Stepdown brake backing plate trivia

bob ward

I needed a good pair of stepdown rear brake backing plates to suit the early Hudson made diff, but all the ones I had were not the best.

While I was sorting through my bits and pieces I noted that narrow drum front stepdown brakes use a backing plate that is very similar to what I'm looking for. There are a couple of detail differences, the rears have a larger centre hole than the fronts, and of course the fronts don't have handbrake cable holes. And I did have a pair of unworn narrow brake backing plates.

Problem just about solved. Step 1 bore the centre hole to suit the back axle. Step 2 bolt the plates back to back, mark out the handbrake holes, drill and file as required.

Photo 1, a front and a rear backing plate. Photo 2, bolted together for marking out. Photo 3 finished rear backing plates. Just be careful you don't end up with 2 lefts or 2 rights