it does not appear possible without pressing out the abs tone ring

Dear trichard,

Hope you're well. It is impossible to remove wheel studs from an ABS-compatible hub, without first removing the ABS "tone ring", the toothed wheel that supplies the signal to the ABS sensor. I've removed tone rings, but have not had to swap studs.

To remove a tone ring, I used a chunk of wood and a mallet. One must go gently: (a) to avoid damaging the tone ring and (b) to avoid displacing the bearing keeper (the steel ring that retains the bearing balls).

The hub has to be clamped into a bench vise. Set the wood block against the underside of the tone ring and hit the wood block with the mallet. Move around the tone ring's outer edge. At some point, you'll see the tone ring's top edge no longer is flush with the hub's core: the tone ring has started to move.

Be patient: the tone ring is pressed into place and it takes some time to free it. An application or two of PB Blaster - or a similar penetrating oil - may help.

Once the tone ring has been removed, the studs can be removed. I've not had to do that and - if I needed to remove a stud - would take the hub to a shop that had an arbor press.

In a pinch, I'd guess a hammer can be used to drive-out a stud, once the bearing ball keeper is secured with tape or wire. Even so, there's a risk of damaging the hub: studs are pressed into place using far more force than is needed to emplace a tone wheel.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

much obliged for the details. i had thought of wire wheeling the tone ring and then running a rosebud torch around it until it became bluish then pulling it off but ruining the bearing balls dissuaded me. pressing in and out the studs is of no consequence as i have all the needed equipment.

do you think the tone ring can pressed out or is the wood and mallet the most satisfactory method?

Dear trichard,

Hope you're well. The tone rimg might be pressed-out, but it will be more work than using a wood block and mallet. First, to support the tone ring, a steel plate will have to be drilled and then cut, to make a slot just wide enough to accept the hub's "neck", the area just under the tone ring. Next, a jig will have be made, that is precisely the diameter and thickness of the hub's collar, onto which the tone ring is pressed. Down pressure on the jig will push the hub out of the tone ring.

Even if these things be done, there's still a risk that the tone ring will be distorted by the pressure needed to free it. The tone ring's underside is "hollow", i.e., the tone ring's plate - the steel plate that "connects" the core to the toothed circumference - likely is about 1/8" thick. I'm not sure this will stand-up to the required pressure. This said, the tone ring (#3530983) costs about $40.00, so if it is ruined, the hub still will be usable.

It should take about a half-hour to remove the tone ring, using the wood block and mallet/hammer.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

might be better to do a new hub
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89 240 wagon, 94 940, 215K, 94 940, 141K