69 Chevy C20 HO52 full floating rear end drum brake removal/installation.

[treveiger]

I recently did the brakes on my 69 C20 with the HO52 full floating rear end. I decided to do a walk through of what I did so people can use this as a reference. I took several pictures throughout the job to hopefully better explain how I did it. If there’s anything people want to add please do as this was my first(and hopefully last) time working on full floaters.

I got started by looking through my 1969 Chevrolet Truck Chassis Service Manual and the forum( www.67-72chevytrucks.com ) to help get a idea of what I was getting into. The sections in the Service Manual I used were:
· Axle Shaft-5200 and 7200 Lb. Axles (page 4-25 in Rear Suspension and Drive Line)
· Hub and Drum (page 4-26 in Rear Suspension and Drive Line)
· Section 5 Brakes (I basically used this as a picture reference of the ones that looked like the drums I was working on)

Step 1. Removing Axle

First you need to support your truck with jack stands and take off the tires. Once your done with this you will see your Hub/Drum Assembly. The Hub/Drum Assembly is pressed together through the lug bolts so it will come off as one unit. In order to get the Hub/Drum Assembly off to service the drum brakes you need to take the Axle Shaft out. To remove the Axle Shaft you need to take out the 8 bolts you see in the below. There will be a small amount of gear oil that will come out so be prepared to catch it in a container.

[treveiger]

Once you remove the 8 bolts the Axle shaft should be now free to come out. If its stuck the Service Manual says to use two 1/2"-13 bolts in the threaded holes provided in the axle shaft flange. By turning these bolts alternately the axle shaft may be easily started and then removed from the housing.(Quoted from the Manual). Personally I just pressed on the Axle Shaft Flange and the seal broke free so I was able to pull out the Axle Shaft in the pictures below.

[treveiger]

When pulling these things out try to support them as best as possible, there not too heavy.

The picture below is the part of the Axle Shaft that goes inside the rear end(sorry I don't have any pictures of the whole Axle Shafts), these beasts are about 4ft long.

[treveiger]

Step 2. Hub/Drum Removal

First thing you need to do to remove the Hub/Drum Assembly after removing the Axle Shaft is disengage tang of nut lock from slot or flat of locknut.

[treveiger]

Then remove locknut from housing tube, using a special Axle Nut Removal Tool. You can rent the tool at Advanced Auto Parts. (I do have a picture but it wont let me post it right now.)

[treveiger]

The Axle Nut you remove will look like the one above. It’s a little bugger getting out with the special socket but it is doable. Next the Nut Lock will slide on out and will come out like the picture below.

[treveiger]

After that you need to install your tires and that’s it. I hope this information helps someone because I was new to drum brakes and full floating axles but its really not hard. If there is anything anybody would like to add/ask please do.
Also, sorry for the multiple posts. Thats the only way I could get the pictures to where they needed to be.

[Duluth67]

Hello,

This is a very nice write up, I just did this process about 1 month ago. Couple of questions:
-->I'm assuming you had to separate the hub from the drums to have them turned. How out of spec were the drums? One of mine was 1/4'' larger in diameter than the nominal.
-->What fluid did you use to fill the rear diff to make up for what was lost during the job?
--> What do you mean when you say "Take note that the E-Brake components are gone, my E-Brake was stuck and worthless so I just decided to toss it..." From the picture it looked like every thing was in place. What did you toss?

Thanks!

[treveiger]

Originally Posted by Duluth67

Hello,

This is a very nice write up, I just did this process about 1 month ago. Couple of questions:
-->I'm assuming you had to separate the hub from the drums to have them turned. How out of spec were the drums? One of mine was 1/4'' larger in diameter than the nominal.
-->What fluid did you use to fill the rear diff to make up for what was lost during the job?
--> What do you mean when you say "Take note that the E-Brake components are gone, my E-Brake was stuck and worthless so I just decided to toss it..." From the picture it looked like every thing was in place. What did you toss?

Thanks!

I asked my machine shop and he said not to separate them he'll just do it with them together. As far as wear on them in not sure. He just said they were in good shape.

A trick I did was jack up the side that your working on a little higher then the other side to reduce the amount lost and repeat on the other side. I use only Ams Oil in my toys and I'm pretty sure its the severe gear 75w-90.

I got rid of the cable(kinda hard too see unless you see it in person) on the outside of the back plate of the drum. I'm sure soon I'll probably redo the ebrake but as for now it works fine.

[Duluth67]

Thanks! I was going to say, the e-brake actuation hardware was super hard for me to find (as it was missing when I went to redo my rear brakes). I had to buy a whole rear end just to get the components.

[65standard]

Very nice write up. Thanks for sharing.

[72CampSpecial]

This is great.. I did this work on the same rear end about 6 months ago.. (although I made couple of mistakes along the way!) This will def help someone in the future...

[JointTech]

nice writeup. The only thing I would say is you dont need an axel nut remover. A screwdriver and hammer to break it loose worked fine for me. once its loose it spins right off. Of course torquing it back on is kind of a guess with the screwdriver method

[Saclandman]

Thanks for putting this up. I've been hoping to find a step by step process for this when I do my 67 C20. The manual was not helpful to me.

[treveiger]

Originally Posted by Saclandman

Thanks for putting this up. I've been hoping to find a step by step process for this when I do my 67 C20. The manual was not helpful to me.

No problem I felt the same with the books. The torque specs were nice once I found them!

[jocko]

threads like this are great - thanks for taking the time to take good pics and to do the write-up. Have seen these on the Dana, but not HO52, great information.

[FirstOwner69]

Great write-up!

For those interested, here's a picture of the "socket" I used to be sure I torqued the nut properly. I bought it at the local Carquest store.

[treveiger]

^^^Thank you! Idk why I couldn't post it.

[terry b]

Great job. Thank you.

[treveiger]

Hey no problem I'm just glad people can use the information. I usually don't mind brake work but something always comes up

[Stocker]

Thanks for a great how-to writeup! Wish I had it to refer to the 2 or 3 rimes I've had mine apart. I just laid things out in the order I removed them, then reassembled in reverse order. Used the armstrong method of torquing, and no thread sealer, but it has held together just fine. Bookmarked for future reference!

[Vintage Windmills]

Good writeup. Were you confident the bearings stayed clean through the process? Or did you clean them and I missed it. THanks for posting this!

[treveiger]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

Good writeup. Were you confident the bearings stayed clean through the process? Or did you clean them and I missed it. THanks for posting this!

Yep I never posted that sorry! I did clean bearings. Whatever I do I always clean what I'm working on. Makes it last longer and look nicer. That's why projects take me longer then most.

[derotoreut]

Good job and excellent write up. You should be commended for the time and detail you took to write this up. Nice work.

[bollybib]

Good job. I like the closeup detail you got on the pics. This will be useful even for those who have done this job several times.