Posted by DMA on Tuesday, December 07, 2004 at 2:04PM :
In Reply to: centered diff posted by Don in Missouri on Monday, December 06, 2004 at 6:30PM :
Hi all..
I am about to undertake a swap out of my 1941 WC-12 1/2 ton 8 3/4" 3rd member to
a larger 9 5/8" (read stronger )
3rd member from a late 3/4 ton truck.
I know that the studs are different, 3/8" vs 7/16"
Now, VPW now makes these 3/8-7/16" neck down studs for just this type of swap out.
With that said, they are quite expensive
@ (5 dollars per) x 12 studs equals 60 dollars. just in studs!
Whew. My question was, couldnt I use just a few of these studs, like say 4 or 5, spaced evenly around the perimeter, and keep the original 3/8" studs for the remainder?
Is the strength the issue here, or is it more likey keeping the diff centered in the housing being the reason for this?
If its the later, 3 or 4 of these "neck down" studs should do the trick, with the rest being the origianl 3/8" studs. correct?
Just getting cheap I guess.. 60 bucks in just studs is a lot. I know I could take out the entire assembly as the procedure shows and have the 3/8" threads enlarged to the 7/16", but tis already in the thruck and I hate to remove it.
Dave