Not a bad idea!
8 3/4 to Dana 60
- Thread starter cpearce
- Start date
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If I am looking at these charts correctly, an A body 8.75 with small BP brakes is 57 1/8 vs. 57 13/16 with LBP axles and brakes? That would mean to build a Dana 60 using LBP brakes, to end up at the same total width as my current setup, the new housing would have to be 11/16 narrower total, than my current A body 8.75 housing at 52 5/8"?
I had originally planned to reuse my SBP brakes (redrilled to LBP) to save dollars and weight, after reading comments from knowledgeable members, I am reconsidering. I don't want to go through the process and cost of a custom build only to pigeon hole myself on limited supply brakes. Should one consider rear discs on a street car, I have to buy complete rear brake assemblies anyway?
Perhaps @72bluNblu would chime in?
I have to get this right, I have offset hangers and wheels that have been made accordingly, to maximize tire size in the well known restricted 69 Dart wheelwell.
I had originally planned to reuse my SBP brakes (redrilled to LBP) to save dollars and weight, after reading comments from knowledgeable members, I am reconsidering. I don't want to go through the process and cost of a custom build only to pigeon hole myself on limited supply brakes. Should one consider rear discs on a street car, I have to buy complete rear brake assemblies anyway?
Perhaps @72bluNblu would chime in?
I have to get this right, I have offset hangers and wheels that have been made accordingly, to maximize tire size in the well known restricted 69 Dart wheelwell.
Correct, the A-body 8 3/4 with SBP axles and brakes is narrower than the same housing with LBP axles and brakes because of the difference in the axle flange offset on the axles and the brake width.
Also, for that reason you cannot use your SBP brakes with standard LBP axles. The D60 axles all have the LBP axle flange offset, so re-drilling the SBP brakes won't work because the backing plate offset for the SBP brakes will be wrong (it's based on the SBP axle flange offset)
I suppose if you really wanted you could have custom axles made with the SBP flange offset, but the larger bolt pattern, like they make for the 8 3/4's. But then you'd be forever stuck with re-drilling SBP drums. Which I really don't understand, because if you're already going through the expense of changing the axles and the wheels you might as well just do the better thing and use the LBP brakes too, instead of buying a weird set of custom axles to reuse a set of brakes that it keeps getting harder to find parts for.
If you have to buy a complete set of BBP drum brakes, buying a set of rear disks isn't a huge added expense. DoctorDiff's rear disk kits start around $600, there's a member here selling the loaded, rebuilt BBP backing plates for $300 but I don't think that includes the drums and honestly that's still a pretty good deal because usually just a complete, used set of loaded BBP backing plates is a couple hundred bucks now.
And yes, running rear disks on the street is a worthwhile investment because there's a really good chance it will improve both your braking control AND shorten your stopping distance.
Mopar Muscle did a rear disk conversion on a '73 Dart Sport and compared the stopping distances between the rear drums and rear disks from 60-0. Their result was that from 60 mph with factory disks up front and factory drums in the back the car took 133 feet, 6 inches to stop. After the rear disk conversion, the stopping distance improved to 122 feet 4 inches. It wasn't a super scientific way to test it, but it was better than most of the documentation out there. And the car involved was set up the same way as a lot of these cars, with larger rear wheels than fronts.
The online article is a bit of a mess now, probably something with being moved from MM, to Hot Rod, to MotorTrend after each of the previous magazines was bought out. The final distance is a caption on the second to last picture if you open up the images for the article. The hardcopy article is easier to follow, but that's the way it goes.
https://www.motortrend.com/articles.../?galleryimageid=274576?galleryimageid=274576
If you do use rear disks, keep in mind again that they too will widen the track width. Most kits widen the track around a 3/16" per side, because the rotors are thicker where they sit on the axle flanges vs the drums they're replacing. So you'd want to make that decision before you have the axle housing width set.
What wheels are you planning on running? Sounds like you already have the width and backspace set? And you have 1/2" offset springs?
Yes, the width is set. Currently 8.75, stock width using SBP brakes with custom axles and drums in LBP. I also have the offset hangers on current setup. I run several sets of rims depending on mood, 15x8 with 5" BS, and one set with 5 1/8" BS.
I am going to upgrade to a Dana 60 before I ultimately hurt my 8.75, I want to be exactly the same installed width when done. The wheels are 15x8 steelies from Wheel Vintiques with custom 5 1/8 BS, and Cragar Ss 15x8, also custom at 5". So you can see, I have to get this right, little margin for error.
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Ok, so you've got 15x8's with 5" and 5-1/8" backspace now, and your current 8 3/4 uses re-drilled SBP brakes? Perfect. So at the moment you've got a 57-1/8" WMS-WMS.
So then you just need to knock the difference in the LBP to SBP axle/brake set up off the housing width. That difference is 11/16", so instead of 52-5/8" you want 51-15/16".
If you want to add disk brakes, that's another 3/16" per side, so 3/8" altogether, and your housing width should be 51-9/16".
Those housing widths should pretty much keep your wheels in the same place they are now, so if everything clears like it is it should be close enough to do the same with the new set up. How much clearance do you have to the springs and quarters with your current set up?
Financial advantage to a new one, no. One could convert an old one much cheaper, if you didn't have to farm out the labor. Advantages of the Strange S60 are lighter weight, and you eliminate the side shims because they have adjusters.
Thanks, sounds like it would still be a good project though for fun. I like the building almost as much as driving. Or I should say driving what I repaired. I think she may be deciding to sell her truck and I’m kind of wondering whether to buy it. It’s a long bed stepside needing quite a bit of rust repair.
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