Popular Post oldspwr Posted December 1, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 1, 2021 Unfortunately when the Brockway site crashed a few years ago I lost my original build thread for my 55 155W Brockway. This truck was originally ordered by GLF from Ithaca NY. It then went to the Town of Enfield in NY and then to a private owner. When the private owner passed away, Bill Fletcher from Trumansburg, NY bought it. In 1999 my Dad and I made a trip there to look at some fenders for a 260XW and one thing lead to another and I wound up buying the 155W. We completely restored it over a course of 7 years and finished it in 2008. By 2016 I decided to replace the Continental with a 5.9 Cummins. So this is the build thread on how I did it. I thought it would be a good idea to share it here... I finished the 155W in 2008 and so far I have put a little over 7300 miles on it. Even with having the 361 and 761, I really enjoy driving this truck. So I decided it was time to make a few changes... The 42BD or 427 flathead Continental has been a great motor but really doesn’t have the power you need for today’s roads. It will run 55mph all day long on level road but once you hit any kind of grade your down to 40 in the right hand lane with the 4 ways on. I would like to be able to run 60 mph up a hill so I decided it would be a good time to upgrade the Continental. I did consider making some upgrades to the 427, like adding dual carbs with the Ellis manifold, maybe an MSD ignition, a Mallory distributor, etc., but most of these upgrades would have little gains verses the costs. It’s also start to leak some oil so that was another deciding factor... So after much thought I decided to replace the Continental with a 5.9 Cummins. They are comparable in size as well as weight. I did consider the 8.3 Cummins but that weighs in at 1800lbs which is about a 1000lbs heavier than the Continental. You can also build decent power fairly economically with these motors. I also knew that these were used in some smaller Freightliners with air brakes so that was a plus since (air compressor, etc...) More to follow... 3 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldspwr Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 One of the first things I need to do was change the gears in the truck Almost since I bought the truck, my Dad and I had always talked about finding a taller set of gears to see if it would help the truck move along a little better. Right now the truck has 6.71/9.13’s and based on several 155W specs sheets I have collected, 5.43/7.39’s and 6.14/8.36’s were also available. So I put a quick spreadsheet together a numbers of years ago to compare the ratios and 5.43’s would lower my RPM’s from about 2150 to 1800 at 55 mph. When I started looking for gears a while back, I hit a number of roadblocks since I didn’t have enough information. To make matters worse, the specs list the rears as both 20501 and 20503 and I was not able to find these numbers anywhere in any of Eaton’s older literature. A few guys asked for the casting number (28656) and I was able to find a set in Toledo OH but they wanted $1500... ouch... Then about 3 years ago I found a rear out of a 257 that came with a 180 Cummins. The casting number matched my rear (28656) so I bought the rear and set if off to the side. On a side note, I do have a spec sheet for the H257T and it only list the only available rear ratio as 5.43/7.39 but they call the rear an R454. When I decided on the Cummins upgrade a few months ago, I figured I would change the gears first just to see how they worked with the Continental. If I remember correctly, I talked to the owner of the Green Apple Express 257 a few years ago and he said he replaced his gears with 5.43’s and it made a world of difference driving the truck with the 572 Continental. So I decided to pull the pumpkin from the rear and get it ready to install in the truck. But that was easier said than done... I had the rear sitting on a drop deck trailer on the far side of yard and at the time I wasn’t able to bring the trailer over to the garage to lift the pumpkin out with the fork lift. So we wound up using the cherry picker and my 4 wheeler along with a utility cart, in the rain I might add, to get the pumpkin in the garage... More to follow... Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-483836 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldspwr Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 Then using some 2x6’s and some extra heavy duty casters I had, I made a quick ‘box’ to be able to move the pumpkin around. Besides, I would need something to move or store the 6.71’s when I removed them... Then with some ‘help’ from Maddie I was able to roll the pumpkin outside... And get everything cleaned up... More to follow... Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-483838 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldspwr Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 After everything was cleaned up, I realized the ratio was actually stamped on the carrier. Before I thought the only way to identify the ration was by looking at the head if the pinion when the number of ring and pinion teeth were stamped. Here is a quick sketch of where the numbers are on the carrier... When I called around everyone asked for the casting number, 28656, which refers to a ribbed carrier. The following day was supposed to be warm so I dug out all of the paint supplies and figured I would shoot the rear outside. But I wanted to clean the inside one more time before paint. Also, when I originally pulled the carrier, the back lash felt good and the ring gear looked good. So I lifted it up in the air one more time to check the back lash with a dial indicator. As I was rotating the ring gear I was looking up towards the pinion (which is sort of buried in the carrier) and caught a glimpse of something that looked BAD. At that point I decided to pull the pinion cage to get a closer look... Damn... I still can’t believe that I didn’t feel this in the back lash but these things happen. I also didn’t see any chuck in the bottom of the housing (and I wasn’t really looking either...) since it was raining pretty good and we were trying to get out of the weather. Should I have looked at it better before I cleaned it? Sure, but hey these things happen... So at that point I started looking for another set of gears. But at least this time I had more information, like the Eaton number on the ring gear, 41962. After a quick Google search of this number, I found a set of gears in Toledo OH (same place that had the carrier years back). They listed the ring gear as 41962 and the pinion as 48820. This is when I posted a wanted ad on the message board hear and well as on a few groups on FB. More to follow... Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-483839 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldspwr Posted December 1, 2021 Author Share Posted December 1, 2021 After a further Google search I found the ring and pinion number listed on Weller’s Truck website. They have a great catalog online... http://www.wellertruck.com/lit/Weller_Diff_Catalog_2011.pdf But for the ring gear I had, it was listed for an Eaton 19201 rear (and 19501 if its locked in low range...) The only difference here is that my carrier has 16 spine axles instead of 22. Weller did not have 5.43’s in their inventory but they were very helpful when I talked to them. I did get several suggestions on locating gears. I called a few local places along with Pat at Demo’s but he only had 6.14’s. Then a guy on FB referred me to Tommy John’s Truck Parts in Wortsburo, NY . John didn’t have any gears but he referred me to A&A Truck Parts in Freehold, NJ and sure enough he had a set in an International pumpkin. For some reason International used 10 hole pumpkins instead of the 12 hole, but the gears are the same. So after a handful of conversations, I made a trip to Freehold which I was able to do during one of my New Brunswick trips for work. I did get some strange looks when I pulled in the yard with a rental car and popped the truck open The first thing I noticed was that the companion flange (yoke) was different. It’s actually a Rockwell yoke for a wing bearing, 72N series. But after I removed the flange from pinion, I realized that the splined parts of the pinions were different diameters. Damn (again...) The inner and outer bearings were the same for both yokes and the shims and spacers were the same, but the original pinion was 10 spline with 1.750” major diameter while the new one was also 10 splines but with a 1.964” major diameter. So this added another level to my companion flange dilemma... Before I realized there was a difference in the pinions, I figured I would re-use the companion flange from the 6.71 pinion. My original driveshaft used Spicer 1500 series U joints. These have been obsolete for some time but I was able to locate an NOS pair on eBay a number of years ago. On a side note, Neapco has started making these joints again. The Spicer number was 5-115X and the new Neapco number is 3-0055. Then I considered using the Rockewell 72N flange. One of my International buddies (Kevin L) had a driveshaft I could use but that would mean I would have to have the driveshaft cut and have new yoke welded on, and then buy a new wing u joint. But before I went down that path, I figured I would try to locate a companion flange to match my Spicer 1500 joint. Besides, both u joints were new (well from 2008...) and the flange the u joint goes into was also new. After searching online with no luck, I remember Jack Alt have given me a vintage Spicer book years ago. So I dug that out and was able to find a number that matched was I needed, Spicer #4-1-3841. Although the flange was listed for a 1480 or 1550 joint, the dimensions matched my 1500 series flange, with a ground flange diameter of 2 5/8” and a length through the hole at 2 1/4". Of course this flange has been obsolete for some time, I after a quick Google search I found that Weller had one in stock in Grand Rapids Michigan. I called the next day and it was the last one they had, still covered in cosmoline and wrapped in wax paper. It cost a few bucks but was still cheaper than having the drive shaft cut... And now I had a nice assortment of companion flanges... On a side note, the round flange was from the 257 rear. This took (8) 3/8” bolts and a Spicer 1610 series joint, Spicer number 5-279X. More to follow... 2 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-483840 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleclutchinweasel Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Seems like I remember parts of this some a while back. Glad to see it's still in the works. Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-483843 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 i knew i guy in the 70s that had one just like it,it was also a single drive dump truck.....thanks for sharing,,,that child is adorable.......bob Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-484128 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullheaded Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 Awesome thread, and awesome truck Oldspwr!! Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-484200 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldspwr Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 Just a quick follow up on the difference in the pinions... When I removed the driveshaft from the 6.71 rear in the truck, I was able to read the pinion number which was 41967. This was one digit higher than the ring gear, 41966. So I can assume that the pinion for the 5.43’s was 41961. But the head of the pinion on original 5.43 was really pitted. You could make out ‘Eaton’ and 7 and 38 (38/7=5.43) but that was about it. So when I googled the ring gear number and found Weller’s site, I just assumed the pinion was 48820. Regardless, it all worked out at the end of the day... Just for comparison, the new pinion vs. the old... In the mean time I decided to make a ‘jig’ to help remove the pumpkin from the truck using my 4 wheeler jack. I’ve used this jack a 1000 times for different things (like installed the fuel tanks, etc.) but never on a 4 wheeler. So using some flat stock and angle on hand I made something to support the base and the pinion so that I could roll the pumpkin out... 1 After that was done we drained the oil and then made a few dowels out of some old bolts... And then we removed the pumpkin... The jack actually worked pretty well... To help work on the rear I cut a few other pieces of angle... And then set the pumpkin on the bench... More to follow.... 