Hi, everyone. A question for a Saturday. Just had a major brake overhaul of my 1968 Dodge Monaco. It was a bear finding new 11 x 2-3/4 drums, I can tell you. So here’s the question. My master mechanic - who’s done more to keep me on the road than I can list - did a bit a research and chatted with other old-timers. I’d gotten a new set of press-on studs - left (left-handed threads and all) and right. But he said we really didn’t need to use the press-ons. The hub-drum assemblies were really made to save a step on the assembly line and prevent accidents - such as needlessly dropping brake drums. Snug-fitting the drums is just as fine - and allows for easier maintenance. I’ve already driven the car about 50 miles. The car was steady as can be at 60 mph. No crazy vibrations. Braking was straight as an arrow. Can’t imagine any particular alignment implications, either. So … disabuse us. We can always install the hub-drum press-on studs. But why if we really don’t need to?
@68Monaco, I’ve got a question for you.
Are we talking about front or rear studs?
Your car’s rear wheel drive, correct?
If so, I believe the front studs are pressed into the drum/hub assembly, and the rear studs are pressed into the axleshaft assembly, the hub end of it obviously.
Do you have front and rear drums, by the way?
The front drums may very well have studs already installed.
The rear drums would not, because the drums would slip over the studs which are pressed into the rear axleshaft.
So, if your mechanic has already figured out what to do, what is the problem?
11 x 2 3/4 would be the front drums if I recall right, the rears are 11 x 2 or 11 x 2 1/2. As I recall, I always had to remove the axle nut on my 66 Dodge to remove the front drums, I don’t ever remember taking them off any other way, but I never had to replace the drums either. I did the brakes about every 40k miles and put a registered 191999 on them, but with a broken odometer, I really put a lot more miles on than that.
If you don’t have any studs, what’s holding the wheels on?
Hi. I guess I wasn’t clear. Apologies. These are the front drums. They came from the factory as hub-and-drum assemblies. Only drums were sold in the aftermarket. The original assembly had studs gripping the hub and then the drums were pressed-on to that stud/hub. The only way to then remove the drum for replacement was to separate the hub and drum and replace the studs. What my mechanic has done - and C-Body Dry Dock just confirmed to me could be done - is replace the studs pressed into the hub BUT those new studs would now just grip the drum as a tight slip-on - basically, the same way the rear axle/drum assembly has done since day one. My mechanic is aces, by the way. This was not to question him or his research. I’d just not heard of this being done before - because it is a GREAT solution that allows brake service without taking the hub off and bearings out. I was curious if anyone has had a similar modification. I can’t imagine any negatives, but thought to see if I might be missing anything,
Ok, I don’t see a problem then.