Front brake drum inquiry

[JohnD1956]

On a recent vehicle inspection, my mechanic thought the front brake drums on my GS would pop off without the hub. He pointed out that the hub was actually loose on one or more studs and it did look like it would come off with some coaxing, but it didn't.

Anyhow, he said that race teams used to drill out the wheel stud holes so that the drum could just slip on and off. Said if the center is riding on the hub, and since the pressure of the rim against the hub and drum when tightened eliminates any possibility of slippage, it would be no big deal. Mine did not slip and I might never make em to do so, but still, it is an interesting concept, since then you could pull the front drums without disturbing a set of bearings.

I was just wondering what you think of something like this?

[smithbrother]

Wouldn't there THEN be SLOP, and SLOP in hard starts, and hard stops I wouldn't think would be GOOD.....???

I don't care how tight the studs bolts/nuts would be, such wouldn't hold it from movement, IMO. They fit tight for a reason, IMO.

.

Dale in Indy

[old-tank]

As long as the drum fit tightly over the hub I see no problem. Many are made this way with no issues: my 51 truck is one. I had a 55 parts car that had an aftermarket drum on the front with no rivets or guide pin and it appeared to have been in service for a long time (in this case with lug bolts instead of studs it would have been a pain to line up wheel, drum and hub.)

Think about it: that is the same situation you have with the rear drums...

Willie

[JohnD1956]

And the same situation we have with current front disc brakes. Rotors just slip over the hubs now, although rotors are a bit thicker at the stud holes.