I plan on shortening it to use in the 66 Cuda. Looks like I overloaded my old *** once again, but I'll figure it out. Current question is backing plates...didn't come with any, and I'm wondering if there is a preferred type (size), and how to source them. Any comments appreciated. Thanks.
So I bought an 8.75" B body housing, axles and perches for $200...
- Thread starter MechNerd
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ragtopfury
Well-Known Member
Place a wanted add for 10 or 11 inch, depending on what you want, 8.75 backing plates. Someone will have some to sell.
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
to note: you'll need big bolt pattern backing plates to match the offset of the big bolt axles. small bolt will not work.
Professor Fate
Push the button, Max...
Depending on the year B body it came out of, you may not really need to narrow it at all. Just move the perches and use a little more backspace on your wheels.
As far as the drums go-
10” Drum Brakes Options for A-Body 8-3/4 with Moser Engineering BBP Axles
As far as the drums go-
10” Drum Brakes Options for A-Body 8-3/4 with Moser Engineering BBP Axles
There’s a guy on here that sells kits already rebuilt for a good price .
The backing plates are blasted and painted ,,,,and all new hardware and shoes are added .
They look great !
You just add brake drums and you are ready to go .
Tommy
The backing plates are blasted and painted ,,,,and all new hardware and shoes are added .
They look great !
You just add brake drums and you are ready to go .
Tommy
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
on dusters and 2nd gen backarudas we know it's possible, but can it be done with the more confined wheel wells of a narrow body?
bb66cuda
Well-Known Member
Depends what wheels you are running. I have a 66 B body rear in a 66 Dart wagon and it works fine, but it has bigger wheel wells than a Barracuda.
You may be in great shape if they are 62-3.
33IMP
Well-Known Member
62/63 would be tapered axles. I wouldn't use those.
And I'd take a look at the splines of the axles you have, to see if they can be shortened (I'd bet against it)
If thats the case, and you can't respline the axles, I would not narrow it if I could avoid it, and explore wheels with extra backspace.
I think custom wheels might be cheaper than narrowing the rear and getting custom axles.
And I'd take a look at the splines of the axles you have, to see if they can be shortened (I'd bet against it)
If thats the case, and you can't respline the axles, I would not narrow it if I could avoid it, and explore wheels with extra backspace.
I think custom wheels might be cheaper than narrowing the rear and getting custom axles.
I missed the part about the axles themselves.... housing length would be a good start tho. Thx
The 11” rear brakes are overkill unless you’re building a pickup truck to do hauling or towing. The extra weight and brake force are not a good match for even a car with 11” front discs. It is odd how the Dana equipped B and E body cars meant 11” drum brakes even with 11” front drums or discs.
Unrelated to the current topic but hey…I probably have A.D.D. So remember, it isn’t nice to pick on the disabled.
I added 11x2.5" drum brakes to my Challenger when I was running 11.75" mopar disks up front, that combination produced well balanced braking that was better than it had when it was set up with 10.95" disks up front and 10x2.5" drums out back.
Did the same thing with my Duster which started out with the '73+ 10.95" factory BBP disks and 10x2.5" rear drums, went up to 11.75" disks in the front and 11x2.5" drums in the back. Great improvement in braking and not at all overkill for the street. More stopping power is better.
And for the OP, what you need to do to that B-body 8 3/4 will depend a lot on 1. what year it is, since B body rear axles are not all the same width and 2. what you plan on running for wheels. If you're staying with 14" or 15" wheels you'll likely need to shorten it. If you're going 17" or 18" wheels and modern tires, probably no shortening needed.
On a race car, sure. On a street car I'd rather be able to stop before I hit something, and the larger disks and drums absolutely stop better than the smaller stuff.
I'm sure my current 11.7" rear disks are lighter than the 11x2.5" drum brake set up they replaced, just like the 11x2.5" drums were no doubt heavier than the 10x2.5's, but honestly it's not like you can tell the difference at the seat of your pants. I've been through 3 different rear brake set ups and 4 different front brake set ups on my Duster and all I ever noticed was the difference in stopping power. Maybe you'd notice the weight difference if you started timing things, but if all you ever do is go fast for a 1/4 mile and then stop you don't have to worry about anything jumping out in front of you.
I seem to recall that only C body Axles could be narrowed
as only they had splines cut into axle rather than raised.
As my elderly mind seems to recall from 40 years ago before I
bought aftermarket Axles.
as only they had splines cut into axle rather than raised.
As my elderly mind seems to recall from 40 years ago before I
bought aftermarket Axles.
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
some can and some can't. i don't have the definitive model/year break downs but i do know that some are indeed "raised" spline, and some of both styles are not splined down far enough to shorten.
same with the B series van axles.
If the housing is cut down to A-body width, a stock a-body brake set up and A-body stock axles (SB) can also be used
Most B/E body axles can't be shortened to A-body length. Which is not to say they can't be shortened, but the location on the B/E axle you need to make it A-body length isn't large enough in diameter. You can make most of them shorter than A-body length because they step back up in diameter.
To shorten a stock axle shaft to A-body axle length the axles pretty much have to be C-body or truck axles.
Yeah but then you'd be stuck tracking down a complete set of small bolt pattern rear brakes, because not all the parts you need are reproduced. And unlike the large bolt pattern rear drum brakes that were used all the way up into the 90's, your donor list is real short.
Out here in Nevad= It costs $400 or more to get housing
narrowed down plus the new ends.
Prices have gone absolutely Nuts!
narrowed down plus the new ends.
Prices have gone absolutely Nuts!
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
exactly. thank you for articulating it in a more concise manner.
this day in age even finding somebody to respline axles is damn near impossible, let alone what they want to charge you for the work. better off just buying new units.
it's almost the same with C barge and truck/van axles. unless you can shorten them yourself, R&R the bearings and studs yourself by the time you buy the parts you're almost ahead getting a set of freshies.
And IIRC some reproduction ends are too shallow to use with tapered axle bearings, you have to swap to green bearings with most of them. Or re-use the factory ends.
Yeah by the time you ship the things to Moser and back to have them shortened and re-splined you could have just bought new ones from DoctorDiff and not have to worry about what those axles did for the last 50+ years.
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
shhhhh! we don't mention those two things in the same sentence... you know this!
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