Hi guys
 
Well got my mk2 back on the road after a redoing the front end and getting a set of minilights from JBW in the UK. It has become apparent that my wheel studs - front and back are way too short.
 
I took a sample (one from rear and one from the front) down to my local shop to order in and surprise surprise, the studs do not match what they have on their books for escorts. I wouldn't be surprised if the front hubs are off another small ford anyway! 
 
I've had to order studs which pretty much meet the bill, but the bit that fits into the hub are going to be up to 0.2 or so of a mm too wide. The guy reckons I will just have to bash them in.
 
My question is - is there any method of fitting new studs without taking the hubs off??? I really do not want to remove calipers, discs and that whole jam all over again!!!
 
I was thinking you could do it by fitting the new studs then pulling them through by tightening a nut on it? I'm not sure if this will be sufficient, especially if the fronts can spin freely whilst off the ground!
 
Any ideas?
 
Cheers
 
Nick

Id just take the hub off. It will make it so much easier and doesn't take long.

A lot of guys use the wheel nuts to pull the stud through as you described but I'd take the hub off and get them pressed in properly.  Especially if they are a fraction too big.
 
Cheers
 
Matt 

Freezer???

You have to get the right sized splines.... Too small and they will spin in the hubs / a less, too big and you will not get them in or damage them or the hubs trying. When you get the correct size use a rattle gun lots of oil and a few spare washers to pull them in straight with no need to take out the axles or hubs.

You can do the rears easy with the axels in and the front you can get the factory short studs out without disassembly but depending on the extra length of the new studs you wont get them in without dissassembling the front hubs.
 
My studs are the 65mm long jobbies from SMCKA. These are no chance to get in without dissassembling the hub. 
 
There is a saying "if you take the time that it takes it will take less time". Put simply, just do it properly the first time!  It should take no longer than an hour for even a novice to do the first side and probably half that for the second side. 2 bolts on the calliper, one nut and a split pin holding the hub onto the stub axle and then 4 bolts holding the disc rotor to the hub. EASY!
 
G

My longer studs (nice was the brand name and got through an auto parts store before smcka started) were around 50-55mm long and fitted in without having to take hubs off and were put on with the impact driver in the manor described above. Done probably around 50 autocrosses, a dozen or so motorkhanas and never had a durability issue.... before that I used some crummydore ones on the rear but I did have to drill out the holes (using a unusual imperial size if memory serves)

Again thanks for all the tips and experiences guys.
 
Spigot - I did buy your idea for a while there and put one stud in the freezer to do a test run with. My cover was blown when the missus opened the freezer (surprise, surprise) and asked "You do know there is a bolt sitting in the freezer don't you???????" 
 
But I didn't end up going the freezer approach!
 
The replacement studs were just short enough to place in the hubs without taking them apart, and even though I was prepared to go the whole hog and take the hubs out after Gdub and a good mate of mine strongly suggested not to take the easy way out, the lil bad backyard mechanic in me said "comeon, just one stud... just try it.. it won't hurt"...
 
Next thing the washers were out, i oiled up the knurl, placed the washers on the loose stud, tightened it up with a nut placed on backwards, braced the hub with a straight bar and carefully pulled them through with nothing more than a long socket piece and a 530mm breaker bar!
 
The knurl on the new front studs was 0.5mm bigger in diameter than the old ones, so they pulled through very tightly but didn't slip one bit.
 
The knurl on the new rear studs was only 0.1mm bigger but still pulled in with good resistance and didn't slip a bit either. Thank fark, cos I didn't want to source another sliding hammer to pull out the rear axles!  BTW, I found out the other day that a sliding hammer is called a '****er' in German ('Wichser'). Pragmatic as always, zee ol' Germans! 

You can use the drum brake on backards as a make shift slide hammer.  Just do the wheel nuts on loose and pull the drum toward you hard!
 
Cheers,
 
Matt

touche Matt,
 
at least the drums will serve another purpose when I finally fit the dunstan rear disk brake package to a spare axle housing!
 
thanks