RE: [ihc] IH Corporate axles, by the book.

["Mac @ TRIAD" <mac@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

okay folks.  now i'm getting a wee bit irritated and ticked off.  and
confused.

i've got the operator's manual for the B series trucks here in my hot little
hands.  on the back in the lower left corner it carries the numbers "1 002
513 R1" and in small type "12X58", where the X is unidentifiable.  this is a
very informative little manual.  has all sorts of information about the
equipment available in these trucks, and some of it disagrees with what
we've been talking about here on the Digest.  it covers all models from
B-100 through B-180, BC-160 through -180 and BC-1890, BCF-170 and -180, and
173-FC and 183-FC (the forward control buses).  this includes 4x4, 4x2, 6x2,
6x4, and 6x6 models  it's pretty comprehensive for such a thin little book.
51 pages all told.

now for an example of what is confusing and irritating me.  there has been
some discussion here on the Digest off and on about which IH Corporate axles
share housings and differential carriers.  there was one school of thought
that said the RA10 and RA15 share housings, and that the RA20 and RA25 share
housings (this is the school i subscribed to this morning).  another school
of thought holds that the RA15 and RA20 share housings and carriers, as do
the RA25 and RA30.  apparently this manual indicates which is which, and is
very enlightening.  if this is right, we're all half right, half wrong.

the RA-1 and RA-3 share a housing, and are 3 pints, the RA-3 is listed
specifically as having a powr-lok differential.  the RA-5 and RA-10 share a
housing, and both are 4-pint housings.  the RA15 and RA20 share a housing
and are 5-1/2 pint housings.  the RA-25 is a nine and a half pint housing
and shares nothing with any other axles.  the RA30 and RA31 share a housing
and are 8 pints; while the book does not indicate this, i suspect the RA31
is the locking differential variant.  the RA35 is an 11 pint housing and is
also available in three 2-speed variants.

according to this manual, all 2-speed axles have a three digit identifier
beginning with a 1, and all double reduction axles are three-digit
identifiers beginning with a 2.  tandem axle sets are three-digit
identifiers beginning with a 3.

now i'll tell you what i know.  the axle under my B122 is an eight pint
axle.  i said before that i was sure it was an RA25, and then Joel F's B140
showed up with what appears to be an identical axle, and as i recall, it was
identified positively on the lineset as an RA20.  that one appears to be
identical to mine.  as i said, mine is an eight pint housing.  is it an RA20
or an RA25 or an RA30?  now i'm not sure at all, where this morning i was
positive i'd gotten a solid bead on which axles are which and which of them
share components.

the FA50 (which i know is what the front axle of that B140 is, the lineset
confirms it and the book indicates there were only two 8-pint front
housings, the only difference between them being the FA55 is large knuckles
and the FA50 is small knuckles, this B-140 has the small knuckles), is an
eight pint housing.  the B140 rear axle housing is identical in size and
shape and everything else to the front housing.  if the front is an FA50,
and has an eight pint housing, and the rear is identical, then it too has an
eight pint housing, which would make it an RA30/RA31.  or is my logic faulty
here?

did the axle codes change somewhere along the line?  am i missing something?
my head hurts.  everything i'm reading in this manual disagrees with
everything i've learned elsewhere.  now nothing makes sense.  oh, and it
doesn't list the RA126 at all (it does have the RA125, which is an 11 pint
housing of the RA35 variety, as are the RA130 and RA131).  i'm seriously
confused.

there are some hand-scribbled notes in the margin, indicating the RA20 was
an A150 axle, the RA25 was a B160 axle, and the RA125 was an A160 axle.  my
current axle came from under a 1966 1500A, the original axle, which i know
was an RA15, i scrapped long ago, and wish now that i had kept it.  anybody
have any comments about any of this?

--Mac

oh and Greg, according to this manual, you're incorrect.  the RA30 and RA25
do not share a housing.  my book doesn't list the FA57 at all, only the FA50
and Fa55, both 8-pint housings.

---------------------------------------------------------------
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Krystof "Mac" MacBryghde
TyrGothi

http://master.triad.ath.cx/