2 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485595 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmackpaul Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) Those jacks work really well for so many things, we use them for putting brake drums and spiders (spoked hubs) on and off axles as they are a handful for me to do these days on my own I think they are a motorbike jack, not sure though Paul Edited December 20, 2021 by mrsmackpaul 2 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485599 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldspwr Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 14 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said: I think they are a motorbike jack, not sure though Hi Paul... You're right, it was sold as an ATV/4 wheeler/Motorcycle jack. A friend gave it to me after I wired his 39 Ford Deluxe years back. 1 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485636 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 You certainly have the repairing touch way overmastered ,,,,,, I’ve never seen anyone design thier own holding devices before the do anything else… hats off to you amazing..: Bob Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485958 Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevink1955 Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 Not only designed and built but painted also, great job. Research really made the difference 1 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485965 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 those bike jacks are great and cheap enough to do exactly what he did.. Ive been through a couple of them myself to make tools to get a job done... ie: pulling a back box of an Eaton tranny... Very cool !!! jojo Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485967 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 heres one of my rigs I made 10 + years ago to do a synchro in an eaton.. I was in a bind and had to hurry, so I grabbed a bunch of scrap out of the bin and made this terd.. I have done over 2 dozen of sychro jobs with it since.. I keep thinking about making a prettyer one, but it friggin works. Just for laugh's.... jojo 2 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-485972 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 my god jojo....looks like a 6 year old hillbilly put it together to run shine thru the hills with a radio flyer..lol.motorcycle lifts they come in all kinds of handy around here....all kidding aside...it reminds me of a deal i put together years ago to diassemble an automatic transmission clutch assembly looks like shit but it worked..bob Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486044 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 yes to all... I still use it to 'time' back boxes for Eaton and Meritor trannys.. the loose washers are shims.. it is all just scrap... Mack rear engine mount washers, ole Eaton back box bearing cups, Int. brake shoe anchor pins, Mack air bag top bracket, and the big nut is the tranny output shaft nut... Looks like junk or modern art, but the darn thing works... jojo 1 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486045 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 You could bring that thing to Hollywood Boulevard and get a few hundred dollars some cool would want to put it on their patio and that’s no joke are used to live there right in Hollywood and the fact that is my CB handle …. Bob Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486050 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 But yeah that guy had a hell of an idea on that motorcycle lift that is ingenius and yes you can do quite a bit with them pretty and expensive as well… Bob Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486051 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 I am off today do to Donner Pass closed a few days now… Bob Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486052 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 my first back box puller jack was a motorcycle jack, and I made a frame with a pilot shaft to put clutches in big trucks... It took a little tuning and I had to 'off set' it a bit more so it wouldnt tip over with the clutch on it, but I GOT IT DONE !! I sold it and dont have a picture to show you... Cool Sh!t.... jojo Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486055 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 I’m sure it was quite creative coming from you my friend but yes it certainly helps to have the right equipment especially with heavy stuff I put that air starter in when I was only 38 I don’t even think I could take it out of there now at 65 ha ha I don’t think I would have to anyway now it was completely rebuilt when I put it in ,.. Bob 1 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486058 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowerman Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 And as for my motorcycle lift I have a portable generator sitting on it right now that needs an engine ha ha I needed something to lift it up to work on it I’m sure you’re quite familiar with them they weigh a ton… Bob 1 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/68857-1955-brockway-155w-continental-to-cummins/#findComment-486130 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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