The drum centers on the hub. The studs have nothing to do with locating the drum. They only hold the drum in place. I still have no understanding why auto makers swedged drums on. All of them did it at some point. The only reason I can think of was to keep the drum in place while the car was going down the assembly line. Much like the small flat metal clips you sometimes find on the rear studs. But, as far as the studs go, they serve no purpose whatsoever in locating the drum. The drums are what is referred to as "hub centric" since they use the hub to center up on. But yes, with the swedges cut off, when you install the drum and without the wheel on, you will be able to "rock" the drum back and forth on the studs a small amount. This is irrelevant since the drum centers on the hub. And since when the wheel is installed a "drum sammich" is created, the drum certainly cannot go anywhere. Swedged on drums were one of those things we all could have gone without, IMO.
