not a gm but could use some help
 

I have a 96 F800 boom truck that has hydraulic brakes. It has the Lucas Girling rear brake package and I am having difficulty with them. For starters I can't get the brake drum to loosen up enough to remove it for inspection. The inspector is telling me this has happened to him once before and he had to destroy the drum to get it off. With the cost of the parts plus his labor I elected to bring the truck home for now. I was hoping maybe one of you guys have had prior experience with these and could give me some pointers. I am going to attempt to get it removed myself. I just bought the adjuster tool that is supposed to be needed and have watched a couple of you tube videos but still looking for advise

Thanks
Richard

Re: not a gm but could use some help
 

Lucas-Girling brakes are tricky. Are the drums hanging up on the shoes? Could be the drums are worn out. Back the adjusters all the way, and make sure the parking brake is fully off. Might help to the cage the parking brake springs. One of the many problems Luas-Girling brakes had was the hydraulic spring parking brakes not fully releasing. You might want to get the service manual for that truck. These brakes are not 'do-it-yourself' friendly, be careful and seek professional assistance if you are not sure of what you are doing. There was a guy with a Lucas-Girling F-700 on one of the Ford Truck forums a while back that screwed something up and lost his truck down a hill. Tree pretty much totaled it, probably a good thing all considered!

If you have a chance, my advice would be to get rid of this truck and find a good TopKick/Kodiak or International (without a MaxForce engine).

Re: not a gm but could use some help
 

Bob,
I am unsure of the actual issue as I have not gotten it in the shop yet. I am going by what the state inspector told me when I went to pick it up. He is telling me that he broke his adjuster tool trying to back the brakes off and can just barely turn the drum by hand it is so tight. I suspect the brake may be partially stuck on. The truck only has 85k miles on it and I suspect the lack of use may be playing in to this somewhat. My bucket truck is the same cab & chassis with 252K on it and not had this issue. FOr what I paid for the truck I don't mind spending some money on it but I got the feeling he did not want to mess with it. I am hoping to be able to get the drum off without tearing up the backing plate since it is not leaking and the shoes look ok from the back side view. That all may change once I get the drum off. Heres to hoping I can get the drum off and figure out why it is hanging up. I know it won't be simple or cheap because I own it. lol

Richard

Re: not a gm but could use some help
 

And I do have the service manual

Re: not a gm but could use some help
 

The adjusters can be very difficult to turn on those. Also, access can be a problem if the slots are close to the leaf springs. If you have it up on jacks, try releasing the parking brakes with the engine running and see if the drums turn freely. Good you didn't pay much for the truck, you have some 'room' money-wise to fix it.