Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce A. Frank
This info may be useful for the next person who wants to do a disc conversion on a closed knuckle 44.
http://www.circletracksupply.com/che...brake-kit.html
I am looking to do the same conversion on a '56 International S120 4X4 D44 closed knuckle axle. The Circle Track source has discs for 8 lug, but a phone conversation got the information that undrilled discs may be available, so I could set up the 6 lug I need it. |
Bruce, I don't know if you'll see this but you just about have to be the same guy whose question appeared in the Nov '17 FOURWHEELER due to the rarity of your truck. Don't know if it will make it into a future issue but here's what I wrote to them:
"Hello,
Read the question about converting the IH S120 front axle to disk brakes. Searched online and found that it has a Dana 44 ihc44fclosed - Torque King 4x4 .
I have a '66 K10 Suburban with a closed knuckle Dana 44. Early on in ownership I decided the stock drums were not going to cut it. Bought what was supposed to be a '73 Blazer disk brake 3.73 Dana 44 front axle. Even had a 3.73 rebuild tag. It was a 3.07. Started looking at the cut away in my '66 shop manual of the front brakes and a cut away from a '70s front disk Dana 44. Up to a point everything seemed the same. Contacted Dana and talked with an engineer who told me that you could not convert a closed knuckle drum brake axle to disks. The more I looked at it, It sure seemed that he was wrong. I had all of the donor parts so I set out to do it.
If I recall correctly, you strip the closed knuckle back to the steering knuckles and replace all of the outboard parts with parts from the disk donor. There's only two differences. The caliper carrier and the drum backing plate both have the same bolt pattern but one is drilled 6 and 12 and the other 3 and 9. Would mount the caliper in the wrong place to use the stock Blazer rubber brake lines. Took the mounts to a machine shop and had them re-drilled to match the backing plates. The other difference is that the u-joints both have the same number but one has an "X" suffix. The open knuckle disk brake axle uses u-joints with dust seals to retain the grease.
The closed knuckle u-joints have no seals so that the gear oil in the closed knuckles can lubricate them.
Called the Dana guy back after I had it working and told him what I did. He didn't apologize but told me that he'd never done the conversion but that friends of his who had, had done the same. Companies were worried about liability back then also. Speaking of liability, I could not find a shop willing to power bleed my brakes once they found out that the system was modified. Crazy world we live in.
A Nov '88 article in 4WHEEL & OFF-ROAD has an article "Poor Man's Floater" (pg 124-129) which details converting a Ford 9" rear axle to full float using Chevy front axle disk brake parts. As a sort of after thought, the article talks about using Chevy parts to convert a Ford drum brake Dana 44 to disks so I'm hoping this will also work for your reader."
When I say Knuckles out I also mean u-joints out. Good luck.