12 bolt rear end - brake question

[83burban]

I just picked up a 12 bolt rear end from an early Chevy truck, it is six lug and has the trailing arms. This will be going into my 62 to replace the 8 lug monster that is back there now. I want to do a disc brake conversion on it while its out.

On my 8 lug the drum brake backing plate is bolted on via the flange at the end of the axle tube. On this one, there are no bolts - was this something that was pressed on or welded on? I don't see any welds there, and I thought the backing plates were bolted on at the flange on all axles.

What do you recommend for caliper mounts, the weld on types. I know I can google it and find a bunch but who makes the nicest parts that will fit. Thanks

[68c10owner]

THere are a few places that sell a bolt on rear disc kit for the 12 bolt. They are pricey at about $600 for a complete kit.

[83burban]

I know that there are many options for a bolt on kit, but that will not work for me. There is no flange on the end of the axle tubes to bolt anything onto, it looks almost like it is pressed on. Did they come from the factory like this? I need a source for WELD on disc brake caliper mounts, not the bolt on ones that everyone sells. Thanks

[68c10owner]

Originally Posted by 62c20

I know that there are many options for a bolt on kit, but that will not work for me. There is no flange on the end of the axle tubes to bolt anything onto, it looks almost like it is pressed on. Did they come from the factory like this? I need a source for WELD on disc brake caliper mounts, not the bolt on ones that everyone sells. Thanks

I`m not quite sure what your saying. you mean there is no flange at all for the backing plate to bolt to? I`ve never heard of that. It really wouldn`t be to hard to make the bolt on kits work even in that case. just fab some mounting tabs and welde them on. Maybe even have new ends welded on your rearend but that might require new axles.

[83burban]

I will try and get pictures tomorrow, but yes, there are no flanges at all. The backing plate appears to be pressed onto the axle tubes. I don't plan on buying a brake kit either, I can piece it together without too much difficulty. All I need are discs, calipers and the caliper mounts - which are the problem. All the kits I have found are bolt on, I wanted to see if there were any that required you to weld brackets to the tube.

It would be much easier to weld 2 brackets onto the tube rather than 8 tabs. Ill try and look at the BOM number on the tube to see what information I can get. Thanks

[83burban]

This is what I have gathered,

The axle has 3" diameter tubes which then neck down in the last 1" or so. The backing plate is then pressed onto this necked down portion. I am going to run Ruff-Stuffs weld on mounts for it, but it just seen weird that there are no flanges.

Will this cause problems for me when I am ordering new bearings and such, or are all the bearings for 12 bolts the same?

What part number rotor should I be using for this. If no one has one offhand then I will just go the parts store and look for one that will fit the bill.

Thanks