wheel studs

harryc

Senior Member
do they make a serrated (non swedging) wheel stud that will replace the standard model a stud------thanks
 
No. The swedging expands the stud to fill in the hole. This makes a tight assembly that does not move around. Studs that are just put in the holes and then welded at the back come loose because the movement of the studs breaks the welds. Modern studs have serrations that dig into the ID of the holes to make a tight fit, but they are not designed for the Model A. It takes about 80 tons to swedge the studs. I found one place here were I live that had the 80 ton press. The Ford dealer who started business in 1915 had no idea what I was talking about. Did not compute.
 
No. The swedging expands the stud to fill in the hole. This makes a tight assembly that does not move around. Studs that are just put in the holes and then welded at the back come loose because the movement of the studs breaks the welds. Modern studs have serrations that dig into the ID of the holes to make a tight fit, but they are not designed for the Model A. It takes about 80 tons to swedge the studs. I found one place here were I live that had the 80 ton press. The Ford dealer who started business in 1915 had no idea what I was talking about. Did not compute.

Wow 80 tons?? I swedge mine with a 20 ton press and a swedge fixture I made to lock the tool in place so I don't need to hold it by hand while operating the press, I use a press with a receiver socket to remove the old studs then drop the drum assembly flat down on a piece of plywood or other wood surface to dis lodge the drum from the hub.
 
No. The swedging expands the stud to fill in the hole. This makes a tight assembly that does not move around. Studs that are just put in the holes and then welded at the back come loose because the movement of the studs breaks the welds. Modern studs have serrations that dig into the ID of the holes to make a tight fit, but they are not designed for the Model A. It takes about 80 tons to swedge the studs. I found one place here were I live that had the 80 ton press. The Ford dealer who started business in 1915 had no idea what I was talking about. Did not compute.

Neil, are you sure John's press is 80 tons?? I'd say they are mistaken about that. My press is 30 tons and it does the swaging very capably in the 20-25 ton range according to my gauge.
 
I used a swedge cutting tool for 1/2" studs (Goodson ST-500) to remove the studs from the drums/hubs on my 31 coupe. The original studs then can be easily pressed from their mountings. The holes in the hubs were then reamed to .594" (19/32"), and Dorman 610-234, 1/2-20 SAE serrated studs were pressed in their place. These studs measure .622" serration diameter which is seating the part about .015" into the lands on the serrations.The under head length is said to be 1.625", mine measured 1.610" length. It has shown to be a better alternative then replacing with the original swedged type studs.

The relief valve on my shop press will allow development of 40 tons on the ram. In the past it has shown to be more than adequate to swedge the original style studs.
 
I did a set like that in the early 80's.I bought the drums,does Plasmeter sound right?? Anyway the old repair shop I used to work at said he had done quite a few of them over the years.He handed me some studs that had an almost flush to the surface head on them.They were serrated,and with the drum in place the serrations were just visible on the face of the drum.I used to check them every year,but I kind of gave up after about 10 years.I only checked them after that when I changed tires.I think he told me they were from a Valiant.While they went in easily with a press,I really wouldn't have wanted to drive them in with a hammer.I have put 55000 miles on that truck since 1978,so they probably have around 50000 on those drums and studs.
 
Brent, You may be right. I remember it being a lot and maybe it was 30, but not the 5 tons available for most presses. The stud expands and locks on the tool. I had to weld a big collar on the tool in able to remove it.

The press size does not change the fact that the Ford dealer had no idea what I was talking about. If they cannot plug into the engine management computer, they cannot fix the car.
 
Last edited:
Brent, You may be right. I remember it being a lot and maybe it was 30, but not the 5 tons available for most presses. The stud expands and locks on the tool. I had to weld a big collar on the tool in able to remove it.

The press size does not change the fact that the Ford dealer had no idea what I was talking about. If they cannot plug into the engine management computer, they cannot fix the car.

