Hi guys. I recently purchased all the parts to re-build the original drum brakes on my 64' Fairlane 500. The old timer at the parts house told me I would have to get a swedging tool for the front drums to cut out the original wheel studs, and then have new one pressed in. I gave him a deer in the headlights look and he said I would have to find a shop to do it for me. Does anyone know of a shop in the Long Beach CA area that can do this for me, or have any info on doing this myself? Thanks in advance for any help!
Not the same drums but same principle & should give you an idea of whats available....... Up to date link... http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/swaging.htm Kev.
My swedging tool was a bfh with a long socket under the backside of the hub to support it to knock the studs out. I went thru a stud catalog to find studs to work without the splines to hold the drum so the hub doesn't have to be pulled everytime I wanted to check the brakes.
I rebuilt the brakes on my 64 back around 1970. I don't remember having to do anything like that to it. I believe some had little flat metal clips that went over the studs, that you could simply pop off, if they hadn't rusted off on their own. You might want to see if you can remove the drums with a small ammount of persuasion. Sometimes you have to back off the "star wheel" thing to pull the shoes in away from the drum.
As i remember swedging was not used in 64. Could be a little clip over a stud or two. Set the hub/drum on the bench,heat the middle of the drum where is touches the hub with a torch (map gas will work fine) and like magic the hub will fall out.
Having owned several '60 's Fords & Mercs I have never seen one that new with swedged drums. I think he was off on his year models.
Not to be picky, but although it's pronounced swedge, there is no such word in the dictionary. It's actually spelled swage. From wikipedia: <!-- start content --> Swaging (pronunciation note below) is a metal-forming technique in which the metal is plastically deformed to its final shape using high pressures, either by pressing or hammering, or by forcing through a die. Swaging differs from forging in that the swaged metal is cold worked, and the output of the swaging operation is usually the finished shape. The term swage can apply to the process of swaging (verb to swage), a die used for swaging (noun swage), or a tool used to swage (noun).
Thanks for all the info guys. I'm sure the car is a 64' but who knows where the drums came from. The previous owner left all kinds of weirdness for me to find, so who knows what kind of other suprises i'm in for. I'm liking the idea of not have to pull the entire hub everytime I have to check the brakes, it seems a little ridiculous. The guy at the parts house said if I dont have them swaged there may be a vibration. Any insight into this?
According to the Econoline guys, the 61-67 Econos had swaged studs. I'm (hopefully) pulling mine apart this weekend. All I can offer in support is that Mac's and Dennis Carpenter offer wheel studs for Broncos and F100s of the same era, but NOT for Econos. Maybe they are different? Did you get an answer, BrokeAssMechanic64, or get those studs in?
I'd offer you my drums, but I'm not ready to do the Granade disc swap yet (hell, I haven't even pulled anything apart and I've had the parts for at least 6 or 7 years).
I went to a MII front in my 64. I still have all the original stuff in a box out in the garage (factory V-8). If you come across something that your missing, then let me know.
I has a 59 Chevy hub laying around, so I decided to pop out a stud just to see. It didn't look swaged, but when I pressed it out, a metal ring broke off that was clearly where the splined at the bottom were smooshed just a little to hold the stud in place. Is that the same thing as swaging, or is that just an old stud, or the way the splined studs are supposed to be properly installed?
I think that's how they are installed although I've installed them by just torqueing the lug-nut to spec. Probably not recommended procedure.
I was in NAPA last night and they happened to have a splined stud on the counter, so I asked him if they had to be swaged. He said they just pressed in and the splines held them in place. Now, I don't know if that will work with a drum/hub that originally was swaged or not. I mean, if the Econo/Galaxie has swaged studs, they were very slightly swaged. Anyone know?
I have a '63 Fairlane and I needed to change a stud last week. This was my procedure: 1. Take off wheel 2. Adjust brakes back 3. Remove spindle nut and outer bearing 4. Remove drum 5. Place drum on flat surface 6. Get BFH and strike stud in question 7. Get new stud and place in hole 8. Strike face of stud a few times with BFH and a punch 9. Get a nut that is bigger than the stud and place it over the stud 10. Get lugnut and thread it on to the new stud 11. Tighten lugnut until the stud is flush with the back of the drum 12. Reinstall Nowhere did I mention swedging. There's a reason for that, THEY AREN'T.
65 Econoline studs ARE though. Weird that Fairlanes wouldn't be, but the economical van would require something that needed more work
Find some Granada spindles with Disc Brakes and change them out. If you ever try to stop one of those old drum braked vehicles from high speed you'll wish you had. They're not that expensive and a lot safer. I almost ran over a guy in my old '69 Dodge Dart with front drums. One night I came over a hill about 110 and there had been an accident in the road ahead. It had almost blocked the road and there were a bunch of rubber neckers and cops standing around. I hit the brakes and started gearing down but when it got to about 60 the brakes completely faded. It was just like stomping a concrete floor. Everyone started screaming and scattering except one fool that was standing in the middle of the road flagging. He finally figured out that I couldn't stop and jumped out of the way. I weaved between the two cars, caught a gear and kept going. Don't tell anyone, they're probably still looking for me.... Needless to say I like to use disc brakes whenever I can now.
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