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:
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