Hi, I poured over the archives and found great advice on how to add better brakes to a ford front axle, but nothing for a chevy front axle. Is there a way to do this? Anyone done it? How? I would love to use the chevy axle on my chev. Thanks in advance.
I put ECI brakes on my '40 GMC. They make them for your year too. http://www.ecihotrodbrakes.com/early_chevy_discbrake_conversions.html
i used 69 chevy van spindles and drum brakes on my 36 chevy truck years ago.i just had to have king pin boss reamed to correct size and use a thin spacer between lower boss and bearing.it worked out real nice for what it was. i used one of those rod ends with the extra hole for hooking up the drag link on the vega cross steer.the idea came outa streetrodder mag from like 1980 or so . i personally would go the disc brake route for better stopping.
another guy on here put 51-59 truck backing plates and 51-54 car hub/drums on the original spindles in his 31 car, worked out ok.
i know you said you want to keep stock axle,,but my uncle swapped in a complete F1 front axle ,,the parrell leaves almost line up perfectly,,enough to make it work with the stock leaves,,,
I think '36 was the first year for hyd. brakes on the Chev. Find a set and throw them on. GM started with Bendix style right away so performance wise they will work fine once rebuilt. PanheadGuy
'36-'50 Chevrolet brakes were non self energizing, like '39-'48 Fords. The shoes pivoted on the bottom, and were adjusted on top by turning threaded caps on the wheel cylinder. They were referred to as "Huck" style.
nope...as he said, Huck brakes were used thru 50, they don't work like the newer Bendix style...use 51-up brakes. Chevy pickups had straight axles thru 59.
51-54 car front brakes bolt on. You have to grind the lower hole a little and make new bottom spacers.
There's a good chance that a axle from an early '50s Chevy truck will bolt in as a complete ***embly. The axles on my '31 coupe and '53 truck are identical width at the spring perches. I put a '69 Nova stub on the truck, the truck axle is going on the coupe to get juice brakes on the front.
Get the Rodders Journal issue #65. There are two 31 Chevys and the write up details the parts used to upgrade the front brakes. The guy who owns these cars is on the HAMB. I have a 31 Chevy Coach that I am starting a build on in a couple of weeks that will run mid 50's Chevy front brakes. Using the article as a guide for my front end and steering. here is a link to the back issue. http://www.roddersjournal.com/shop/issue-65/
I plan to start a thread in a couple of weeks. As for parts, I plan to use a 51-54 Chevy 1/2 ton truck complete front axle, spindles, hubs and brakes. I will use the stock 31 springs along with the stock frame but will have the front axle dropped. Other parts for my build will be 57 Chevy truck column/steering box, 283 sbc with 3 speed OD column shift, not sure on the rear end yet...hopefully early 60's rear, 1940 Chevy 16" 6 lug wheels. I have a 56 Olds dash which I am pretty stoked about. Look for a thread soon.
I did the same set on my 31 coupe. 1952 Chevy pickup axle, springs and brakes. I also found a set of 1953 Car brake drums. It was a clean and easy bolt in. I took apart the original and pickup leaf springs to get the ride height I wanted. A bonus was the axle had shock mounts. They line up perfectly to the frame rails. For the upper shock mounts I used 55-57 Chevy front motor mounts. I flipped the over, welded some steel to the mounting surface to line up the shock and give clearance for the finder. I even used one of the cars original shock mounting holes. The shock is a 52 to 54 Chevy pickup
After re-reading the ***le of this thread, sorry for my last post. Here is another solution, there is a company called Brake Tech Solutions (Charlotte, NC) that sells disc brake kits for you application on the original axle. I purchased the kit (1928-1940 Chevy Car) sometime ago but never used it. I plan to sell it if you are interest. PM if you want to talk.
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