What rearend do I have?

[rs74]

I have an 85 short bed that came out with a 10 bolt new. Some years back I swapped in a 12 bolt. I have no idea what year this rearend is. I am replacing all the brakes front and rear. I was going to replace the rear shoes, wheel cylinders and a new hardware kit. The rear shoes are 2 3/4" wide. The meat on the front shoe is 10" and the meat on the rear shoe is 12". The parts store doesn't even know what I might have. I figure it is a 70's rearend but know idea on what exact year.

There is no tag on the rear cover either. Is there any way for me to figure out what is in this thing so I can get parts.

[gchemist]

I have a 12 bolt swapped in from a 77. A 77 12 bolt will have either 2" or 2.75 (11.34 x 2.75) wide brake shoes. Use a '77 to find parts.

[J Knight]

You will need 11-5/32 brake shoes. !2 bolt rears were used from 73 to 81.

[mopar346]

There should some letter/numbers stamped in the housing I believe on the front side of the passenger's side tube. Google decoding Chevy 12 bolts and you will get more info than you care to read, but you will get your answer.

On another note, remove the stuff and go to a real parts house and match the stuff up, I would start with a mid-70s 4X4 and go from there, there really all that many options. I know 1 st generation Camaros use the same brakes for the 10 bolt and the 12 bolt, not sure about trucks.

[rs74]

About all the parts store (NAPA) could tell me was what width they were. They couldn't tell me how much pad the shoe had on either the front or rear of the shoe. The person there said they plugged in for a 74 and it didn't come up with anything. Maybe they just didn't know what they was doing. I did see 15/16 stamped on the wh cylinder. I am assuming that is the bore on the cylinder.

I will search the decoding thing and see what that comes up with and will try to gat another person at Napa in the morning and see if they can come up with something else. They seemed to think that they wouldn't have them in stock if they could figure out what year it was. I was going to take the shoes off to compare at the store.

[rs74]

Duplicate post. Sorry.

[GM-power]

Just get the larger brakes they will work.
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[bdiamond]

There are early and late shoes. A 75 uses a thicker framework on the pad than an 82 heavy duty brake equipped truck. The late parking brake hardware wont fit the early shoe. Otherwise I think they are the same

[rs74]

Okay, so I got out and tried using a wire wheel on a grinder to get the code off the axle tube. I started on the passenger side front of axle and cleaned up from the rearend housing all the way to the shock mount and come up with nothing. I even did the drivers side and nothing. Am I looking in the right place.

[mopar346]

This is the best source of info I am familiar with, it is Camaro related but I would think GM was consistent with their markings and location.

http://camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml#axle