Rear Axle: Help with 55 wheel studs

[44todd]

Hey all.
My buddy has a 55 Conestoga wagon and is having trouble getting studs out of the rear axle.
Are they just pressed in like most studs or is it something else?

[RDWEAVER]

They are pressed in but not like most studs. They are swaged or I call it expanded on the outside of the drum. You can't just press them out without cutting the swage off first, or you will damage the drum. Do a search here and plenty of info will be at your disposal. Others will chime in too. It is not just pressing them out they use a 5/8" hole saw with the center drill removed to remove the swage from the outside. Go slowly and just deep enough to remove the part that has been expanded, then you can properly support it from the underside and press them out.

[jclary]

I know I'm getting older by the second...but something ain't right here. If it is a '55, there are no studs in a "keyed" tapered axle. Usually, when a person (unfamiliar with Studebaker) first inquires about servicing the rear assembly, the very first question is how to remove the brake drum. For me, pictures and/or further clarification is needed.

[Hawkowner]

Word to the wise drill and tap drum and hub and install 2 1/4 in countersunk screws to center the drum on the hub if you cut too much of the swag.

[sals54]

They can most certainly be "pressed" out. I had to do emergency surgery on a Studebaker trailer which used a Stude rear axle. When the studs broke, leaving my son stranded, I brought a socket, small sledge hammer and replacement studs. We did it on the side of the road. Had the old ones out and new ones in in about an hour. A procedure I don't recommend for the faint-hearted.