Rear axle question

Redtruck-VA · Jul 7, 2013

I have a question concerning the 94' 95' and 96' Ram rear housing. To my knowledge these are 9-1/4" rear axles that came with drum brakes. How do the actual axle housing differ from say 2002 thru 2008 axles housing? Do they have a VSS mount and tone ring?
Can you simply bolt the 3g disc brakes to them?
Thanks,

I first posted this in the 2g section but didn't get any response.

BigSloth · Jul 7, 2013

yes it has the tone ring, but the 94 sensor wont work cause its OBDI, but as long as the hole is the same the OBDII sensor should work in the axle. Im not sure if the hole is the same.

As for the rest, from what I've seen its the same axle. same bearing P/N's, same tube seal #s, same track width according to my alignment rack. I'm pretty sure the shock mounts and spring perches are in the same place and are the same size but not positive.

The brakes are gonne be your problem, the disc brake axles have a mounting bracket for the calipers welded/riveted to the housing. the drum brake axle does not have such a bracket so there is nowhere to mount the calipers. I'm sure with some creative fabwork you could cut the tube ends with the brackets off the disc axle and weld them onto the drum axle. But thats a lot of work for an old axle.

Redtruck-VA · Jul 7, 2013

Ok, that's good information and what I was looking for.
Thanks,

98hemi-ram · Jul 8, 2013

Hmm.... interesting stuff I've always wondered the same thing. I've thought about finding an axle out of an 02-08 ram to put in my 98 to give it discs on the rear.

Redtruck-VA · Jul 9, 2013

BigSloth said:
yes it has the tone ring, but the 94 sensor wont work cause its OBDI, but as long as the hole is the same the OBDII sensor should work in the axle. Im not sure if the hole is the same.

As for the rest, from what I've seen its the same axle. same bearing P/N's, same tube seal #s, same track width according to my alignment rack. I'm pretty sure the shock mounts and spring perches are in the same place and are the same size but not positive.

The brakes are gonne be your problem, the disc brake axles have a mounting bracket for the calipers welded/riveted to the housing. the drum brake axle does not have such a bracket so there is nowhere to mount the calipers. I'm sure with some creative fabwork you could cut the tube ends with the brackets off the disc axle and weld them onto the drum axle. But thats a lot of work for an old axle.

I downloaded the 2g manual and brought up pictures side by side and so far the pictures are the same. So let me ask, could the disc mounting bracket be simply bolted onto the housing? Can the disc mounting bracket be a separate piece and just bolted to the earlier axle flange.?

BigSloth · Jul 9, 2013

it wansnt raining today so I slid under to take a look at the bracket.

It appears that there is a mounting flange welded on to the axle tube, and the bracket is sandwiched between the backing plate/parking brake assembly, and the flange. And both share the mounting points of what appear to be 4 studs with nuts. So it is not welded, the other day in the rain it appeared to be one unit.

What I cant figure out(but I dont have a 2g to look at) is the bracket appears to be decently thick, with the drum brake axle lacking a bracket, just having the backing plate bolt to the flange. So if the axle shafts are the same length( they are the same PN), that means the tube would have to be slightly longer on the drum axle on each end to compensate for the lack of bracket.

Maybe its not, maybe im crazy. But the math just isnt working for me.

Redtruck-VA · Jul 9, 2013

I did a internet search on this topic and got tons of info back, I ran outta time but there is a lot of folks who have made the conversion. I have to go back and research more.

BigSloth · Jul 9, 2013

interesting. What is the reasoning behind the swap, seeing as its the same axle...

Redtruck-VA · Jul 9, 2013

BigSloth said:
interesting. What is the reasoning behind the swap, seeing as its the same axle...

Looking to see what brakes fit which axle and how interchangeable they are.

Rear axle question

Redtruck-VA

Senior Member

BigSloth

Senior Member

Redtruck-VA

Senior Member

98hemi-ram

Senior Member

Redtruck-VA

Senior Member

BigSloth

Senior Member

Redtruck-VA

Senior Member

BigSloth

Senior Member

Redtruck-VA

Senior Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics

Share this page