Thread: Can I put the wheels back on my Series 1 after removing the Brake drums?

Originally Posted by JDNSW

1. I think you may be confusing the setup on Series Landrovers with that on "post classic" Landrovers where there really is a tight fit of the wheel centre on the hub. The fit of the Series wheel on the hub is not all that tight, and carries no load in normal circumstances.

2. With or without drums in place, the wheel is still up against a flat surface, whether the drum or the hub, and the section of the hub that the drum fits is actually slightly larger in diameter than the part the wheel normally fits on. Certainly the hub face is smaller than the drum face, but the area of contact is still larger than for most contemporary similar vehicles.

3. There is a good reason Rover used a PCD larger in diameter than most contemporaries, and studs larger than any comparable vehicles. The studs carry much of the load.

Exactly right John. I've always admired the massively strong construction of Land Rover running gear. As you say, on a Series One, the hub centre is only designed to keep the wheel centralised until the wheel is clamped up hard aginst the flat face of the drum/hub. The larger diameter 91/16" (14.3mm) studs and hefty nuts can safely be firmly tensioned to provide a much stronger clamping force to clamp the substantial wheel centre securely to the brake drum face compared to "ordinary" vehicles.
Even on the later "post classic" models the centre boss is again only designed to centre the alloy wheel, but is a lot heftier because the tubular wheel nuts don't have any taper on the end or a tapered seat in the wheel to locate the wheel accuratley as in the Series Land Rovers.
If the wheel nuts are correctly tensioned, the studs are only withstanding a horizontal load clamping the wheel centre firmly against the drum, hub and axle which becomes in effect , a single unit that carries the vertical load and driving/ braking torque..
It's the same set up as the drive flanges on the front and rear universal shafts. The 3/8" bolts don't transmit the driving tourque, the friction of the securely clamped together mating faces do all the work. Fascinating engineering! Cheers, Mike.