Changing to aluminum wheels on an RTS... what's involved?

[donnreeves]

The RTS studs have a nut on the backside of the hub, and are installed from the outside. It would be very difficult to beat them out. One method that usually works is to remove the locking nut, and put a sleeve over the stud on the outside of the hub,, then crank a lug nut against the sleeve, drawing the stud out. Sometimes you can't get the nut back off the stud, but the nuts should be changed anyway.    Donn

[Busted Knuckle]

Hello Kevin,
"I know nothin' I am merly a messenger."  (a favorite line from a favorite movie!) and I just couldn't resist using it!
When putting aluminum wheels on stud piloted hubs the drive axles are usually not changed, but just longer outter nuts used. I have not changed out any hub piloted wheels yet!
First off I agree with "if you are gonna pay big shop rates, THEN THEY OUGHTA HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT TO DO THE JOB RIGHT!"      However some of us small time boys/shops ain't got all that, but can still do it! I usually change 'em right on the bus (although I ain't ever come across any aluminum hubs either!).
I knock 'm out with a hammer (I use a sleeve & socket to pull the stubborn ones out!) , and after that I go over to the freezer and take frozen new studs out and put them in!

Now as far as "wheels go, I buy used wheels from the truck salvage yards around here for $100-125.00 a piece" then depending on the condition of 'em I either spend some time polishing them myself. (which I almost always do, because I'm cheap! LOL!) Or I know a shop about an hr away that machine polishes them inside and out to a like new shine for $ 75.00 a piece! That's my 2 cents worth an I am sticking to it! BK                                                               

[NJT 5573]

If you have aluminum hubs with machined stud holes they can also be cracked with a press. When I work on my aluminum hubs, (steer hubs), I clean them up and dye check each hole I work on as it comes apart. Boeing taught me to debur all of my aluminum edges to avoid cracks and it just takes a minute to run a small grinder around the edges, install the new studs and respray the hub and wait 15 minutes for the dye to do its work. If its cracked its junk no matter how it was cracked. Sounds like aluminum hubs are rare on buses possibly because of this issue. All of the aluminum hub trucks I own are of the inboard design and attach the studs to the drum with a nut inside, (remove wheel bearings to service brakes and studs, like Dann describes). All the steel hub trucks I own are of the outboard design, (slide drum off hub to remove studs and change shoes leaving hub bearings alone, like BK describes). Not all equiptment is created equal and all in all I can keep the outboard design on the road cheaper and safer each day.