I have a 1977 Ford F100, I was driving down the road the other day and the half shaft snapped right next to the hub.
my quess, the bearing was bad and made it too hot and with the force of driving it, snapped it clean off. The bottom of the backing plate is bent in (towards the drive shaft,) the angle of the bend is pretty close to a 90 degree bend and I would say it only bent in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the material. The backing plate itself is straight, aside from that one part. Talked to the tow truck company about getting it fixed, told me that I will need basically ALL NEW on the driver side. Now, I'm no expert on brakes, but I'm sure I've seen drum brakes with the bottom portion gone cut out to the point where you could actually see the inside of the drum. I know, I will need to replace the whole nine with the brakes, drum, shoes, etc. The axle, I know I need the whole bearing kit, and axle. But do I really need to replace it right now? I'm just trying to get it on the road. I'm a Marine in Lejuene and have no one around here with a house or anything of the sort that I can store it at. So, for a temporary fix, I ask again, do I need to replace it and will it function alright?

 

Drum brakes from what I read. Yes, I would replace it because it keeps out dirt, mud, etc. It's probably not something that has to be replaced before driving it, but I would replace it as soon as possible.

 

So, for the time being, it'll be alright as long as I watch it? Otherwise, I could try and bend it back, the material isn't that thick. Probably 1/8th of an inch thick. The way it's bent, won't interfere with the the operation of the hub.