Rear Axle conversion?

[raphyel]

trying to find the easiest way to keep my factory 63 rearend and put new axles to make it five lug. I have the drums and hardware, but will all the internals still be the same or do I have to change brake cylindersa and stuff like that?

[beaterC10]

I tried that on a 63 I used to own. I tried axles off a 69 or 70 and they were too long. The panhard rod was also different between the 63 and 69.

I would try getting your axles drilled for 5 lug. I would measure the 5 lug drum against the 6 lug. The critical dimensions would be the width of the shoe contact area, the dimension from the back of the drum mounting surface, and the size of the center hole in the drum. Basically all you need is to make sure the shoes will contact the drum in the machined contact area, the drums clear the backing plate, and the drums locate on the center register of the axle.

On the later trucks ,the backing plate, wheel cylinders, shoes, and drums are different between the different width brakes. The backing plates will physically interchange between a 10 bolt and 12 bolt.

[zenish]

www.earlyclassic.com sells conversion axles.