Rear Axle Shims

[Rick Allen]

Working on the rear brakes of my '64 R2, after removing the backing plate I found three (3) shims of varying thickness on the right hand side but no shims at all on the left hand side of the axle, is this not unusual and why would that be?

[Dwight FitzSimons]

What you found is correct.  The end play is adjusted by shims on the right side, with none on the left.  If your differential has never been taken apart then it is likely still shimmed correctly.

--Dwwight

[Rick Allen]

8 hours ago, Dwight FitzSimons said:

What you found is correct.  The end play is adjusted by shims on the right side, with none on the left.  If your differential has never been taken apart then it is likely still shimmed correctly.

--Dwwight

Thank you, the car was last on the road in 1972 I don't believe it has ever been taken apart, glad to know those shims are correct only on the one side, I'm learning something new everyday,,,

[John Brissette]

You should consider purchasing a Shop Manual.

[mfg]

Since you have apparently successfully removed the Stude Avanti's 'keyed' rear drum/ hub assemblies, I'd consider you an AVANTI MASTER MECHANIC!!!

[Rick Allen]

On 5/17/2023 at 6:00 AM, John Brissette said:

You should consider purchasing a Shop Manual.

I only have the car a few weeks now but Ironically I do have an original service and parts manual which I purchased many years ago that came from a closed Studebaker dealership, but is in storage in a neighboring state, I'm heading there this weekend for that and other Avanti parts I've been accumulating,,,

[Rick Allen]

31 minutes ago, mfg said:

Since you have apparently successfully removed the Stude Avanti's 'keyed' rear drum/ hub assemblies, I'd consider you an AVANTI MASTER MECHANIC!!!

It's all a learning experience for me!

[Leo B]

I'll try to explain this as best I can 🙂
In the center of the differential there is a grid with two pins. The pins move horizontally. For example, when you push the left axel, the right axel also moves. It is enough to adjust the clearance at the end of the right axle, and the pins are always placed in the middle of axels. If you remove the shaft, you must take care not to remove the pin. The pins are attached to each other with a pipe pin that can be broken like in photo. (If the pipe pin is broken the system still works but possible to drop those apart when you remove axel). If somebody likes to write/explain this better, please do it 😊

[Leo B]

If you want to measure the end clearance, hit the right axle lightly, e.g. with a lead hammer, to the left and measure. After that, hit the left axle to the right and you'll see how much the right axle moved. With the shims, you adjust the amount of change. You can see the target value in the manual.

[64studeavanti]

The 2 piece pin pictured,  aka thrust block, is for twin traction. The open differential uses a one piece thrust block.

[Leo B]

4 hours ago, 64studeavanti said:

The 2 piece pin pictured,  aka thrust block, is for twin traction. The open differential uses a one piece thrust block.

Thanks for the clarification👍

[Rick Allen]

14 hours ago, Leo B said:

If you want to measure the end clearance, hit the right axle lightly, e.g. with a lead hammer, to the left and measure. After that, hit the left axle to the right and you'll see how much the right axle moved. With the shims, you adjust the amount of change. You can see the target value in the manual.

Thanks for the great information, right now this is beyond what I'm doing, I'm at the point where I'm replacing the rear brake shoes and related parts, cleaning and painting the backer plates etc,,,

[Galvagni]

Thanks Leo B for the photo of the setup for measuring the axle end play. The photo is the manual is hard to interpret. I thought the manual was indicating that the end play was measuring the movement of the axle forward and backwards as if to measure play between the bearing and race.

[Leo B]

5 hours ago, Galvagni said:

Thanks Leo B for the photo of the setup for measuring the axle end play. The photo is the manual is hard to interpret. I thought the manual was indicating that the end play was measuring the movement of the axle forward and backwards as if to measure play between the bearing and race.

Yes. Thats an other thing to check. This the way to measure how straight the axel end is and is there any movement. Of course turning the drive shaft or differential gear.

[Zedman]

I'll ask this question while the topic is still up.... I know the shims are supposed to go on the right hand side of the Rear Axle, but if they are placed on the Left side, does it make any difference apart from knowing which side to look? 

[Leo B]

46 minutes ago, Zedman said:

I'll ask this question while the topic is still up.... I know the shims are supposed to go on the right hand side of the Rear Axle, but if they are placed on the Left side, does it make any difference apart from knowing which side to look? 

My opinion is that the side does not affect the result. Even if you use both sides. When you want to remove the axle bearings, remove all the plates and tap the other axle lightly (with a lead hammer, etc.), and the bearing on the opposite side will pop out. The shafts move together about + - 1/2" without bearings. If anyone has a different view, I'd love to read.

[Skip Lackie]

Agree with Leo.  Somewhere in my fading memory is the supposed fact that the factory put them on the right side, so the shop manual said to do it the same way.

[Leo B]

43 minutes ago, Skip Lackie said:

Agree with Leo.  Somewhere in my fading memory is the supposed fact that the factory put them on the right side, so the shop manual said to do it the same way.

I think the simple reason is that when you use right side like its done in factory and written in manual, you know where the shims are. No need to open both sides to make changes or to check.