Welded Wheel Studs onto Hub

[Chris Van]

Hi Boffins
Please see the attached pic. I please want confirmation that what I have done is okay. I have just fitted four new cast iron brake drums. We pressed out the old studs and the hubs got a bit distorted so we had them warmed up and straightened and then turned on a lathe so they were perfect and fitted 100% flush into the new cast iron hubs (which cast iron drums we had skimmed because they were not perfectly round). Then the fitter and turner advised me that if we swaged in the new studs we ran the risk of cracking the cast iron drums (which were expensive to import to South Africa). So, instead of swaging them, we cleaned up the countersunk holes on the hubs, and then put the new studs in and pulled them tight onto the cast iron drums with a brand new set of ordinary nuts and washers. Then we had the studs expertly argon welded to stop them falling out when you put the wheel on, or turning when you tightened the wheel nuts. This means that the wheel nuts effectively hold the drum on (just like in a modern car) and that the drum can now come off by itself, separate from the hub. Surely there can't be a problem with having welded the studs rather than swaged them in, because remember the steel hub locates onto the cast iron drum in the centre, not via the studs. So the welding has exactly nothing to do with anything structural, because the studs are were already tightly countersunk into the hubs BEFORE they were welded (by the high tensile nuts we used). Some people have subsequently told me that the studs should always be swaged in rather than welded, but I can't logically see why the way I have done it is not perfect, other than that it is not original (but cast iron drums are not original anyway, right?). I drove the car at 55 mph and it is 100% smooth. The brakes are nice and sharp but there is a judder at very low speeds, but I am hoping that will disappear as they get run in? I have been using my car as a daily driver for 15 years and have come across many old wives tails and I am suspecting that the maxim that the studs must under no circumstances be welded is also one of them. Looking forward to your comments? Many thanks for reading this long post.