1968 A body 10" x 1-3/4" brake hardware?

1968 A body 10" x 1-3/4" brake hardware?

The hardware for all 10" brakes will interchange, with one exception. If you use a brake spreader bar from 10x2.5" BBP brakes it has to be modified to work with the 10x1.75" SBP brakes. But the brake spreader bar is the only part that won't interchange straight across, even from SBP 10" brakes to BBP 10" brakes. So, any 10" brake hardware kit should work as long as you don't need the brake spreader bars, or are willing to modify them.

I realize that not all the parts may be "correct" for a given year, but they do in fact work.

I did some part swapping myself to show that this does in fact work, you can see the pictures in this thread

E-Brake help please

Here's the relevant info also...

72bluNblu said
That is true, but it doesn't matter. It's not like you can exchange 11" and 10" brake struts. I was talking about the offset bends on the ends of struts, none of them are straight. And they all have the same offset.

So, to clear all of this up I went out and pulled a brake strut from a set of BBP 10x2.5" brakes I have on my 1971 Satellite (same as on an E-body). I also pulled one from a SBP 10x1.75" set I have on an A-body 8 3/4. Here's what they look like. There is a slight difference, the offset of the ends is the same, but the thickness of the strut is different (shown with arrows). The SBP 10" brake strut has a flange, and that makes the strut narrower through the middle.
View attachment 1714954285
As it turns out, this is where I messed up. Not all 10" brake struts interchange. They're forward compatible, but not backward compatible (at least without modification). Meaning, you can use 10" SBP brake struts on 10" BBP brakes, but not the other way around. 10" SBP brakes need 10" SBP brake struts. The offset on the ends of the brake struts is the same, the bends are the same. And either strut clears the backing plates regardless of which backing plate they're on, SBP or BBP. But, the additional thickness of the flat BBP struts causes interference on the back of the axle flange when used on the SBP 10" brakes. It's not much, only an 1/8", but it doesn't work. You could probably clearance them, but, they might not be strong enough, hence the flanged section on the SBP brake struts. What you could do is put the strut in a vise and fold part of it over so it looks like the SBP strut. That would clear, it would be plenty strong, and since the offset is the same it would fit. But, they make re-pops of the SBP struts, so unless you're cheap you don't have to do that.

However, it doesn't matter for 10" BBP brakes, as shown (no, the springs aren't hooked, but as you can see everything is seated properly, it works)
View attachment 1714954289
View attachment 1714954287

So, if you're switching from SBP 10x1.75" rear drums to BBP 10x2.5" drums, you CAN use all of the same hardware, it all fits, no problems. What you can't do is use stock, unmodified BBP 10x2.5" brake struts on SBP 10x1.75" brakes, and I was wrong about that. But all of the other stuff works, levers, springs, adjusting hardware, and cables. But not the BBP brake struts on the SBP brakes.

As for the 11" stuff, all of it interchanges. The brake struts from 11x2" brakes work on 11x2.5" brakes, and vice-versa. I tried it, it works, it doesn't matter if the struts are flat or if they have the flange, the offset of the ends is the same and they all have clearance to the axle flange. The "bent" section that captures the shoes is the same length on those as well. In fact, the flat struts are the same "thickness" as the flanged ones. Not sure why they changed, obviously the struts with the flanges are stronger than just the flat ones.

More on the modification needed to the spreader bar if you go the BBP hardware route...

72bluNblu said
Thanks!

I think most of this was just due to terminology. What's a bend, what's a flange, etc. Especially when there's multiple bends in different directions. Hard to know what people are talking about on the internet if you're not pointing at a picture. And then of course not all of this stuff was the same for the entire manufacturing run, like the 11" brake struts. Some are flat except for the ends (no flange), some have that lengthwise flange, but it doesn't matter at all because they all interchange for the 11" brakes.

And I knew I had seen 10" brake bars on BBP 10x2.5" brakes with the lengthwise flange on them. And I have, and I have swapped SBP 10" brake struts to BBP 10" brakes. And that works. Unfortunately I assumed it meant that it worked the other way around. It's easy enough to make it work, but it doesn't just work. A vice and a hammer and voila, they fit, but that's not a straight swap. If you do need to run BBP 10" brake struts on SBP 10" brakes just fold on the dotted line, everything else is the same. :D Or buy repops, whatever's more convenient.
View attachment 1714954339

I just like evidence. I try not to say something will work if I haven't actually done it myself, and I don't just believe everyone that says they've done something if it doesn't make sense. I've done more than a couple things on my cars that people have said wouldn't work, and I've tried a few things that people said would work but didn't. So I try to actually give proof/documentation of what works (or doesn't) and why.