New Owner, 1951 R6 Truck

[52-fan]

If your 6 volt starter is good, it will work on 12 volts for a long time. Just don't crank for a long time if the engine fails to start. The stock distributor will work.

[Greenstude]

Why switch to 12 volts? I had a '49 2R5 for 14 years, and have had my '47 Champion for almost 46 years. I never have seen a reason to make the change. The vehicle needs good wiring, good electrical contacts, and good grounds. If your truck still has its original wiring, it probably has cracked and brittle insulation on the wiring, so should have a new wiring harness. These are readily available from Studebaker vendors, such as Studebakers West and others.

[R6Truck]

New question,. Having removed only the front wheels, and drums and shoes. I’ve noticed that the driver side drum inner and outer bearings are bigger than the passenger side. Possible answers, that’s normal? Or, the bigger side actually belongs on the rear? (My favorite guess) Or the bigger drum bearings are off another truck, not correct for the R6 half ton. When it stops raining I’ll pull the wheel and castle nut off the rear wheels, and take a look.
Only have the front end jacked up right now. Had the front drums turned and shoes relined locally, ready for reassembly.
Any help?

[52-fan]

If the spindles are the same on both sides, it sounds like someone substituted a different hub. Hopefully one of the real truck experts will reply.

[Skip Lackie]

Something is not right -- the L and R bearings should be the same. There's no difference at all between the left and right sides, except the OEM studs on the left side are/were LH thread. The rear wheel bearings are different from the front, but the same L and R.

[sweetolbob]

If the spindles are the same on both sides, it sounds like someone substituted a different hub. Hopefully one of the real truck experts will reply.

Agreed, there were not a lot of different bearings back then so a previous owner might have found a different hub or drum that worked. I'd take a picture of the drums from each side with some measurements and I'll bet one of the folks here can tell you which one is correct and where to get one to match. Be sure to get a shot of the casing #'s if possible.

Bob

[R6Truck]

Response to Skip, that was my best assumption, the guy before me, swapped the front and rear, on the driver side. I’ll confirm it as soon as I can get a dry day to look at the rear on that side. I’m going to further assume the larger bearings would go on the rear.

Thanks for the help.