[Ragtop Man]

Sooo - Landed a very nice set of Foresight Ventures '66 vintage alloys, 15X6. Pretty geeked about that, they will match perfectly. Ready to bite the big bullet for the redline radials, hoping old Santa comes thru.

Problem: The olde '66 2+2 is literally in a barn, on four flat tires, of which none hold air for any length of time, and does not have 5 studs on any corner. They all gotta go to mount the new rolling stock. (And need lugs, caps, another story to go with...)

In anticipation of the wheels/tires being ready, gotta knock out the old studs, in a location not convenient to my home. Have to go in loaded for bear to get them in and out and on the trailer.

So: Is there a workaround for the rear axle that does not involve draining the center section of a bucket of crude oil on a dirt floor while praying jackstands don't sink in the pasture?

I'm guessing the C-Clips need to come out... but wondering if there's a trick to it that would avoid yanking them. Likewise, the fronts need to come off. Everything turns freely, so I have that going for me (which is nice.) Would probably just grab a pair of new hubs from fleabay and have a local shop handle, then R+R onsite.

All experience and tricks welcome.

[b-man]

Get some old tires that hold air mounted on your old wheels, as long as there’s 2 or 3 studs present you’ll be able to get the car onto your trailer.

The front studs may be swaged in place so either a competent shop should replace them or maybe better to buy some good hubs.

The rear axles definitely need to come out to press out the old studs and install new.

Get the car home where it’s easy to deal with this project, I wouldn’t try to do it in a place where you really can’t do the work effectively.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Ragtop Man

Sooo - Landed a very nice set of Foresight Ventures '66 vintage alloys, 15X6. Pretty geeked about that, they will match perfectly. Ready to bite the big bullet for the redline radials, hoping old Santa comes thru.

Problem: The olde '66 2+2 is literally in a barn, on four flat tires, of which none hold air for any length of time, and does not have 5 studs on any corner. They all gotta go to mount the new rolling stock. (And need lugs, caps, another story to go with...)

In anticipation of the wheels/tires being ready, gotta knock out the old studs, in a location not convenient to my home. Have to go in loaded for bear to get them in and out and on the trailer.

So: Is there a workaround for the rear axle that does not involve draining the center section of a bucket of crude oil on a dirt floor while praying jackstands don't sink in the pasture?

I'm guessing the C-Clips need to come out... but wondering if there's a trick to it that would avoid yanking them. Likewise, the fronts need to come off. Everything turns freely, so I have that going for me (which is nice.) Would probably just grab a pair of new hubs from fleabay and have a local shop handle, then R+R onsite.

All experience and tricks welcome.

Bart is right, no need to work in a field changng the lug studs, just loading it on a trailer 2 are sufficient, as long as they aren't next to each other. Many times I've seen tires changed on a yellow flag at a dirt track race because of a flat, to save time just using a cross bar lug wrench they use 3 lug nuts, and run the remainder of the race like that. One other thing is being a full size car you're fortunate to have 1/2 inch studs, which will hold much more stress than the A body 7/16 inch studs.

Get it back home to your garage, before worrying about swapping out the studs. No C clips on those rear axles they're a press fit bearing with a retainer between the bearing and the axle flange that is held in place by 4 bolts that you access through a hole in the axle flange.

Actually you can change the stud without removing the axle, knock it through with a drift, and use stacked washers to pull the new stud in by putting the flat side of the lug nut against the stack of washers. Use a bit of oil to lube the threads, and the spline, to make it easier to pull in with the nut.

Lisle makes a stud puller tool with a bearing in it to make it easier to pull studs in with the lug nut, Link to stud tool video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-EArAX5BSKs

FWIW nearly 60 years of making my living working as a mechanic, and screwing wth race cars, I've moved dozens of cars around garages and driveways with only 2 opposing lug nuts on a wheel, as long as you're not taking it down the road, 2 nuts are adequate to hold the wheel on.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

Get it back home to your garage, before worrying about swapping out the studs. No C clips on those rear axles they're a press fit bearing with a retainer between the bearing and the axle flange that is held in place by 4 bolts that you access through a hole in the axle flange.

Probably a good time to replace the bearings too. I remember riding in a '66 Bonneville when a rear wheel bearing gave up the ghost, the axle slid out until the wheel hit the fender. It made a hell of a racket until we got pulled over.

[lust4speed]

Fully agree that a couple studs is all that is needed to keep the wheel on getting the car on the trailer.

I usually have better luck pulling the studs in straight with a sacrificial lug nut and a stack of greased washers than using my press. The old studs pop right out using a mallet, and the new studs pull right in.
We went a little overkill on the '65 Safari studs.

[Goatracer1]

Those axles should not have C clips but are held in by 4 studs and nuts.

[Scarebird]

Do this properly - use a press. Too many of our customers wrecked their axles or hubs (Mopar) doing the hammer routine.

If the studs are swedged, you can drill out the heads from the backside, then press out.