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Ever had rear brake drums that refuse to come off?

5K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  Mrfixmaster 
#1 ·
I'm trying to remove the rear drums on my son's recently acquired '62 Chevy pickup. The front brakes check out fine, but I can't get either rear drum off. It's been 30 years since I've done a brake job, but shouldn't the drum slide off after the wheel is removed? These both feel like something is holding them in place with very minimal movement. Maybe 1/8"....

Could the brake shoes be hanging up on a lip at the edge of the drum? That's kind of what it feels like, but we've been adjusting and adjusting and we can't get either the left or the right side to come off. Am I overlooking something obvious?

Thanks.
 
#5 ·
Thanks everyone! All three ideas sound helpful. We'll try one or more of them tomorrow. The help is greatly appreciated.

I can see this truck is gonna be more of a challenge than I expected!
 
#6 ·
Heres another one. Take both the rear wheels off, then put a couple lugnuts back on loosely. Lower the truck back onto the ground, then roll it back & foreward a little bit. Jack it back up & I bet they come off!
 
#8 ·
The drums have a ridge around them due to the brakes wearing down into the drum plus rust buildup making a thicker ridge. Look at the back of the plate and cut the pins if you can. If you cannot, pry the drums off by sticking a prybar on both sides. It will take some work to get them off but don't worry about tearing up any of the brake components. Replacement parts are abundent and should be replaced with all new parts anyhow. The only thing I am not sure about are replacement drums from places like Advanced Auto, AutoZone, etc, but places like Harmons, Sinclairs, etc do sell them. I can check some of my catalogs if you would like before you remove yours. When worse comes to worse a cutting torch will work wonders on stubborn parts but I would not recommend that method until the new parts are at your fingertips.

Kevin
 
#9 ·
I have seen lugnuts that were put on so tight that they bored the hole out on the rim and pinched the drum around the studs (some people have no business even touching an impact wrench :eek: ) also I've seen too long of a shank on mag wheel lugnuts do the same thing. Rims that have been off and on a million times will also allow the nuts to pinch the drum around the studs too. :)
 
#10 ·
hitting the drums with a hammer works.. also hit the axel in the center of the drum... sometimes this jars it loose

oh yeah 2X4 you must be a ******* or a guy my age who doesn't know what the hell he is doing... No offence but you DO NOT LOWER A VEHICAL ON TO THE DRUMS UNLESS YOU ARE NEVER PLANNING ON USING THOSE DRUMS AGAIN...

[ December 24, 2002: Message edited by: stonedchihuahua ]</p>
 
#12 ·
oh yeah 2X4 you must be a ******* or a guy my age who doesn't know what the hell he is doing... No offence but you DO NOT LOWER A VEHICAL ON TO THE DRUMS UNLESS YOU ARE NEVER PLANNING ON USING THOSE DRUMS AGAIN...<hr></blockquote>

Hey stoned puppy, I hate to be the one to tell you but I'm 37 and have worked for GM, Toyota, private garages, and Ford for the last 6 years. One of the best tricks we had going for breaking loose a rim frozen on a hub is to loosen the lug nuts, drop the car down, then rock her till the rim breaks loose. And you don't even want to know how many young inexperienced idiots I've seen do a tire rotation and forget to tighten one of the wheels. They figure it out when they go to pull out of the shop and feel the car shaking. The fix? Pull it back in, jack it up, and tighten down the lugnuts. And yes the drums or rotors are just fine.
This method is intended for rims that are frozen to the hub, not just hung up on the brake hardware. If you don't know the difference between the two you probably shouldn't be doing this trick.

[ December 24, 2002: Message edited by: dmorris1200 ]</p>
 
#13 ·
Thanks dmorris1200, you said what I was going to say :D

Hitting the drums with sledgehammers can loosen the weights on a drum or fracture it. Not getting into the damage that a weight can cause flying off at 70mph, it will cause a vibration youll be looking for forever.

Personal attacks arent cool and not good for a great board such as this, so I wont waste anyones time with a reply <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" />
 
#14 ·
I must actually correct myself. I just re-read the posts and realized I misinterpreted when I first read them. I didn't realize you wrote to lower the vehicle on the drums, or did you? Sometimes words can be misread. I have lowered vehicles with lugnuts loosened but with tires still on, in order to break loose a rim frozen to the drum/hub. I have never lowered a vehicle onto the ground on its drums, this is completely different and not at all the same as just having a rim loose on a moving vehicle as I had described in my first post. I have never seen a car lowered on its drums so I can not comment either way on it, but I do apologize for mis-reading the earlier posts. My bad!
 
#16 ·
Originally posted by 41chevySean:
<strong>Take a good size hammer and hit the drum a couple of times on the outward most corners (at an angle right on the corner so you don't bend the drums), usually after a couple of good solid hits the shoes will relax and let go of the drums.</strong><hr></blockquote>
It would work better with rubber mallet or with a piece of wood(between hammer and drum). Thats what I did when I couldnt get em off.
 
#17 ·
Hey 2x4... wtf it sounds like something a ******* or an idiot would do... if drums were that strong then why the hell wouldn't more people do this... I was not trying to attack you... jesus christ take things LESS SERIOUSLY.. I am just the kind of person who tends to make little comments like that not intened to bother people FRIGGEN DEAL WITH IT!!!!.... anyways about lowering the car on the drums... IT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA... I THINK I'LL DO THIS TO MY CAR RIGHT AWAY... DO A BURNOUT WHILE I'M AT IT...

if you didn't notice that was an attack... not on you but your stupid idea
 
#18 ·
I've successfully removed more stuck brake drums by striking them at angle on the outer most corners than I care to remember, not once have I seen a drum fracture or sling a weight due to this procedure,but I guess anything is possible. also when I said a good size hammer I wasn't implying a 17 Lb sledge just something large enough to give it a ring. good luck
 
#22 ·
Originally posted by STATUTORY GRAPE:
<strong>If you have good aim with a blacksmith hammer,,,you can just hammer a few times between each wheel stud to loosen the drum.Just be sure not to hit the studs!!! This sometimes helps.</strong><hr></blockquote>

hahaha

Thanks! Don't think I have a blacksmith hammer around here though....

P.S. Is THAT your car??? Amazing!
 
#23 ·
FROG! Do you mean to say that you still haven't got those drums off yet? I bought a car once and found that the rear U joint caps were tack welded to the driveshaft (I guess they couldn't find the spring clips)! You dont see any tack welds on the lugs, do you? Ha Ha Ha :eek:
 
#24 ·
Take a small screwdriver, and push the self-adjuster away from the star wheel. Then un-adjust the brakes till them rotate freely. This should allow the drums to slide off. If you can move them the 1/8" or so that you said, all the hammering, heating, and rolling on the drums isn't going to loosen off the shoes. I have also seen a "pal-nut" on one of the studs that will not allow them to come off. Try the brake shoes, should slip right off!!
<img src="graemlins/pimp.gif" border="0" alt="[pimp]" />
MF
 
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