I had the same problem with the tool locking on to the studs , I milled a flat at 180 degrees large enough to use a wrench to turn the swedge tool and it released very easy .
 
I used a swedge cutting tool for 1/2" studs (Goodson ST-500) to remove the studs from the drums/hubs on my 31 coupe. The original studs then can be easily pressed from their mountings. The holes in the hubs were then reamed to .594" (19/32"), and Dorman 610-234, 1/2-20 SAE serrated studs were pressed in their place. These studs measure .622" serration diameter which is seating the part about .015" into the lands on the serrations.The under head length is said to be 1.625", mine measured 1.610" length. It has shown to be a better alternative then replacing with the original swedged type studs.




Hello 8EL , I was very interested in your recent post about using dorman splined wheel studs instead of the original swauged studs . This is something i would like to do when fitting my new drums . I can see this would work well with the fronts but the rears use a countersunk stud and i cant see how you could use a dorman stud in this position . Please can you explain how to do this ?
 
The rear hubs I have run across are not countersunk, they did however have a relief cut for the head of the stud. I mounted the hub in the rotary table and cut this relief a little deeper to accommodate the head on the dorman studs. New cast iron brake drums were installed having a square shouldered hole. Tightening the rim against the drum held them securely as on a modern automobile.
 

Attachments

  • Hub.jpg
    Hub.jpg
    45.7 KB · Views: 88
These came off a 31 tudor, they are not the first ones like it I have come across, or fitted with the studs I described earlier. Send a picture of what you have, they are obviously different than mine, curious to see in what way......
 
The rear hubs I have run across are not countersunk, they did however have a relief cut for the head of the stud. I mounted the hub in the rotary table and cut this relief a little deeper to accommodate the head on the dorman studs. New cast iron brake drums were installed having a square shouldered hole. Tightening the rim against the drum held them securely as on a modern automobile.

I have a machinist friend who has 3 Model As and has never swaged a wheel stud on any of them. He leaves the drum loose but (I think) welds the back of the studs to hold them in place. He can do any work on the brakes without removing hubs etc, just take off the wheel and slip off the drum and there it is.
 
I used a swedge cutting tool for 1/2" studs (Goodson ST-500) to remove the studs from the drums/hubs on my 31 coupe. The original studs then can be easily pressed from their mountings. The holes in the hubs were then reamed to .594" (19/32"), and Dorman 610-234, 1/2-20 SAE serrated studs were pressed in their place. These studs measure .622" serration diameter which is seating the part about .015" into the lands on the serrations.The under head length is said to be 1.625", mine measured 1.610" length. It has shown to be a better alternative then replacing with the original swedged type studs.




Hello 8EL , I was very interested in your recent post about using dorman splined wheel studs instead of the original swauged studs . This is something i would like to do when fitting my new drums . I can see this would work well with the fronts but the rears use a countersunk stud and i cant see how you could use a dorman stud in this position . Please can you explain how to do this ?

Here is a pair of what a I believe are post war 46-48 hubs fitted with Dorman 610-234 studs. The hubs were mounted in the rotary table and bored to 19/32" hole diameter and the relief cut with a 7/8" bottom cutting end mill for the heads. Pressed into the hubs with red Loctite 271.... The outer race on one of the hubs has a surface defect (hub_5) but I think it will go around Ok.....
 

Attachments

  • Hub_1.jpg
    Hub_1.jpg
    51.7 KB · Views: 60
  • Hub_2.jpg
    Hub_2.jpg
    47 KB · Views: 59
  • Hub_3.jpg
    Hub_3.jpg
    43.7 KB · Views: 57
  • Hub_4.jpg
    Hub_4.jpg
    52 KB · Views: 58
  • Hub_5.jpg
    Hub_5.jpg
    56.4 KB · Views: 60
  • Hub_6.jpg
    Hub_6.jpg
    32.9 KB · Views: 60
Back
Top