The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk putting 1/2 ton brakes on 3/4 ton- any tips?

I have a late '49 3/4 ton truck and have access to any '53 1/2 ton suspension and brake parts off of a parts truck. I plan to try and get this truck as low as I can but most aftermarket parts are for 1/2 ton trucks. I plan to do a 3" drop axle and take out some leaves in the front and axle flip in the rear with blocks and also take out some leaves. At the same time I want to get away from the 8 lug split rims and go to the 6 lug regular rims. I don't know if the rear end I have is stock or not but it does not have the torqe tube style and is a 3" 10 bolt axle. So is it just a matter of swapping out the brake backing plates, drums etc? Or is there something I am not seeing. I have not opened up the drums on either truck to compare yet either. Any help is really appreciated as I am a novice at best (if you couldn't tell).
Jeremy

Its hard to give specific information when you are not sure if you have the original parts or not. But assuming you have the orignal rear axle, the stuff from the 1/2-ton won't swap onto it.

You can swap the entire front axle to get the 6-lug hubs, but in the rear you probably want to swap the axle from a later 6-lug truck.

You probably don't want to swap the 1/2-ton rear axle to the 3/4-ton. Without getting into the details, it would be a lot of work for little gain.

The original style 1/2 ton axle won't swap directly in. 1 thing would be the torque tube, which isn't long enough for the 3/4 ton chassis, the other would be the spring mounts, namely that fact that the 1/2 ton uses a pivoting mount and also mounts above the spring, rather than below it like the 3/4 ton.
What I'd suggest, since you seem to be going for a hot rod, would be to use the drop axle as you mention, with a disk brake conversion, then use something like a later model Camaro ar Trans-Am rear axle. That will convert everything to the same bolt pattern (5 x 4 3/4) and get you an upgrade on the brakes at the same time. This will, of course, reduce the load capacity greatly.

I'd like to the keep the rear that it has (it's not a torque tube style) but simply convert it to 6 lug, but didn't know how in depth that would be. If I had to change the axles, I would try to find a 6 lug rear end out of another vehicle of course. But I didn't know if it's a matter of just swapping some fairly simple parts or not. I am like a lot of guys and have a VERY tight budget, and really don't care to convert to disc brakes, for me I think that would create more problems than I had becuase I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'd like to feel like I'm driving a truck from the 40's anyway.

Does anyone know how the 3/4 ton front axle is different from the 1/2 ton? Is it larger, wider......?
Thanks for the help!

if you install a 12 bolt rear, some have 2.75'' drums... you're half way there. this along is a great stopping power.

Want to know about swapping out a rear end.
and what to use Here's food for thought.... on 50’s chevy’s By: Jim Forbes

'''''''''''There are lots of rear ends available! Some fit better than others. For 6 lug rear ends, the 64-69 1/2 ton 2wd Chevy (and some GMC) trucks have a 12 bolt rear, about 60-61" wide (I measure them where the wheels bolt on). The 70 2wd and 70-81 4wd have a 6 lug 12 bolt that is a couple inches wider, but will fit under an Advanced Design or Task Force truck as long as you don't get too wild with wheel/tire width. The heavy duty models have a 2.75’’ brake shoe, that’s stopping power. The 12 bolt truck rear ends from the 60s usually had 3.70 gears, which is a bit much for extended highway driving at 75 mph. You can swap the differential carrier and ring/pinion gears from a later TRUCK or VAN 12 bolt, the 70s trucks usually had 3.08 or 3.40 gears. ''''''''''

see also
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Main/52074/Number/376952#Post376952

"I'd like to the keep the rear that it has (it's not a torque tube style) but simply convert it to 6 lug"

There's no way to convert that rear to six lug. A six lug wheel won't even fit over that full floating hub, if you're thinking of re-drilling the bolt pattern.

If you want a six lug rear, I think the easiest swap may be a 1/2 ton Task Force series rear. I have a '55 1/2 ton rear end kicking around the garage and the spring pad spacing is very close to my '52 3600. Within a half inch I believe. I considered the swap myself at one time.

well dang, looks like I need to look for a new rear end then- something with a highway gear in it though. Thanks for the help guys!