Dana 44 rear discs

[Deleted User]

Attachment not found.

Have not posted for long time so hello to all. Hopefully I did the attached file correctly. Shows original dana 44 with rear disc . Benifits, easy to find parts..although not exactly cheap. uses original axles and parking brake cables and centers the wheels on the hub correctly.

[Deleted User]

I think that set up looks great and is a worthy conversion, I just don't know how to determine if my 55 Hornet has a Dana 44 rearend.



Harry

Unknown

The following was previously posted on the standard Hudson portion of the BBS



#4 03-31-2008, 07:30 PM

Heart_Of_Texas

Founding Member Join Date: Jul 2006

Location: Texas

Posts: 472

Rep Power: 2





Re: Rear Disc Brake Conversion - on OEM axle?

---

Dan



Ray Barker shared his disc brake conversion pictures and I have posted them in a PDF document at the following address. Ray uses available OEM products with a home made bracket to convert a Hudson Dana rear end to disc brakes that have a parking brake that connects to the original Hudson cables. Address your questions to Ray... email is provided... may need to add RAY to what is posted.



Enjoy and thanks to Ray for the pictorial how-to-do.



http://members.aol.com/sanjuana/How%20to%20do%20PDF%20files/DanaDiscBrakes.pdf



Ken Cates

Waco, Texas



Ken Cates' STEPDOWN RESTORATION WEBSITE

[Deleted User]

Thanks for pointing me to Kens post my email address on the pdf is incorrect I have emailed Ken for the change. It should be noted that this is not a cheap conversion as the calipers alone will run about $200. I just wanted the fun of seeing if it could be done. Besides I had a spare rear that I was rebuilding and so I got carried away. It backs up my 727 with 360 mopar power plant.

[Deleted User]

Very



Very



Very



NICE!!!



How much did the entire job cost?

[Deleted User]

`Hudsonator wrote:

Very



Very



Very



NICE!!!



How much did the entire job cost?

Brake conversion Ballpark $400 for parts. After I rebuilt axle.

[Deleted User]

53Hornet wrote:

Brake conversion Ballpark $400 for parts. After I rebuilt axle.

Have you tackled the master cylinder engineering yet?



Couple that rear end with a disk front, and you have as much stopping power as anybody on the highway.



Not a bad upgrade for a 50+ year old vehicle - and remain relatively stock.

[Deleted User]

`Hudsonator wrote:

Have you tackled the master cylinder engineering yet?



Couple that rear end with a disk front, and you have as much stopping power as anybody on the highway.



Not a bad upgrade for a 50+ year old vehicle - and remain relatively stock.

The answer to the question in this case is yes But! My car is not original. I built the car as an heirloom project something to leave behind that would be easy to use and understand for others. It had no engine when purchased I think many would have called it a parts car. I wanted a classic 50's appearance cruiser and the intent was to do so with over the counter parts as much as possible. The item of paramount importance to me was that I did all the work. So I dissassembled every nut bolt component and interior and started from scratch. I happened to have a Mopar 360 and 727 long shaft tranny. I wanted power brakes, power steering and cruise. As I live in Canada windows down air conditioning was OK. Along the way one runs into challenges. Adding power steering and still keeping Hudson centerpoint steering required moving the steering to the front of the vehicle and operating the linkages in reverse. This had to be done to get past the starter on the 360. As I learned and created I wrote some articles on How To Do. Some of which can be found on Ken Cates site and hudsonmotorcar.org

I made disc brakes for the front using stock Hudson spindles and granada hubs. I have a firewall mounted Large Bore Master cylinder. After which I had to utilize a different wiper system. I see no reason why one could not replace the original MC with a modern component to achieve same. I have not studied the Hudson MC But plumbed correctly it also maybe possible as is. I just finished the rear axle install as a winter rebuild project I totally rebuilt engine. So now as you say I should be able to stop as good as anything on the highway AND cruise all day at 70 mph 2600 rpm.

[Deleted User]

Richard Pridemore's front disk kit does have a modern MC located in the stock position that is capable of handling front and rear disks. And like your Beneifits kit, uses over the counter parts.



I really like your rear end brake modifications, and would like some more info on the vendor you mention as having the kit in your application.



A nice sweet ride you have going on there.



We all have different ideas and goals in what we build, being able to respect the perspectives of each other is really nice. I learn things that way that I can use later.



Thanks for this really useful tidbit on rear brakes.



Mark

Ol racer

I really like your Disc Brake conversion and appreciate the desire & creativity to try the project...

I wonder if one the early Dana Posi Units would slip into the carrier... Great Job...

[Deleted User]

Ol racer wrote:

I really like your Disc Brake conversion and appreciate the desire & creativity to try the project...

I wonder if one the early Dana Posi Units would slip into the carrier... Great Job...

Actually, they will.



In fact, the Stude TT carrier will work with the Hudson original 19 spline axles.



There are some other Jeep posi-carriers that will work. Precision Gear still makes the TT-type carrier new for 19 spline axles and marketed as the Powr-Loc. Reider Racing can get them for you but you have to call and ask for the 19 spline variant. The folks at Reider told me they were approved as "original replacement" carriers for the Studebaker and Jeep M-type elite and was why they still carried them.



There is a rather long thread on the Dana44 upgrade situation in the regular forum. At that time, I was hot on the subject and was wanting to build an upgraded 44. Economics unfortunately redirected me. Fairborne Studebaker makes solid axle kits for the Hudson/Dana44 and can have the axles made with the 30 spline ends. The 30 spline ends open up any modern carrier type you want. Any Dana 44 carrier and appropriate ring/pinion will swap into the Hudson Dana 44, which is why I'm a fan of this rearend.



I only wish they had used them back to '48 - we'd have more of them.



Mark

Ol racer

Mark,

Thank You for the interesting Information on the Posi capability for the Hudson Dana 44 Rear.

Ol'Racer

[Deleted User]

Rear end installed and tested. Changes for next time would include rolling the caliper further back so that caliper bolt can be removed without taking axle off springs. Brakes work very well front and rear. I will say that the GM caliper with parking brake is a royal pain to bleed. Had to take calipers off car and bleed upside down to get at air pocket in corner off piston housing. One other note It is recomended that parking brake is used everytime one parks so that the cam inside the piston can self adjust. Simple brakets mounted the original parking cables.