Guys,

I just picked up a bare 8-3/4" A-body housing. Also got a screamin' deal on a sure-grip 742 pig w/3.23. Now I need axles and brakes.

The finished unit will be going into a street car(Duster), mild 360, auto trans, driven a couple times a month if I have time.

Some say I should upgrade to 11" B-body brakes. Some say I may be able to transplant brakes from an 8-1/4" A-body 10x2.5" system. I'm looking to do whatever has the most readily available replacement parts.

Are there any considerations I should have when buying axles with respect to the size brakes I use? Who sells the best axles?

What consideration should be taken if I want to go with disc brakes? Any special prep to the housing needed?

Help me make this build as easy as possible.

Maggot

Yes several ways 2 go. If SBP up front I'd stay w the SBP in the rear & I see the axles regularly for ~ $75, the drums are faily common & the 1&3/4" shoes/hardware kits are still avail. If BBP up front could have Moser cut down a set of 1/2 Ton truck 8&3/4 axles (I've done it/works well) & use the common BBP 10" drum assy's which includes the 8&1/4 10" you mentioned. The 11" BBP rear drum brake assy is heavy & adds alot of unsprung weight & reportedly not alot of gain since the rears do less work, me I'd go (rear) disc if only for the bling

contact Dr Diff here on the board,, he will set you up....

I'd go overkill with Police drums on the rear (11x2 IIRC). The fronts....discs. I'd personally move up to the Big Bolt pattern if you havent already and go get the front end off of a 74/75 A-Body.

Dr. Diff has some nice setups here too. I wanted one but with the amount of miles I drive the car every year. I wouldn't be doing much difference than the brakes I have now. Rear disc's were my goal but you do 70% of your braking with the front anyways.

I would not go with too heavy and large brakes. The 10 inch brakes and backing plates off the 8 1/4 will work fine ( large bolt pattern). I had trouble with respline axles. Doctor Diff sold me some nice new big bolt pattern axles with bearings installed. He is the man to speak to, and will get you on the best path with the whole installation !

The 10" brakes should be fine on the rear. Hopefully you have or will add disks on the front where it really does matter. When you buy axles, note some of the aftermarket versions are not compatible with OE roller bearings.

I plan to use disc brakes on the rear when I get it back up and running.

I'm tired of "self-adjusting" drum brakes that don't self adjust, forcing you to constantly be tweaking them and adjusting them manually.

disc brakes are nice simply from the maintenance standpoint. toss a set of pads in, run them till they're gone, push the pistons back out, and put new pads in. never have to worry about an adjuster not working, forcing you to go click the star wheel manually.

I agree. Disks feel a lot better, act quicker and look cooler behind custom wheels. Also, fewer moving parts, easier service, don't fade as fast. For you flatlanders it may not be important but when you live in the mountains good brakes help you make decent time. I'm sure we will hear from Rocky Mountain drum brake enthusiasts, but my current 4-drum ride has educated me in my many trips over the Continental Divide.
R.

Guys,

Will backing plates from a '76 7-1/4" rear with 10x2.5" brakes swap over to the 8-3/4" rear?

Yes. Any '65 and newer 5 x 4 1/2" bolt pattern Mopar drum brake package will interchange, regardless of ring gear size.

I took a set of backing plates off a 67 barracuda 7.25 with 9" drums , obviously 5x4 , if I remember right it only had 4 holes to mount the backing plate to the axle end.

also note that the 5x4 A body axle has a different offset of the axle flange because the a body used a 1.75 wide brake shoe, I'm not sure if the offset of the axle made up for this and the backing plate was the std backing plate used on all cars or if the A body had it's own backing plate , I'd have to do some digging in a parts manual to confirm .