I have a 74 high boy with closed knuckle drum brake axle and i am wondring if any one has a source for parts, and any information or ideas for converting to disc's this axle is beefy plus i got a spare!! and if i have to keep it drum i will (i got to get this truck done i want to drive it again)

 

Theses things are old, but the parts are still out there. Check with the sponsors here, folks like Autokrafters, Bronco Graveyard, etc. Also check with your local powertrain shop. I just purchased a new set of wiper seals for the closed-knuckle D44-6CF-HD on the front of my '74. With my bill of materials # off the axle, a little detective work by the counter guy (he had no clue what I was talking about) and a call to Dana tech, they had the part number and even had a set in stock - $21.00 each. According to this shop, many parts are still available from Dana Spicer.

As far as I know, there is no easy solution for discs. Most of the folks here say swapping the axle for one out of a '76 or early '77 is the best bet.

Good luck!

 

cool thank you very much another question did you retain the stock power steering or up grade it to something if so what did you use?

 

I'm still on the fence about my steering. If I were to upgrade to an integrated power steering box, I would probably use the kit that is marketed on Ebay, there are several people on the board who speak highly of it, and I've swapped a number of emails with the seller and he has been extremely helpful. His kit is about $850, but it eliminates the junkyard scrounging and parts fabrication.

The reason why I'm still undecided is that I'm building my truck to be a fairly stock weekend work truck. I won't be mounting anything larger than a 265/75-16 tire (about 32 inches), and I won't be doing any hard core offroading. In this scenario, the reality is that if you keep it well maintained, the stock system works fine - its been working for 30 years on my truck. The replacement parts are out there to rebuild it if you do a little looking.

I think the most compelling reason to change over to an integrated system would be the exposed hydraulic lines in the driver's side wheel well - if you were running big tires or doing a lot of heavy-duty off roading that would put these lines at risk then you would have a compelling reason to swap out the old-style power assist system. Some folks just don't like the slow steering ratio inherent in the manual steering gear that is used in association with the power-assist setup, and the system is a little more leak prone given the number of hoses and fittings involved.

 

yeah my truck is going to be a mix for all ocasions. i think i might up grade cause i have already gone thru one rod on the assit cause it looked like it got sandblasted i was going to try the how tlo article here on fte... what do you think about that mod?

 

It seems to be a pretty straightforward swap if you have the time for scrounging and are comfortable with fabrication work.

The fun thing about these old trucks is being able to tackle some of these projects.