Rear axle swap, brake upgrade time?

[rangerbum]

My ring Gear id trash and its definite that I'm swapping axle instead of replacing ring and pinion. My question is, I have found the right axle, but it has the 10 inch drums.

How much work is it adapting it to my brake system? I imagine all it takes is swapping the brake line block on the top of the axle and plug in the vss and bleed, out doors it take more.

I know all it takes to put in an axle, just don't know exactly how the 9 inch and 10 inch brake axles differ brake line wise.

 

[Jolly Roger]

Brake line wise u should be fine. I went from the small stock axle to the explorer 8.8 swap. Stoped better no problems un till my father inlaw drove it 5mi. with the e brake on. I gota put a new set of shues on.

 

[AllanD]

Just bolt on the axle bleed them out and go.

The wheel cylinders are different in the 10"

Remember that single-anchor drum brakes are a bit weird the way they work.

It isn't simply hydraulic pressure forcing the shoes against the drum.
Most of the actual stopping force is generated by the rotation of the drum dragging
the front shoe and that wedge the rear shoe into hard contact and THAT does most of the stopping.

They are called "Servo actuated brakes" and there's a lot about the way they actually function that is counter intuative...

But that is all dealt with by the factory having played wheel cylinder bore diameter games to accomplish the desired effects of "bias" front to rear.

AD

 

[mephiska]

Sorry to revive an old thread but this is an important safety question and you seem pretty knowledgeable on this. I will send you a PM since you're probably not subscribed to this thread.

But that is all dealt with by the factory having played wheel cylinder bore diameter games to accomplish the desired effects of "bias" front to rear.

I'm currently in the process of doing the same thing, going from 9" drums to 10" drums on my 1994 (Full rear end swap), and I was wondering about this. Should I do this swap would I need to change the master cylinder? I've done searches and asked this question in other threads but I get conflicting information, so it's a bit muddy.

I know having the fronts locking up before the rears is generally preferable to the reverse, but still I'd like the bias to be correct, and I don't have ABS on my truck. How different would the brake bias be when changing from a 9" rear to 10" with no change in master cylinder?

 

[adsm08]

You should have no need to change the master cylinder for that swap.

 

[AllanD]

If you buy the proper wheel cylinders for your truck
(after telling the auto parts counter jockey you have 10" brakes)
you'll have the proper bias.

Or... That will give you FACTORY bias.

making changes in wheel cylinder bore diameter to change the brake bias
has some odd counter-intuitive effects, because the effects of the larger
bore increasing force, while reducing motion (and vice-versa) is not
easily explained verbally. (and changes the sensitivity of the brakes to
how well the self-adjusters are working... or how tightly you keep the rears adjusted)

Being realistic you probably want those parts NEW anyway...
along with brake shoes and a "spring kit".

Because you never know how "whooped" those parts are on a junkyard axle.
This also offers you the chance to clean off the backing plates and check to
see if the axle seals are leaking.

Do examine the axles for RADIAL play, if you can "feel" the play it's probably still OK, but if you can actually see the axle move in any direction (fore-aft up-down) you have a bearing or shaft problem

a little axial play (in and out) is normal,

a LOT of axial play, is typical on a limited slip axle with worn out clutches.

 

[bmerr98]

I gave you rep for your signature. Very nicely summed up, and with your permission I'll be using that one. Good tech advice too...