HO52 Wheel Stud Question

[Chaparralman1974]

Good morning everyone!

I have spent quite a bit of time reading and re-reading several threads regarding wheel stud size and brakes for the HO52/72 rear axle.

In this thread below, there is a lot of good information about swapping the brakes off of a Corporate 14 Bolt axle onto an HO52:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...ht=HO52+9%2F16

According to the thread this is a fairly straightforward swap, and if you have 71/72 hubs, it is even easier to do.

The more that I think about my own restoration, rather than swapping the HO52 out for a 14 bolt that I purchased, I am now thinking about keeping the HO52 and doing a brake swap. The axle was working, and the only reason that I was going to swap it was so that it would match up with the new dana 44 that has 4.10 gears in it (the HO52 that I have is geared with 4.57's). I am really thinking now, that I may just want to stay with the lower gears for now, keep the HO52 and just regear the front with 4.56's from Yukon Gear as they are fairly cheap.

So, in following this information below:

Originally Posted by jbclassix

Interchangeability... Sop far, only the brakes are interchangeable between the 14 bolt and the Eaton. I have seen a lot of requests for part numbers and how-to's for the Eaton brakes. Well, here is my how-to rebuild the brakes on the HO72 and HO52. NOTE: for the 71 and 72 HO72/52 axles this is a direct swap. 70 and earlier use smaller wheel studs and will require a hub swap, or the holes on the hub to be enlarged.

Eaton left 14 bolt right


13 inch 14 bolt backing plate assembled and bolted to HO72. Perfect fit.


This is the one issue with this swap if you are performing it on a 70 or earlier axle. from left to right early Eaton stud, 71-72 Eaton stud, 14 bolt stud.


I went ahead and installed the 13 inch drum on a 69 hub with the small studs for this demo. you will notice the that flanges of the larger drums are also thicker. The studs stick out just 13/16". The drum center fits perfectly over the hub. I would not recommend running the brakes this way without using a spacer between the studs and drum, or enlarging the hub to use the larger studs.


Bam!

If I understand things properly, I can use the drum, backing plate and studs from the 14 bolt full floater that I have and then just transplant them onto the HO52 axle? It would seem that I can just drill out the holes in the HO52 hubs with a 39/64" bit, and then press the studs back into the hubs using the 14 bolt drum? Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks, Clay