aobrien

Hi everyone!

Well, I finally got my Coker 205/75R15's. I previously had 4-ply bias tires. Man, what a world of difference.

When the Cokers were installed they busted off one of the wheel studs. So, I ordered 25 new ones from a Chevy dealer (5 for each wheel + some spares just in case). I'm just going to replace all of them. I need to know the best way to remove and replace those things. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

INMYBLOOD

I would bet there might be a handy tool? I would think something like a "C" clamp with two feet on the back instead of one? I had broken a rear one a few years back and could not get it out by force. IE: hammer or impact hammer. The axle flange just did not support it enough for the force to be effectivly applied to get the stud out. I removed the axle and pressed them out on a real press. I know this is not what you wanted to hear. So I am also waiting for more responses.



[Modified by INMYBLOOD, 12:55 PM 1/3/2002]

andy60

If they will not play nice and come out easy then you may need to use the old "heat and hit" procedure.

aobrien

InMyBlood gave me a thought. I think that I am going to try making my own tool out of a piece of wood and a regular C-clamp. If that doesn't work... I bought my first blow torch the other day in anticipation of trying the heat and hit method.

I'll let you know how it turned out.

Thanks again.

magicv8

I had mine pressed out, and after the first one came out sounding like a stick of dynomite - I left the shop area for the waiting room - figuring the wall would hold the shrapnel down. Those suckers are IN there.

K2

For the front ones, just remove the hubs from the spindles and then put them on something solid with a socket large enough to clear the stud head and drive them out. They don't come out that hard if you have a solid backing. Reverse the procedure to put the new ones in. On the back, if you don't want to pull the axles, take something heavy like a thick piece of plate or a body dolly and then have someone drive them out with a large hammer and punch. To put the new ones in just use a spare lug nut with a stack of washers or larger nuts and pull them in by tightening the lug nut. By using a dolly on the back of the axle flange when you ddrive the studs out, it takes the spring out of the flange making it much easier to drive out also reduces the possibility that you are going to bend or distort the axle flange. Is much easier with two people. Please don't use the blowtorch, you could damage a heat treated part and risk distortion of the flange. Take your time and do it right. :cool:

Pierre

What I did for the rear studs is to remove the axles and put the studs in a vise with a socket over the stud heads. They came out with no problems. To re-install I just reversed the process with the socket on the other side.

Be carefull and install the socket with the sqare (ratchet) side against the axle flange. This will avoid possible damage to the stud tread if the socket is not well centered.

Good luck

Pierre Joly
'56 265/225

aobrien

Thanks for the advice.

This may sound stupid, but, I removed the front wheel for the first time last night and couldn't figure out how to get the drum off. There was this spring wraped around the durm. It kept saying take me off, take me off. But I figured that I should ask around here first. What is that spring for? The drum just pulls off, right?

What is necessary to remove the hub? Just remove that one nut in the center, right? Or is there another trick? I don't want to mess things and have to have it towed to a shop.

K2

The drum will just pull off when you remove the wheel. You may have to back off on the brake adjusters if it won't come off easily. The hub is removed by removing the center spindle nut. If you are new to this kind of work I recommend getting a manual and reading up on it first. A little knowledge of what is going on can save you a lot of time and frustration. If you need further help just keep posting.

aobrien

Thanks K2. I got the 58-62 Corvette servicing guide and a 1958 Chevy truck servicing manual. I'm not too impressed with the Corvette servicing guide. both times that I looked to it for information it did not have what I was looking for. From initial impressions the truck manual has more detail about things but still seems lacking. Is there another manual that I should get?
I like posting these questions anyway. You get much more insight than a manual (and a 40 year old one at that) could ever provide.

While I have the hub removed should I lubricate the bearings or is it just better to leave them alone? If I should lubricate them what type of grease should I use?

K2

The Clymer Book called Corvette V8 55-62 Complete Owners Handbook, is a good one to get for any C-1 owner. It is out of print but I see quite a few come up on e-bay. I also like the old MOTOR MANUALS which can be found at used book stores or even the county library. They have a wealth of infomation in them and can be gotten for ranges of years. They cover most makes and models of domestic cars with some generic sections and also make specific sections. I have one that covers 52-59 and another that covers 62-68. I use these all the time. Regarding your wheel bearings, I would suggest that when you pull the hubs, remove the bearings and seal and then wash up the hubs and bearings in solvent so that you can inspect them for any pitting or scoring. The outer races of the bearings are pressed into the hub and can be left in if the bearings and races look good. If they are pitted or scored they must be driven out with a punch or pressed out in a press. If any part of the bearings, races, or ***** shows signs of pitting or scoring they must be replaced as a unit. Since the seal must be driven out to remove the inner bearing, you should replace the seals. If the bearings are good they can be reused but keep the components of each bearing matched. Don't mix up the bearings and races. If you do one side at a time you can't mix them up as the inner bearing is larger than the outer bearing. When you reassemble, use a good quality high temp wheel bearing grease available at any automotive store and smear a tablespoon or so of grease into the hub cavity. Do not fill the whole hub cavity, just a tablespoon or two is plenty Coat the races and spindle with a film of grease and then take each ball bearing and pack it with grease by forcing the grease between the ***** and the race till it is completely packed with grease. Place the inner bearing into the back of the hub and install the seal being careful to get it in square and to seat it fully. Put a thin film of grease on the seal surface and put the hub on the spindle. Insert the outer bearing and washer and nut and finger tighten. Spin the hub and tighten the nut snugly to ensure that the inner bearing is fully seated on the spindle then back off the nut till you can just feel it become loose, tighten a 1/4 to 1/2 turn and then back off till you can once again feel the nut just get loose then tighten about 1 flat on the nut or to nearest cotter pin hole. The hub must turn without resistance but you should not be able to feel any freeplay when you try to wiggle the hub on the spindle. Book says tighten nut to 12 ft. lbs then back off one flat on nut. Everyone has their own method of adjusting but the idea is to take all of the slack out of the bearing and apply a very slight preload on it. Too tight will cause it to heat up and sieze and too loose will effect handling and cause the bearing to wear prematurely. Best to try it a few times to kind of get the feel. It's not difficult. Oh one other thing, take care not to get any grease on the brake lining or on the inside of the brake drum. A can of Brakeclean spray works good to remove grease and clean drums and brake parts. Happy Motoring :cheers:

aobrien

Thanks again K2.

