What does it take to flip the rear axle?

Brian Taylor · Post by **Brian Taylor** » September 10, 2009, 10:14 pm

I was reading the post on lowering a uni and I have been wanting to improve the stance of my 66 later. But I ahvenever put an axle on the top of the springs before.
Do you cut off and reweld the mounts and what about pinion angle, brake lines, etc.
Thanks Brian
Later I will ask how bad it would be to cut a coil off the front and how it will affect alignment.

Fordman · Post by **Fordman** » September 10, 2009, 10:19 pm

no cuttign or welding needed. you unbolt the rearend. drop it down. unbolt all of the ubolts. remove the springs. spint he rear end around from one side to the other. then turn the rear end so the spring perches are facing down. put the springs back on from the bottom of and onto the spring perches which should now be on the bottom. then bolt it all back into the truck.

Post by **Greg D** » September 10, 2009, 10:21 pm

A really big spatula......................................

Sorry,

I would recommend getting new spring perches to do it, Summit etc. sell them.
You essentially cut off the old ones and weld the new ones on the other side of the axle, the location pins (bolts) in the spring pack will also need swapped to the other side. You will also likely have to C notch the frame. Keep in mind it requires some pretty decent welding skills and a dial type angle finder - the angles MUST remain the same.

Post by **Greg D** » September 10, 2009, 10:24 pm

Fordman wrote:no cuttign or welding needed. you unbolt the rearend. drop it down. unbolt all of the ubolts. remove the springs. spint he rear end around from one side to the other. then turn the rear end so the spring perches are facing down. put the springs back on from the bottom of and onto the spring perches which should now be on the bottom. then bolt it all back into the truck.

Won't the vent leak out the fluid then?

Fordman · Post by **Fordman** » September 10, 2009, 10:28 pm

thats what i was told to do. i never did it. and you are right it would.

slick4x4 · Post by **slick4x4** » September 10, 2009, 11:05 pm

and me thinks you would have 3 or 4 reverse gears and only 1 foward gear....

1961 slickwilly · Post by **1961 slickwilly** » September 10, 2009, 11:12 pm

slick 4x4 you are correct . you cant just flip over like previosly stated. like grg said the vent would pour fluid out and the fill and drian plugs would be point less. the correct way and the only way is like greg said weld on new perches. my uni is lowered 5" in the back and 4" in the front and if i flipped my axle i would have to do a c notch in the frame but if i flipped mine it would lower the rear 8" i have pictures in my build int the projects&buils section

Phil · Post by **Phil** » September 11, 2009, 9:38 am

Why not just do the frame mount flip?

bluebolt · Post by **bluebolt** » September 11, 2009, 10:15 am

Greg D wrote:
Fordman wrote:no cuttign or welding needed. you unbolt the rearend. drop it down. unbolt all of the ubolts. remove the springs. spint he rear end around from one side to the other. then turn the rear end so the spring perches are facing down. put the springs back on from the bottom of and onto the spring perches which should now be on the bottom. then bolt it all back into the truck.
Won't the vent leak out the fluid then?

Plus the shock mounts would be facing up not down!

kstones63 · Post by **kstones63** » September 11, 2009, 4:20 pm

Fordman wrote:
no cuttign or welding needed. you unbolt the rearend. drop it down. unbolt all of the ubolts. remove the springs. spint he rear end around from one side to the other. then turn the rear end so the spring perches are facing down. put the springs back on from the bottom of and onto the spring perches which should now be on the bottom. then bolt it all back into the truck.

and me thinks you would have 3 or 4 reverse gears and only 1 foward gear....

You would be really slow getting where you are going, but driving backwards home would get you there really quick.

Kevin

62galxe · Post by **62galxe** » September 11, 2009, 5:19 pm

Fordman wrote:no cuttign or welding needed. you unbolt the rearend. drop it down. unbolt all of the ubolts. remove the springs. spint he rear end around from one side to the other. then turn the rear end so the spring perches are facing down. put the springs back on from the bottom of and onto the spring perches which should now be on the bottom. then bolt it all back into the truck.

I worked with somebody that did this. he had 3 speeds backwards and 1 forward.

Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » September 11, 2009, 5:28 pm

with Phil... Wouldn't it be easier to flip the leaf spring mount?? Don't know much on this since mine is 4x4.

If I were lowering though I think I would do the mount... just my

Anthony

Truckfarmer2 · Post by **Truckfarmer2** » September 11, 2009, 7:57 pm

I worked with somebody that did this. he had 3 speeds backwards and 1 forward.
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I have a tough time believing this. If the rearend was rotated around the pinion, direction would not change. The pinion would still turn the same direction. If it worked like that, Alan would have to have different parts than we have.

Post by **Greg D** » September 11, 2009, 8:04 pm

I thought you had to flip over the whole driveline if you brought an Aussie vehicle up here.

dotcentral · Post by **dotcentral** » September 11, 2009, 8:24 pm

I'd be worried about the pinion angle, like Brian mentioned. Plus, if it is a longbed, what about the carrier bearing? Seems like it would need adjusted somehow as well, or go to a one piece driveshaft.

At the risk of taking this off topic (I apologize Brian) If he doesn't want to slam the truck, can't he just raise the front spring or shackle mounts?Seems like I read that on here before. Probably still have to mess with the pinion angle with that as well.

kstones63 · Post by **kstones63** » September 11, 2009, 9:38 pm

Truckfarmer2 wrote:I worked with somebody that did this. he had 3 speeds backwards and 1 forward.
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I have a tough time believing this. If the rearend was rotated around the pinion, direction would not change. The pinion would still turn the same direction. If it worked like that, Alan would have to have different parts than we have.

If you flip the rearend over, it does turn the wheels the opposite direction. This puts the ring gear on the opposite side of the pinion which will make it turn backwards. If the pinion gear is pushing down on the ring gear, it will be pushing up if it is on the other side of the pinion. If the pinion angle is set at 3 degrees up it will go to 3 degrees down. When I usd to fool around with Volkswagens in sandrails, we would turn them around and make the engine mid-engine instead of rear engine. To counteract this, we could take the transaxle apart and put the ring gear on the other side of the pinion and make it work properly. This was possible the way that a old VW trans was set up.
Even if he lowers the spring mounts, he should check the pinion angle because it will probably change.
Find an old rearend sitting around somewhere and try it.

Kevin

Post by **Greg D** » September 12, 2009, 3:38 am

The carrier bearing & or slip yokes will be fine, there is enough room in them for the axle to to rest on the frame.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » September 12, 2009, 10:21 am

62galxe wrote: I worked with somebody that did this. he had 3 speeds backwards and 1 forward.

Sounds like a great vehicle for the Italian army

64onthefloor · Post by **64onthefloor** » September 13, 2009, 9:29 am

this is my first post, just signed up. it's true, i flipped mine like that, 1 front gear..........3 rev gears............it sucked

Obsa · Post by **Obsa** » September 13, 2009, 12:57 pm

I didn't try this but only because I had read about two goofs doing just that in a CarToons magazine. Anyone remember those?