My neighbor wants to keep drum brakes but get 5 on 4-3/4". Any hub from '49-'54? How about trucks? If brakes same, can he buy '53-'54 hubs from Speedway and new drums and use stock brakes?
for some reason. i think 49 chevy MIGHT WORK.. a friend of mine had a 40 chevy that had a stock front suspension but with either pontiac, or buick? or olds drums that were 5 lug.. i suspect however that the B.O.P drums were not 5 on 4.75 bolt circle your neighbor needs someone to give him dimensions on the 49 - 53 chevy drums.. that stuff should be available cheap, as the majority of the 49 - 53 chevy guys upgrade brake systems..
'49-'54 hubs are the ones you want. Truck hubs are 6-bolt. '52-'54 brakes are self-energizing, grab the backing plates and all for a cheap, easy upgrade.
Yep , you want 49-54 hubs and 52 and up brakes .The wheel bearing part #'s are the same from 46-54 Chevy cars and 1/2 ton trucks,even though the trucks and 46-48 cars are 6 hole pattern.I believe they are BO-1 on the outer and B-52 on the inner bearing.This is the reason 9 times out of 10 when you find a 52 to 54 Chevy car in a pasture the hubs are missing .They bolt right on the pickups and convert the 6 lug to a 5 lug ...
have'nt done it yet but a friend who had done it 30 some odd years ago told me he thought you had to change either the inner or outer bearing to make the car hubs fit the truck. i've got a set of car brakes i'm going to put on a truck axle in an underslung chassis for a lakes modified. either way it would be a piece of cake but to get back on point. from all the research i did on this subject a while back these guys know what they are talking about with the 49-54 brakes fitting the older cars and that will give you the 5 lug pattern you are after... 52 on up are Bendix style brakes and will work much better than the previous versions.
If you just want 5 lug drums, us 49 or 50 Chev; which still use Huck brakes. If you are upgrading to Bendix brakes, then 51 to 54 Chev. Here is an article that was on a truck site that should be similar to what you are do, if this is where you are headed. http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/FrontHucktoBendix.htm
Not to disagree with your friend .I've never actually done the car hub on the truck spindal thing ,but i know the bearings are the same , i have reused the races (inner and outer) cones,bearings ,etc from a 51 1/2 ton truck in 49 car hubs ,when i was in a bind.I also crossed the part #'s on the bearings in an old Hollander book ,because i was curious a long time ago.Not sure if the hub will fit directly ,but i have been told by many oldtimers that it does...
i believe ya. like i said, he did it 30+ years ago and was going off memory. i forgot what i was doing 30 minutes ago.
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