axles

[JR1]

Hello, I have a 69 c20 longhorn and am trying to learn about axles, this truck has giant brake drums, I mean giant, to pull the brake drums you need to pull out the floating axles first. the hub is attached to the brake drum, I am guessing from a lot of the searching I have done on this forum that this means they are 1 ton brakes, as my buddy has a c20 with full floating, but a smaller brake drum and you can slide the drum over the hub to get it off without pulling the axle. does this sound accurate? what rear axle/end would this be with hubs and drums like this?

[Mike C]

C20 Longhorn brakes weren't that big... But something else could be swapped in. Pictures of the brakes and the differential cover please.

[JR1]

I'll get pics soon....I think I saw somewhere that longhorns had 1 ton brakes, haven't confirmed that though

[demian5]

Originally Posted by JR1

Hello, I have a 69 c20 longhorn and am trying to learn about axles, this truck has giant brake drums, I mean giant, to pull the brake drums you need to pull out the floating axles first. the hub is attached to the brake drum, I am guessing from a lot of the searching I have done on this forum that this means they are 1 ton brakes, as my buddy has a c20 with full floating, but a smaller brake drum and you can slide the drum over the hub to get it off without pulling the axle. does this sound accurate? what rear axle/end would this be with hubs and drums like this?

I had a 73 C20 big block suburban with huge brakes that required the axle to be removed first. It was a trailering special BTW...

[Bigdav160]

Sounds like you have the larger brake option. Here's a pic of 11 inch vs 13 inch:



Your buddy must have a later model semi floating:

[JR1]

Thank you, his is a 72, but his drum slips over the hub, the hub is not attached to the drum like those pics, I'm gonna take some pics tomorrow

[Mike C]

The HO52 is a stout rearend, but 4.10 was the smallest numeric gear available. And if it has ring and pinion or internal bearing issues, they can be really expensive. As a result, it is common to find different rears swapped into these trucks.

I have a 70 GMC Longhorn with the Dana 60 in the rear and it doesn't have the giant brakes. I don't thing the beater 72 Sub I has does either but haven't looked under it in a decade so whatever I said would be making it up.

I swapped a semi-float 14 into my Jimmy and it does have the 13" brakes.

All of this is just a good way of saying a pic would go a long way...

[Longhorn 69]

I also have a 69 C-20 Longhorn, and I removed the brake drums to remove the brake shoes to get ready for sand blasting. My drums have 2 screws next to the lugs and they have to be removed to get the drums separated from the hubs. My brakes drums are 12" in the rear, and 11" on the front. not sure yours is the same, but I hope this helps.

[Mts67C10K20]

Here is a h052
Hope it helps

[Katrina/10]

Floating or full floating refers to the axle. Neither end of the axle carries the weight of the truck. Semi-floating has no weight on the differential end, but the weight of the truck on the wheel end.

[JR1]

Thank you

[JR1]

So now a brake question, found this leak, what does it look like brake fluid or dif oil only on drum and rim, not tire or wheelwell

[Mike C]

That second axle is a full float 14 bolt. It means it has dual bearings on a hub in the rear that support the load and the axle shaft only drives the vehicle forward/backward.

The 15" brakes are considered 13" as it is the inside measurement on the brake drum. The outside probably is 15" but that's not the measure point.

The greasy mess is most likely from an axle seal and not brake fluid. But it's hard to tell from the pic. Usually if you have an issue with brake fluid leaking out, you will lose brakes.

[JR1]

Thank you thank you, gonna have some fun this weekend