The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Huck / Bendix conversion REAR

...........has anyone done a Huck to Bendix change up on a rear axle ? Lots of posts about changing the front. So....seems to me the rear backing plates are welded to the axle housing (?), making the change a not so pleasant exercise. I don't want to change rear ends 'cause I have 3:55 gear setup but would like to have Bendix brakes. thanks folks

I did it to the front and rear of my 47 2nd series. The plates aren't welded, but they are riveted with nice big rivets that are hard to grind away. If you do stick with it and get the old backing plates off you will discover the Bendix plates have a smaller hole and don't fit over the flange on a Huck style axle... From what I've read and eyeballed the backing plate mounting surfaces are in a different spots on the axle. What I ended up doing was buying a 51-53 1/2 ton rear axle housing and just swapping everything over. The third member and axle shafts all fit for me. If you have a 47 with the original transmission you need to keep your torque tube since its a different length than the 48-53. If you go this route keeping the torque tube and your third member with a 51-53 housing I don't see why you couldn't keep the 3.55s. Make sure you get the e-brake lever, spreader, and eccentric bolt for the bendix setup too if you go this route.

This information from 46bolter would make a great Tech Tip. Finding brake drums for the old Huck style on a 3/4 or 1 Ton can be a real nightmare.

Thanks truckernix glad it might help someone! I personally found the tech tip for the front Bendix swap on this site to be sort of confusing especially if you don't have a complete front axle in front of you. I didn't end up drilling anything out to put the fronts on because I doubted my ability to drill a straight hole. If anyone is interested I could write up how I did that too.

...soooooo 47bolter, did you grind the back plates off your '47 and then discover that the Bendix backplates wouldn't fit ? Sounds like you started out to change backplates but ended up changing axle housings.

That is exactly what I did. I was under the impression the only difference between the axle housings were the backing plates. That isn't totally true. The hole in the backing plate to go into the axle is smaller for bendix axle housings. I think i read a post from pre68 Dave that said the bendix plates themselves mount farther inboard on the vehicle than the hucks. I would tend to agree looking at the two axle housing. This makes changing the location even harder. I'd recommend to anyone to keep the backing plates riveted on because you won't get as tight a connection between the plate and axle short of welding it and I'm not very good at welding. I figured if I'm in it for the long haul on the truck the swap will pay for itself with 35 vs 90 dollar drums. I got the housing complete with e brake parts for 150. Axles, seals, bearings, and third member went together like normal.

thanks for your ideas 47bolter. There is A LOT of information in your posts.