual and Lynn is correct it is th internal cage.

I would suspect from the shrapnel piece you showed that you may have other internal damage,

It may be easier to get a similar size complete CMP axle and transplant both extreme steering knuckle including the inside axle shafts and U joint as a complete unit with both sides matching. Could be a straight unbolt off one axle and bolt on to the other.

What are your plans for the rolling frame...... are you thinking of restoring the truck by finding a suitable cab etc.....?

There should be some parts available on the Goderich / Petrolia area.

Heavy parts to ship so local fionds are always better.

If you are stuck finding local parts I may be able to help you out if you plan visiting the war museum in Ottawa.

Bob.

[AustinM]

the rest of the parts dont look too bad. i just need one of those cages and 4 balls. do you know how i could get ahold of somebody that would have the piece in godrich? and i havent decided yet, im short on cash so im just taking it one step at a time. first step being getting the axles to work, replacing the whole axle almost seems like more work than is needed... plus i have a feeling that would cost me more. is the a company the makes these parts anymore? or parts that would work

[Bob Carriere]

HI Austin

None of us have had aby success planting/growing the proverbial money tree.....

Your first hurdle willbe to find a suitable R-Zeppa inner axle...... and no to the best of my knowledge parts are no longer available/produced. The reason they left the R-Zeppa design behind and went for a more easily mass produced axle was simply time/cost. The R-Zeppa is made like a fine watch... I doubt that you could mix and match parts that have been worn and even less if one has been parlty destroyed. The tolerances are way to tight.

Cost wise and ease of finding a complete replacement axle would from my expereince be much cheaper and easier to do.

AS a reference..... a R-Zeppa axle for an early 40 Dodge is listed at $150 USA $ juts for one side plus shipping, custom ect....... and if one is damaged there is a good chance the other side took a beating.

I am sure you can buy a complete Ford CMP axle for $200 / 250 complete with brake drums...... all it needs is to bolt back to the spring packs. Of course you would want to take it apart to clean the lub, regrease, and do the brake ( lining and wheel cylinders ) ......

You could probably just buy one steering knuckle for $150 including shaft for one side. But it is usually chepaere to buy the whoel axle than individual parts.

Please note that all above replacement axles will 99.99 % of the time have a different CMP bendix mass produced u-joint arrangement and NOT a R-Zeppa axle.

Let me share my expereince. My 1940 Chev CMP had one busted R-Zeppa axle and I had to buy, over a 3 year period, about 3 trucks and 2 spare axle before I could find one that had the proper inner R-Zeppa inner axle...... all in all my front axle became very expensive.

....and you have to literally take that axle apart to tell if you have the right one and few sellers will let you do that if you don't pay up front. BUT now I know better...... if you remove the cast iron hub cap on the front axle.... and using a dental pick.... feel around the center recess of the axle shaft..... remove the grease and try to feel for a threaded pattern in the center hole...... if it is deep threaded ( and very few are ) you have a R-Zeppa for sure. That thread has a deep deep recess set screw that is critical to the disassembly of the R-Zeppa cage for inspection and re-assembly. A long stem narrow shaft carburator flat blade screw driver is needed to do this deed.

If all you are concerned with is to get it mobile I would suggest you find either the complete steering knuckle to transplant or a complete CMP axle.

Bob C.

[AustinM]

did all of the axles have the samegearing ratio? and if i were to buy a new axle assembly would i be able to get anything for the one i have?

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Austin

How much off roading do you plan to do with the truck? My reason for asking is that the front ends can be assembled with out the inner drive shaft and any of the ball joint parts. All you need to carry the load of the front wheels is the short outer shafts.

This has been my fall back plan if I ever break an inner shaft or have problems with the ball drive shafts. This practice of neutering the front ends was fairly common, to the point that some of the US Chevy 1 1/2 ton manuals have a special section for doing it. See http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/T...%20Excerpt.htm on my web site.

If you go this route you really need to remove the same parts on both sides. Don't go shifting the transfer case in to 4 wheel drive while moving when you have done this it makes a horrible noise as the front shaft is not moving. However you can still use the low gear range if you come to a complete stop. Be careful though using low range with just the rear wheels driving lots of torque.

Make this as a suggestion so you can get your truck moving while you hunt for parts or a spare axle. I drove my HUP this way for a couple of years when I first had it, little quieter and little better gas mileage.

Cheers Phil

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by AustinM

did all of the axles have the samegearing ratio? and if i were to buy a new axle assembly would i be able to get anything for the one i have?

As Bob says there were two sizes of front axle: heavy (60 cwt) and light (15 cwt).

The heavy axle had 6" steering ends, and 43 tooth crown wheel for use with 20" wheels.

The light axle had 4 7/8" steering ends, and 39 tooth crown wheel for use with 16" wheels.

Both diffs had the same 6 tooth pinion, and the crown wheels are interchangeable.

Your's is the light axle, which means it will have 6/39 diffs. If you can only find a heavy axle you can still use it, but you'll have to split the diff housing and swap the crown wheel. It's probably best to swap the pinion as well, because the teeth mate with the crown wheel through years of wear. You may even have to re-shim it in the new diff housing.

It's a lot of extra work, when all you really need is to replace one CV joint. And within a week of doing all this extra work, the correct part will suddenly turn up!