5 lug axles

[blackbear]

took five lug axles out of a 1972 c 10 and put them in my 65. a guy said he put drums off of a chevy van (not sure of the year)witch are wider and it worked fine.did anybody out there try this .never seen anyone on here talk about this.

[lolife99]

The 72 axles themselves are wider than the 65 axles.
I'm not sure I want to have the axle hanging out farther than it's suppose to.

Got any pics of this mod?

[fleetsidelarry]

Originally Posted by blackbear

took five lug axles out of a 1972 c 10 and put them in my 65. a guy said he put drums off of a chevy van (not sure of the year)witch are wider and it worked fine.did anybody out there try this .never seen anyone on here talk about this.

it's been discussed before, others have done it. it's apparently functional but I'm not convinced that everything is lining up, brake shoe-wise and bearing-wise.

[blackbear]

i dont have any pics but i am going to get some old hubs and mock everything up to see what i have.dont know how to post pics.

[kgmunro]

subscribed!

[McCoyAZ]

The 72 axels are about 3/4 of an inch longer on both side I think aren't they?

[Captainfab]

The '71-'82 12 bolt axles are 3/4" longer than the early '70 and earlier axles. Consequently the axle bearing is going to be riding in a different place, which it may not be completely on the machined surface. That depends on the axle. Plus you will have more axle out past the bearing. Then you have the issue of the drums not covering the shoes completely. Regarding the drum issue, you could run the drums for the 2-1/2" wide shoes which started in the mid 70's. But they would still be 1/4" short of covering the brake shoes. Making this work correctly just seems like a whole lot of messing around, and not really gaining anything over either plugging and re-drilling the existing axles, or just buying the conversion axles.

[Middleagecrisis]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

The '71-'82 12 bolt axles are 3/4" longer than the early '70 and earlier axles.

So I can take the '68 12-bolt I have and take the 5-lug axles and drum brakes out and swap into them into my existing '62 12-bolt?

[63sbssbbw]

While we're on the subject of axles.
Will a mid '80's 10 bolt 5 lug axle fit in my mid '70's 12 bolt 5 lug axle.
I was informed by a guy following me that my wheel was going to fall off.
Turns out the flange is bent....Strange ..no shake or vibration.
Thanks ,Trent

[fleetsidelarry]

Originally Posted by Middleagecrisis

So I can take the '68 12-bolt I have and take the 5-lug axles and drum brakes out and swap into them into my existing '62 12-bolt?

first off, '68s didn't come from the factory with 5 lug hubs, 5 lugs didn't start 'til '71. so you either have an entire rear end from a '71-'72 (direct bolt-in), someone has done what the OP is talking about or you have redrilled or replacement axles.

I also didn't think '62s had 12 bolts but even so, the early 12 bolts had a different spline count.

[Captainfab]

In addition to what fleetsidelarry said, the truck 12 bolt did not come out until '63. The '63 and '64 12 bolts used 17 spline axles. The '65 and up 12 bolts used 30 spline axles. So if you are wanting to put 30 spline axles into a '63 or '64 12 bolt, you will have to also change the side spiders to the 30 spline pieces. If you do indeed have a '68 housing with 5x5 axles, they must be aftermarket or plugged and re-drilled originals. That is unless someone has done as the OP is asking about, and installed the longer axles into a shorter housing.

Originally Posted by Middleagecrisis

So I can take the '68 12-bolt I have and take the 5-lug axles and drum brakes out and swap into them into my existing '62 12-bolt?

[Captainfab]

I have heard that the 30 spline axles in the '80-'86 8.5 10 bolts will interchange with the late 70 to '82 12 bolt axles. However I have not tried this, so I can not confirm that is does work. The length should be the same, but I believe some of the 8.5 10 bolt axles are 28 spline?

Originally Posted by 63sbssbbw

While we're on the subject of axles.
Will a mid '80's 10 bolt 5 lug axle fit in my mid '70's 12 bolt 5 lug axle.
I was informed by a guy following me that my wheel was going to fall off.
Turns out the flange is bent....Strange ..no shake or vibration.
Thanks ,Trent

[63sbssbbw]

Thank you Cpt
I guess I'll be the guy to check that out.
I'll let us know if it flies or not
T

[Middleagecrisis]

Originally Posted by fleetsidelarry

first off, '68s didn't come from the factory with 5 lug hubs, 5 lugs didn't start 'til '71. so you either have an entire rear end from a '71-'72 (direct bolt-in), someone has done what the OP is talking about or you have redrilled or replacement axles.

I also didn't think '62s had 12 bolts but even so, the early 12 bolts had a different spline count.

Thanks Fleetsidelarry and Captainfab, this kind of knowledge is why I come to this site! I was told the 5-lug 12 bolt rearend came out of a '68 chassis when I bought the 5-lug suspension. Given the age of my '62, no telling what's been swapped into it over the years. I know the 5-lug rearend has a posi in it, so I'll pull them both apart and see what I've got regarding gear ratios and overall condition.

[Walts_restoration]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I have heard that the 30 spline axles in the '80-'86 8.5 10 bolts will interchange with the late 70 to '82 12 bolt axles. However I have not tried this, so I can not confirm that is does work. The length should be the same, but I believe some of the 8.5 10 bolt axles are 28 spline?

30 spline I believe was 89 up. Other than that they were 28 spline.