1958 Chevy Truck Total Cost Involved Leaf Spring Kit & Eaton Posi Install - Tri-Five Rear Slam & Rebuild For Under $2,000

Forget having a peg leg wheel, the Eaton Positraction unit (PN EAT19603) uses heavy-duty internals and carbon fiber clutches for a strong, long-lasting unit. As an added bonus the Eaton unit is also rebuildable.

Finally, the last addition is the Master Power 11-inch drum brakes for 10- and 12-bolt GM rearends, found in '64-77 GM midsize cars and '67-81 Camaro/Firebirds, an alternative to a pricier set of disc brakes.

One thing that comes with the kit is detailed instructions. We realize that men are not supposed to read instructions, but how else would we get the pinion pre-load numbers, and torque specs for the ring gear bolts.

After the pinion gear, bearings, and crush sleeve are installed; pinion bearing load is checked with an in-lb wrench. Save the original pinion shims in order to help determine pinion depth. The instructions call for 12 - 15 in-lb of preload. The easiest way to check this is to rotate the pinion nut with the torque wrench. Double check the torque specs after the bearings have set. Harry used red Loctite on the pinion nut.

When installing the carrier and gear, we saved the original shims as a starting point for backlash measurement. Sometimes setting backlash is a trial-and-error process. In our case the original shims were too tight a fit, so Harry used the shims supplied in the kit to get the backlash properly set.

Setting the backlash requires that the pinion gear be immobilized, while the ring gear is rotated back and forth. Moving the ring gear towards or away from the pinion gear centerline, helps determine the amount of rotation backlash and meshing of the gears. Harry set the backlash in the rearend to 0.003-inch.

Once Harry believed he had the proper backlash set, he used gear marking compound to check the pattern wear on the teeth of the ring gear. There are around 18 different illustrations in the instruction booklet that deal with acceptable wear patterns. As you can see, the gear wear pattern on our ring gear is as close to center as we could get it, which according to the instructions is acceptable.

Lastly, the Master Power drum brakes and Yukon C-clip axles are installed. And that rounds out our budget rearend/suspension install. A heck of a setup for under $2,000.