I found a guy who's willing to do some work on the steering arm so while that's going on I've turned my attention towards the tie rod ends. SURPRISE!!! Only one tie rod end is replaceable, the passenger side is actually part of the tie rod itself. Question for you R32-4 guys, is this the same for you and if not, are the tie rods interchangeable between the R3-4 and R32-4? No threaded sleeve

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It’s the same. Looking at the good one on the axle Chuck redid, I think the tie rod end is a press fit on the short side of the tie rod. Adjustable on the long side. R32-4 and R3-4 are the same, just with the rod flipped around the other direction by the looks of it. I guess I should verify by comparing numbers in each manual. I’ll come back to edit to verify.

Edit - the manuals both show “Rod Assembly, Steering Tie” with number OT5-1384, and Rod, Steering Tie (w/RH Ball Socket) OT5 1393. But on mine the adjustable end is on the long side on both models, whether right or left. These number reach back to the 1947 tonner era. I believe you need to hear from Chuck on the availability, and method of installation on the short side end. Stu

Glad you found a welder for your steering arm. Stu

 

Thanks Stu, I've already spoken with Chuck on this and ordered new tie rod ends. He suggested taking the tie rod and having the short end threaded for the replacement adjusting sleeve. I haven't resourced that yet but thought there might be a chance that I wouldn't have to. Thanks again for the info

 

Still waiting for my steering arm..... working on finding a machine shop to do my tie rod...got started on the rear brakes, only took about 3hrs to get the drum off, 2:45 spent on the drum itself. PB blaster and rubber mallet got it done without any damage. First lug nut came right off, Oh this is gonna be easy!!!
Some dirt packed in and around there, no problem, easy peasy

Whew!!! That was a chore. Full of spider webs, can't hardly see the hardware
SURPRISE!!! HORNET'S NEST!!! glad nobody was home

 

Good to see that there was some brake lining still on the shoes. How do the drums inside look?
are those 14" or 12"?
your moving right along. Keep up the progress and the pictures. I need motivation.
cheers

 

The drums are 12's and they're not too bad, some grooves and ridges but nothing alarming. They both do have quite a lip so I'm a little worried there may not be enough left to turn, we'll see how it goes. The left side was a battle but the right side came apart in less than an hour...I was glad for that!! The linings on the right side looked a lot like the ones on the left, you can tell that the last brake job just got new shoes without turning the drums, hopefully it wasn't because they couldn't get them turned.

 

Your truck is so nice and clean on all its components, while my twin is caked with its own waste on every surface. Hope mine, when I get more serious with it, doesn’t argue with me like yours seems to be doing. And doesn’t bear the surprises you’ve encountered.

It still amazes me that both of our 1951 R3-4s have the late 1951 12” Bendix brakes while Josh’s later model R32-4 has the early 14” Lockheeds iirc. Suggests that both models were sold side-by-side even though the references don’t show that to be so. Of course M-H was known to use up old components so Josh may have just gotten the left over 14” pieces. Most likely that’s what happened with my 1950 that has a rear axle left from the 1947 tonner era. Stu

 

Drums are back!!! On a Sunday in about an hour if you can believe that!!

 

They were beyond the allowed limit but not by alot so the guy afreed to "clean them up " given what they were for and the fact that they would never see 60 mph and there was plenty of meat left to work with.

 

With low.gears and.transfer case/front axle drag, i think there is enough built in braking for most occasions.

 

Agreed, hahaha

 

I happened to be at.the Ford garage in Bowman, ND and had a conversation with the former owner of the establishment. The fellow is a large rancher and feedlot owner. Many years ago he owned two different R32s. One he sold to a fellow and it changed hands recently and is on the east coast. The other he traded for a horse and lost track of it. The point of this; he broke the cv joint once while pushing through deep snow and turning sharp. He took the axle apart and ran the damaged shaft to a now closed machine shop in Reeder. The blacksmith cut off the damaged joint and mounted a ujoint. Problem solved. What say the experts about this fix?

 

I like the idea, especially since it would seem possible to engineer it to use readily available parts.

Wish I could archive those two trucks. Stu

 

I have the contact for the owner on the east coast. The other must be hidden behind a barn or tree somewhere around there. Unless it got turned into a turdota or crapsun.

 

I doubt it would work very well without a lot of attention toward centering the U-joint with the steering axis center-line, especially since the M-H front end isn't a "full-floating" arrangement. So, did he have both sides done that way, or was that the truck he traded for the horse? - Bob