I ordered the new studs and lugs from a Chevy dealership. $100+ for 4 sets.

I never would have thought this but the hub and brake drum were riveted together. All that was necessary was to remove the center bolt and the whole thing slid right out as a unit.

I took off the left side first then pounded out the first bolt with not much of a problem. The second bolt broke in half while I was pounding it. For the third bolt, I used an extra large C-clamp and a 3 foot piece of angled steel that I picked up from Home Depot. I placed the angled steel on the bottom of the drum and used it as a place for the C-clamp to sit and the other side of the C-clamp was on the bolt. I tightened the C-clamp as much as I could, but the bolt didn't budge and it eventually broke off as well. Then I tried drilling out the center of the bolt. This didn't work and I ended up getting steel shavings inside the bearings.

At this point, I gave up and brought both front hubs to Race Street Ralley here in Santa Clara. They ended up drilling out the 3 rivets (they said that they weren't necessary) that held the hub to the drum. Then they pressed out the old bolts, inserted the new ones and cleaned up the bearings.

I think I would have had much more success if I drilled out the rivets and had the hub separated from the drum. The part of the hub that the studs are pressed into is rather thin and flexible and was probably absorbing much of the impact of my hammer blows. Oh, well, it’s done now. Hopefully I'll have more luck on the rear. I’ll take pictures this time.

I reinstalled the hub/drum and snugged up the lugs. Race Street said to torque to 80 ft.lbs.

Took the '58 out for a ride last night. Everything seemed good.

I'll attempt the rear studs this weekend and let yall know how it turned out.

K2

The drums are riveted to the hubs from the factory but most cars this age have had the drums replaced several times so they are usually not re-riveted when new drums are installed. Unusual that those drums have never been replaced. Maybe you should measure them and see if they are still within specs. Or maybe its just a low mileage car. Anyway good luck on the back. :smash:

GreaseMonkey

I got my wheel studs at NAPA. I think they were a lot cheaper than what you paid at the Chevy dealer. I've found they carry quite a few parts for my '64 and at a lot better prices. My $.02. My car isn't Numbers matching so to me it doesn't matter. :cheers:

aobrien

I replaced the rear wheel studs this weekend and here are the results:

The left side came out REAL easy. I sprayed the bolts with PB penetrant and let them sit for half an hour. I only had to pound on each stud about 10 times (and not very hard) to get them out. I had the left wheel done in about an hour. They must have been replaced before and had anti-seize on them.

The right studs were a different story. I pounded and pounded and not one of them budged. I tried a couple of different things and here is what worked...

First, cover the brakes with 4 layers of plastic grocery bags. Then, break off the studs as close to the base as possible. I did this by using a small hack saw to cut about 1/8 of an inch into the stud and used a pair of vice grips to move the stud up and down to break it off. Then I used several different sized drill bits starting with a small diameter and working my way up. When using small diameter drill bits don't drill too far into the bolt. The farther you go the more likely it is that you will break it off. If that happens the bolt will have to be pressed out. Drill out as much of the center of the bolt as possible but do not drill all the way through the bolt. Then I used a punch to punch the rest of the thing out.

It took me about 3 hours to figure out how to get that first one out and about two hours for the rest.

To install the new studs I did what K2 suggested using a stack of washers and a lug nut to pull the studs in after coating them with anti-seize. It worked pretty well. Tip: If the car is in neutral you will be able to turn the axle by hand. When the car is in gear it will lock the axle and will keep it from spinning.

After I finished I went for a test drive (Sunday afternoon) and, man, I love that car! I managed to get it up to 75MPH between stoplights on the expressway. Seemed like it was reving at 4-5000 RPMs in 4th. I’ll have to play around with the gearing after I build and install my new engine.

Thanks everyone for all of your help! Here are some pictures:

These are the tools that I used:




Don’t drill all the way through like, I did on this one. You want to keep some metal back there so that you can use the punch to get it out.

johnde23

Help, I have a 58 and will be replacing the Steel rims with Aluminum which requires a 1/2" spacer and longer studs, this is where I have my problem. My old studs are 1 3/4" long so I will need a 2 1/4 or 2 /1/2" long stud. I tried Summit racing and Zip. Summit racing had 2 1/2" studs but different knurl sizes, I have no idea what my knurl size is. These are stock drum brakes and standard front hubs, does anyone have any ideas of what the knurl size is or who may stock the studs I need. Thanks.

Chuck Gongloff

This is a record.

A 14 year old thread resurrected..........

johnde23

I have no idea what you mean, can you explain ?

Chuck Gongloff

This thread started and ended in January of 2002...

It's almost January of 2015, so the thread is 13 years old... My math isn't that great.. I said 14.

It's customary not to resurrect ancient threads, as many if not all of the original posters are gone. The moderators usually lock them quickly.

It's always best to start a new thread on your subject.

ptwohey

Old threads tell a lot and help figure out what others have tried. Changed my first studs 45 years ago. Does that count as a resurrection?