What causes a 2 speed axle to make a grinding noise? I can be going down the road and when going down hill in high gear, it starts grinding and I have to click it down in the low range. Is it the vacuum canister going bad? I
was hoping someone could give me some insight on this. It just started doing it. Bob

 

Bob - I'm not the guy with your answers on either thread, but I know that there are guys over on the 1948-1960 FTE page that would have answers. You might repost over there. Stu

 

Hey Bob - the guys in this 1948-1960 forum are always a big help.

Good luck.

 

I thought that is where I was: 48-60 f1 and larger??? I'm asking the larger half. Nobody has ever had or known about 2 speed axles here???? WHAT

 

Howdy,


If that axle is making a grinding noise you NEED to remove the pumpkin and have a CLOSE look at it!

You've got possibly a broken gear tooth or other piece of metal loose and running around in there. It will only be a matter of time until that piece goes where it shouldn't. when that happens it won't be pretty. Most of the parts for that axle are EXTREMELY hard to find.

If it does it in hi range it's also possible that the sliding clutch gear is not moving all the way OUT into the high speed clutch plate and meshing into the idler pinions. (or the clutch plate/sliding clutch teeth have been broken off.)

In either case you really need to have a look inside. This shift process is VERY simple. You will immediately see what the problem is once you get it apart.


Cheers,


Rick

 

It only makes the noise when it is going down hill. Under a load it is fine, like going uphill. Could it be the vacuum cannister diaphams are bad? It's not really a grinding type noise, but a loud clicking noise. It don't make any noise at all when in the low range, or under load as going up a hill. So, do you still believe it's something inside? I sure appreciate your insight. I'm not running the truck now, it only gets used for tree work as it has a winch and boom mounted on it. It never goes very far. But, would really like to know whats going on with it. Had it for years and it never done this before.
I should add that it only does this in the high range, going down hill, never in low range. Just want to be as clear as possible. Thanks again, Bob

 

1956 F Series trucks use the Eaton Model 1350 2 speed rear axle.

The Eaton 1350 was used by Ford from 1948 thru 1965, it was also used by Dodge, Studebaker, IHC, and many others.

Parts are only hard to find if one doesn't know where to look for them.

All the parts are available from several suppliers.

The ones I know of: joblotauto.com / greensalescompany.com / SASCO (studeparts.com) located in South Bend IN, and studebaker-intl.com located in Greenfield IN.

FYI: Studebaker also used Spicer-Dana 44's from the 1940's thru 1966 on cars & trucks. I also have Studebaker parts catalogs, and Hollander Interchange Manuals.

The bearings are available from NAPA.

 

Thanks Bill, good to know this. How does one I.D. the rear-end? Is there a tag on it, or numbers somewhere? I'm torn between a vacuum problem, or a major problem. I know where an older International is, it might have the parts, or possibly the rear-end then if it's gone bad. Not sure of the year, but would say close to 1950. Thanks, Bob

 

the most likely problem would be a vacuum leak,vacuum holds it in high range
if vacuum is lost it will jump out of high range
I will add these trucks should always be parked in low

 

I hate to differ with the guy that probably FORGOT more about this stuff than I will ever know in my lifetime!

But I called each and every one of those suppliers indicated. The guy at Joblot just laughed. He said he hadn't seen gears for one those axles in several years! There are NO ring and pinions gears available. (Fleet Pride in Seattle did find a new old stock ring and pinion for me that some guy was rat-holing for $1300 + shipping + tax) You could get a used one. but it might be worse than what you have.

When I said all the parts are scarce I of course meant the specialized stuff. They ended up finding me a used, good condition third member ("Pumpkin") for $750

The Green Sales people told me that I'd have to give them Ford part numbers (that I can just read right out of my Chassis catalog and they'd see. They also told me to put those part numbers right into the part number search field right on their website.

That actually works pretty good!

They have some parts. For example: 81T 4040M (your high speed clutch plate) they have 9 of them! and the (1st letter O) O1T 4055M (your sliding gear) they have 4 of them woohoo!

If you need planetary gears 81T4229M there's 10 of them. (you need 4 in the axle)

ALL the above parts are for 1948-1955 according to my 1948-1955 chassis parts catalog.....they may work in later years too.....

There's other axle parts there for medium trucks. You have to have the Chassis parts catalog to look them up

If you want a ring and pinion for a 2 speed, forget it. You'll have to find used stuff.



Rock Auto even carries the internal and hub wheel bearings.....they're standard Timken or any aftermarket replacement..... same for the pinion seal.


Now, having said all that stuff, It's possible that the sliding gear and/or the high speed clutch plate has severely rounded surfaces AND/OR the shift actuator is not fully engaging them. If that's the case, you can replace those parts. I don't know about the vacuum shift actuator. (59T 4038M).....Green didn't list one of those. I have an electric shift for mine. You can change yours to electric shift by changing the shift fork and using an electric shift unit. They're the same for many years......6v until about 55 then 12v after that.



Cheers,

Rick

 

This is a 1950 f6. Vacuum shift, thats 6 volts opened to 8 volts. I can see that electric would be a more sure shift. But why going down the highway in high gear and hi range, would it be just fine on straights and uphill. But as soon as I start going downhill where the vacuum would be at the highest, it wants to kick out of hi range? The truck usually don't go over 20 miles from home, but took it on a job about that far when I noticed this
for the first time in 20 years. I just replaced the hydro-booster, maybe it has something to do with that. I need to go check it out more I guess. I recently seen a 49 f5 that had the 2 speed rear-end under it, but it wasn't hooked up. I think it was a replacement, I never seen a f5 with that rear-end in it. We had a f5, but didn't have it. I guess you can just manually put them in low or high range and just leave them there. Anyway, I thought that was strange for a f5. It had no vacuum cannister, or actuator on the shifter. The man said it runs down the road at 55. Must be in high range. Bob

 

Does it do it if accelerating going down hill or does it happen when you let off on the throttle and try to decelerate with the throttle back?

If the shift plate and/or sliding clutch teeth were worn and the actuator wasn't pushing them completely together then a little deceleration force might push them apart.

You won't know until you pull the pumpkin and look them over. Also, before pulling the pumpkin I would remove the vacuum actuator and carefully check it and the rest of the vacuum system for leaks. It's an extremely simple system for shifting. If there are any vacuum leaks the actuator might not hold with enough force.

 

I would T in a vacuum guage at the vaccum chamber on rear and make sure it is holding vaccum
if it is holding proper vacuum and is moving the shifter fully then you may have a sliding clutch problem

 

I was having the same problem and it was a vacuum leak from the back of the speedometer. The diaghram that switches the speedo gear was dryrotted.

 

I have extra aluminum 2speed from my 56 f600 I removed if it will be of any help.
I know mine is electric and yours is vacuum--but can you convert it? Anyway--I kept it in case my other 2 speed went bad. Bill