The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline rear brakes

hey all, I purchased a 41 chevy truck about 23 years ago. I was working on it making really good progress but had to put it on hold for another project, I recently started back up on the 41 and I had purchased a rebuilt 10 bolt rear end for it. the guy I bought from says it was from a 75 Camaro, so I ordered new parts for it to rebuild brakes 20 + years ago and the brake pads are a little different than the ones on there same as the brake cylinder. My question is what year parts do I order for a 10 bolt Chevy rear end?
thanks for any help
James

Here's more info, when I bought the parts I'm sure I told the guy rear drum brakes and cylinders for a 73 Camaro. I'll post some pics once I figure out how to. the 1st pic is original, the 2nd & 3rd are new parts, hope this makes sense

James - Just a suggestion on my part, but I think we need to confirm what axle you have. There should be a stamped set of letters and numbers on the front side of the passenger side axle tube that can be decoded to confirm what it actually is. Below is a sample drawing to help you find the info. Once you have it, post the details here and we can help decode it and confirm what it is.

In looking at your pictures, the first one shows a brake shoe and wheel cylinder that differs from what I recall being used. On your other pictures, the cylinder to shoe actuating pins appear to be missing. There should be pins on both sides of each wheel cylinder sticking out of the center of the rubber boot. The end sticking out should have a groove in it that the brake shoe slides into, with that groove keeping that pin and shoe in direct alignment and contact. The other pin end goes inside the boot and should be rounded and smooth as it contacts the pistons in the cylinder.

hey Dan, after some research I figured out the pins were missing. I was hoping to get the same shoes and cylinder that came on the rear end. here are the pics of the stamped Numbers.

James - Thanks for posting those. The first pictures is the units casting date code: D273, which decodes as April 27th, 1973 (or could be '83). The GM14 is just a standard GM foundry marking/number which doesn't provide any real detail about the axle. The 3rd picture with "1235542B" is a casting number for the main case, but doesn't really identify the axle to see what it came from.

The key alpha/numeric info needed is stamped into (not cast) the upper face (close to the differential pumpkin) of the passenger side axle tube. Below is a sample of where and what to look for. Those are the codes that will tell what the axle original was installed in as well as original gearing etc.

You've got the picture taking/posting process down, just need to see the stampings on the axle tube and we can go forward from there.

ok, I only can see the letter J and that's it. I don't know what happened to the rest

This is kinda a stab in the dark since all you can find is a "J", but here's what I can offer in hopes it helps. Research through GM resources indicates for 1973 that there were two primary 10-Bolt (8.5") rear axles (ratios 2.73 to 1 and 3.08 to 1) identified with the first letter J used on selected GM X-body cars (Chevy Nova, Pontiac Ventura and Oldsmobile Omega). This 10-Bolt is virtually the same as the Camaro (F-Body) rear axle which did not use a "J" as an identifier, so easy to mistake one from the other.

On what may be the best note on your brakes for this axle, the GM X-Bodies and F-Bodies share the same basic brake components. Brake shoes and wheel cylinders specifically are interchangeable, so the new parts you have (purchased for a '73 Camaro) should work just fine on your axle.

I can't say anything on trying to find exact matches for the old shoes/cylinders in your first picture above. They look different than the standard shoes and cylinders I'm used to work with. Honestly, I think you should be fine installing the new cylinders and shoes you've purchased.

Below is just some resource reference info to demonstrate some of the information above and the different models using the same brake parts.

Hey Dan, I appreciate all the help
Thanks again
James