: Hi everybody,
:
: I have an 8 3/4" rear end with small bolt
: axles that I'm putting in my '68 Dodge Dart.
: Unfortunately, I don't have the rear drum
: backing plates for the 10x1 3/4" drums.
:
: These seem hard to find around here. Can I use
: the B/E body 10" rear drums if I also
: use the B/E body backing plates? Of course,
: I would have to have the drums re-drilled to
: 5x4" bolt pattern. I want to keep the
: small bolt pattern axles, especially since I
: got new ones. I also don't want to replace
: all of my wheels, since I finally got ones
: that I like.
:
: Any suggestions on what other rear drums will
: fit with my axles and the 8 3/4" rear
: would be appreciated. I already tried
: drilling the backing plates on my 9"
: drums, but ran into a snag since the
: bearings on the 8 3/4" axles won't fit
: through the centering hole (I don't really
: want to re-drill this).

:
: I am not absolutely positive about your idea
: but I think it might work. I do know that I
: swapped axles, backing plates and
: drums(11" x 2 1/2") from a B-body
: wagon onto an A-body 8 3/4" axle
: housing. All I remember having to do is
: shorten and respline the axles and swap
: emergency cables.

: Crap! Looks like I'm out of luck with my B-body
: brake idea. I found the following
: information on the bigblockdart.com site
: (also posted elsewhere on the Internet):
: "Section 2: Flange Axle Taper and
: Flange Differences
:
: Besides the obvious bolt circle lug pattern
: difference
: between the A-body 4" BC axle and all
: other passenger
: car 4.5" BC axles, there is a sometimes
: unexpected
: difference in the flange that tends to cause
: confusion.
: The distance from the axle housing flange to
: the wheel
: flange of the axle is 1/4" smaller on
: A-body axles than
: on the standard 4.5" passenger car axle.
: On an A-body
: axle this measures 2", on 4.5" BC
: axles its 2.25".
:
: This slight difference will cause problems when
: one
: attempts to adapt brake systems (drum and
: backing
: plate together), or a brake drum from a
: 4.5" BC axle to
: a 4" BC axle. If you are using original
: A-body axles,
: regardless of what BC is may have been
: redrilled for,
: you can only use the original 10x1.75"
: drums (redrill
: the drums as well)."
:
: Man, I wish I ordered different axles, or
: picked up the backing plates when I was at
: Carlisle! I'm still asking around locally
: for 10x1.75" brake backing
: plates/hardware, but I've had no luck so
: far. This is getting frustrating, since my
: Dart is my only car.

: That's too bad. I was going to suggest you make
: a 1/4" spacer for the axle bearing
: retainer, but then you couldn't adjust the
: end play. You can either go the route I
: went, or keep looking for 10" SBP
: backing plates. It may end up being easier
: just buying a complete axle ass'y.

:
: If you have a little extra bread, you can go to
: rear discs ($400 w/o park brake, 550-600
: with). Check out <A HREF="http://www.tsmmfg.com">www.tsmmfg.com</A> . I have
: these on my '64 Dart and they are a
: noticeable step up from 10" drums...
:
: Lou

: Hey Lou!
:
: Thanks for the information. Are the brakes you
: have on your '64 Dart small bolt pattern?
:
: Patrick Devlin