Dumping swedged studs

Nate S said:

The left rear wheel on my Fury is the only left hand thread remaining after a disc conversion up front. My intention is to remove the swedged studs on the rear and replace with regular studs. Extra benefit being that I’ll no longer need the puller to get to the brakes. Any of you done this? Do you remember the stud knurl diameter? I’ll either use a swedge cutter or cut off then drill out the old ones so I don’t trash the holes. Drums are located by the hub so I’m not too worried about that part.

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You need to cut the stud off flush with the outside of the drum. You can use a cut-off wheel for this or a hack saw; just make sure you have them flush with the drum surface. Then, center punch each one and drill a 3/16" - 1/4" hole in the center of each stud about a quarter inch deep. This will relieve the stress and allow the swedged area to curl in on itself when the stud is pressed out of the hub. You need to do this for all five studs. Then from this point, it is a simple procedure to press out the studs. With this done you now have the hubs and drums separated. Remember this procedure will basically ruin your drums so don't use it unless you plan to replace them.

You now need to press in new studs. The stock lug bolts on these old Mopars are 1/2-20 UNF thread with a 0.622" knurl. The knurl is the ridged part of the stud that fits into the hub. In order to have a good tight press fit you need to make sure whatever stud you use has a knurl size of at least 0.622", but it can't be too large either. If it's too large, it will be difficult to press in and you stand a chance of damaging the hub. NAPA has studs that have a 0.623" knurl (part number BK 641-1128) and these work very well. Below is a picture of the hubs with these non-swedged studs installed.
You can now use the 1965 and later drums, NAPA part # ND 4401129 for $37 each.

Jeff

Nate S said:

The left rear wheel on my Fury is the only left hand thread remaining after a disc conversion up front. My intention is to remove the swedged studs on the rear and replace with regular studs. Extra benefit being that I’ll no longer need the puller to get to the brakes. Any of you done this? Do you remember the stud knurl diameter? I’ll either use a swedge cutter or cut off then drill out the old ones so I don’t trash the holes. Drums are located by the hub so I’m not too worried about that part.

Click to expand...