Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Torque tubes . . . how strong are they?

I have a '38 Chevy 1/2 ton that has a beater 235 in it that has a rod knock. I have a low mile 261 that I am considering dropping in place and running. Might add Fenton headers and dual intake. Will the rearend and tranny take the torque of the bigger six? Should I change over to late model tranny and open driveline rearend?

Ken,The 261 should be ok on your drive line if it's in good condition even after adding the Fentons and dual intake. If you are planning to run it hard I think an upgrade in the drive line would be a good idea.

Greetings,

I don't know much about the torque tube driveshaft, but I wanted to know what you mean by: The 261 should be ok on your drive line if it's in good condition. If you are planning to run it hard I think an upgrade in the drive line would be a good idea.

When you say run it hard, what is hard? Under normal driving,everything should be ok, right? What are the advantages/disadvantages to staying with the torque tube or changing to open drive. My intentions are to stay with the torque tube, only because I would like to stay as original as possible.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Tom

I put a 261 in my 37 chevy sedan. Dual carbs, split exhaust. The torque tube wasn't the problem but I broke rear axle shafts twice. The sceond time I put in a S10 4x4 rear end with 3.73 gears and a T5 5 speed. Havn't broke any more axles and much more drivable.

My problem of breaking axles may have something to do with the fact that I have to down shift and listen to the exhaust pipes crackle. I just can't help myself. Those torque reversals can't be good for axles.

Gael

Dear Ken;

A l937 had a driveline designed for 80 horspower.

A 261" with dual carbs & headers is double that.
Drive accordingly is all.

Good luck, John M........

My biggest problem with the torque tube is that your options for gearing and transmissions are just about nil. Plus when it comes to working on the trans, pulling it out can be an all day affair vs an hour with an open drive line. I lost mine years ago in my 46 pickup and have never been sorry.

As John just said "It's not the tube that's the problem". The rear axle in that truck is a poor one. My dad had a '39 1/2 ton that he had to rebuild the rear end three times(no, he's a good mechanic), and he drives things easy. When I got my '37 1/2 ton I tore out the entire drive train and replaced it with a '55-'59 1/2 ton drive train, stock 235, SM-420, open drive shaft, and HO-33 rear axle assembly. One of the nice things about this(other than being much better built than the original '37 stuff) is that it looks pretty much stock, so that unless you are pretty familiar with these old trucks, you wouldn't know it wasn't original. I also had the king pin bores in the front axle rebored and put the '55-'59 front hub/brake assemblies on it. Now all my brakes match also.