Rear Axel Question

[Cowboy91]

I've been at battle with the rear brake shoes and hubs for a bit. What I know is that the car was sold in 2004 with out a rear axle assembly. The car currently has a tapered axle Dana 44, 3.07 ratio, posi in it, all from the tags on the axle. I have not been able to find a manufacturing date or PN on it (normally rear side on the pax axle tube). The issue is that I'm replacing the brake shoes and hubs. The ones removed are 11" units so the ones going back on were 11" units. The issue is that the shoes don't seem to fit properly and the hubs will not slide over them. Yes I've had the shoes arched and the new hubs turned. I've tried several different shoes and two different hub sets. All do the same thing. The shoes I took off showed signed on glazing from heat which makes me think that they were the wrong size to start with. I also noted the eccentric adjustors don't seem to engage the shoe. Given all of this my question is did Stude ever do a Dana 44 on the Lark with a 10 1/2 inch brake? I've looked for a PN, hoping for a cross reference, on the backing plate but didn't find one. If the Dana 44 is from another make of make of vehicle, what would be a common swap? The axle doesn't appear to of had tabs added so I'm assuming it is a "stock" unit. Your thoughts please.

[Gunslinger]

There's a possibility you need shoes and drums from a 1971 or later Avanti II. They were self-energizing and used 11" GM shoes but I don't know what drums, but not the original design drums. The correct brake shoes for a '63-'70 Avanti is industry number B173. If that's the shoes you have then your assembly is incorrect for the year so it's a matter of determining what's correct for that assembly. If the shoes you have aren't B173 then you have the wrong shoes.

Yes...and other makes used Dana 44's as well. Possibly too many to try and list.

I would contact either Jon Myer or Dan Booth at Nostalgic for advice.

[Cowboy91]

Thanks Gunslinger. I believe my next magic is to drop the rear end out of the car allowing me to clean the outside of the axle and repair the pinon seal. I'll check out the 71+ idea and maybe find a PN on it. The shoes that are being used are B173 style. Right now I'm really considering a disk brake conversion. In the long run I believe I would be ahead in dealing with issues I'm running into. I would consider doing a flanged axle conversion but unless I'm reading the disk brake conversion stuff wrong, all are for the tapered axle. My gut tells me I'm not dealing with a Stude factory rear end in this car.

[boogieman]

I think you will find this rear is the same used in Jeeps and low horsepower Mopars from that era.

Unless I'm mistaken they use 10-1/2" x 2" shoes. Have had the rear in my '79 apart and instantly recognized

the parts having owned dozens of '60's and '70's mopars.

[Cowboy91]

Boogieman. Interesting enough the guy down the street is a Jeep guy, like owns 4 or 5 of various years, and said the same thing. I'm going to drop the whole axle assembly out and and go through it. This way I can pull a backing plate off and see if I can get an ID on it, along with other things. I'll post my findings for the enjoyment of all. My wife reminded me that I broke one of my own rules : Never ever buy someone else failed project. I'll sleep in the shop tonight.

[Gunslinger]

One of the toughest things in this hobby is having to undo what past owners have done before you can start doing it correctly.

[CaffeineRacer]

I have to agree with Gunslinger. The best sign when looking to buy a car like this is when the previous owner has a well organized binder documenting everything they've done with part numbers and vendors.

[Cowboy91]

A short update. I pulled the rear axle out. After steam cleaning years of dirty and oil off, I'm more lost now than I was when I started. The date and Bill of Material numbers don't cross over in any of the books I have or on the web. The number in the date position is 2133A3 and the number in BOM position is 2468 I 8 5X. Any ideas of where this axle came from? It does appear that the traction bar brakets have been welded on after the fact. I'm going to re-weld them as one is showing a crack. The anchor pads welded to the axle have an PN of 32457 on them. The brake backing plates have a Bendix PN of 313546-R (pax side) and 313545-L (drivers side). I couldn't cross reference these either. It is a tapered axle. Gears and bearings are in good shape, wear pattern excellent and lub clean, something on the plus side. At this point I'm considering the use of Currie replacement bake assembly, which according to them will bolt up without any issues. This resolves the issue of whose brakes/backing plate I have and gives me a modern adjustment system. Thoughts?

Edited September 3, 2014 by Cowboy91

[bigdaddy]

Join the crowd on correcting prior "incorrect" mechanical issues! As far as Dating, your ring and pinion should have a date stamp. Of course this only dates the ring and pinion...........Just a thought.

[Cowboy91]

Bigdaddy. My bad on that one. Assuming the ring and pinion are the first ones, it might narrow the field down a bit. While I do that, I'll count the teeth and figure the ratio. It may not me the 3.07 that is on the tag. I'm also awaiting a response from Spicer/Dana. Thanks for the input. Added 7 Sep 14. Spicer/Dana confirmed the BOM as 2468-1 as a Dana 44 with 3.07 gears, but didn't provide a date of mfg or vehicle make. Added 10 Sep 14. Spicer/Dana provided a build date for the rear end of 2 Dec 60 with several factory changes through 1961 and 1963. They rebuilt the unit in February 1969 and added twin/posi traction. They had no info on whose vehicle it was for.

Bigdaddy-No dates on any of the gears, just paint pen mark on the bolts. Since there were modern sealants used, my guess is someone in the 90's worked on it.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Cowboy91

[Cowboy91]

Rear brake issue resolved with a bit of help. After disassembly, cleaning and checking, the Dana 44 gears were dated in November 1964 with a paint pen mark on the twin traction add of February 1969. While I'm still not clear on what vehicle it came from, we got it back together, set to specs. With some help from a local "Packard nut" we figure out the backing plates were in fact Studebaker. Dry fitting the shoes on the backing plates showed the brake hubs were a fit. Only when we added the upper link bar did we have issues with brake hubs fitting. The link bar was to long, keeping the upper part of the brake from closing to specs. One set of link bars later I'm good to go. As soon as the new bushings arrive, axle goes back in place. Thank to all for their advice.

[bigdaddy]

Rear brake issue resolved with a bit of help. After disassembly, cleaning and checking, the Dana 44 gears were dated in November 1964 with a paint pen mark on the twin traction add of February 1969. While I'm still not clear on what vehicle it came from, we got it back together, set to specs. With some help from a local "Packard nut" we figure out the backing plates were in fact Studebaker. Dry fitting the shoes on the backing plates showed the brake hubs were a fit. Only when we added the upper link bar did we have issues with brake hubs fitting. The link bar was to long, keeping the upper part of the brake from closing to specs. One set of link bars later I'm good to go. As soon as the new bushings arrive, axle goes back in place. Thank to all for their advice.

Wow! I should have caught that upper spreader bar thing since the same thing happened to a buddy of mine, sorry. Also, if the date is not stamped on the radius of the ring and the end of the pinion, they are probably aftermarket gears, which really shouldn't be a problem. I've sure learned while working on my Avanti, not to assume that prior work was done correctly! Good luck.