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63 Avanti rear drum / hub separation

The driver side wheel wobble on the Avanti turns out not to be a bent axle as we expected, but at the brake drum. Close inspection revealed a spot on the assembly where the hub was about 1/16 inch separated from the inner edge of the drum, where you'd expect those surfaces to mate perfectly. Once removed from the car, only took a couple taps to get the drum loose from the hub, although the studs remain firmly staked to the hub itself. Have no idea how long it has been this way; it's been at least 25 years since the drums were off for any maintenance.

The drum is otherwise in good condition, and may have never been turned. The holes in the drum are no longer perfectly round, as the staking process "stretched" the circle north/south/east/west, but all 5 holes are consistent.

Has anyone had this happen before? Already have new studs, and am hoping to re-use the drum once we find a brake shop that has the proper tool to remove the old studs and insert the new ones. The new studs will not go all the way through the drum holes, so there is some "interference fit", but I wonder if it is enough, given what happened.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this...

Chris Collins 63 Avanti R-2 66 Cruiser

Reply to
Chris195630327
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The drum is NOT supposed to 'come loose' from the hub. The 'hub and drum assembly' is supposed to be removed as a unit. If your drum is bent, it is probably from someone pulling on the drum to remove it. It probably will not be salvageable. A new drum will need to be installed onto the hub using new lug studs that are pressed into the hub, with the drum 'swaged' to the hub studs with a special tool that is used in a hydraulic press. That cannot be done 'on the car'. There are several websites pertaining to this procedure.

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Removing the rear hub from the axle requires a special puller. Using a bearing type puller will ruin the drum. Jeff

wrote.

Reply to
Jeff Rice

Hi I have kind of the same situation on a '62 Hawk. I replaced the rear drums with NOS. The machine shop removed the old studs and replaced with new at the same time. They had the tools to remove and replace the lug nuts, but did not have the press set up for swaging the studs to lock the new drums to the hubs. When the wheel is on and the lug nuts are tightened they sandwich the drum to the hub. Do I need to track down a shop to swag those back together? They seem pretty tight when the wheel is on, but I have never driven a car that did not have the drums and hubs locked together; seems weird.

Tony

Reply to
Tony in Austin

Hmm, I think I would call around and find a machine shop that can do it still do the swaging. Find one that has been in business since autos first appeared and has an old mechanic by the name of 'Crusty' on the staff..... Should be possible in Austin I would think.

-- wf.

Reply to
randee

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