how do i take off the rear drum on a 1967 K20?

[psychobilly451]

I have never owned a truck this old. I took off the wheel and it looks nothing like any rear drum I have seen. is it pressed on or something?

[Sinister]

Assuming you have an Eaton rearend, you have to pull the axles to get the hubs/drums off. After you pull the axles there's a lock nut and adjusting nut you need to remove to get the hub/drum off. . Use this hub socket K-D 2770. The drums are attached to the hubs by the lug nut studs. They need to be pressed out to remove the drum. To put it all back you'll need an axle gasket and new hub seal. I highly recommend the Chassis Service Manual for doing all this.

[psychobilly451]

thanks for the info Sinister. I need to get a service manual and hub socket. Right now I just need to get the drums off to replace the wheel cylinders and check/replace the brake hardware.

wheres the best place to get a chassis service manual?

is this it?

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by Sinister

Assuming you have an Eaton rearend, you have to pull the axles to get the hubs/drums off. After you pull the axles there's a lock nut and adjusting nut you need to remove to get the hub/drum off. . Use this hub socket K-D 2770. The drums are attached to the hubs by the lug nut studs. They need to be pressed out to remove the drum. To put it all back you'll need an axle gasket and new hub seal.

It's been many years since I had my drums off to replace the shoes on my HO52... but I know I did it with ordinary hand tools, and did not press the lug studs out. Is his '67 that much different than my '72? I know I pulled the axles, but I don't recall anything else out of the ordinary.

[Sinister]

That's it. Any of the Board vendors should have it, but I got mine from LMC. If you Google that part number for the hub socket you can find it online for about $30 shipped.

[Sinister]

One final note: The Eaton is referred to as the 5200 Lb. axle in the Chassis Service Manual.

[psychobilly451]

thanks again Sinister!

I had full faith in the people in this forum would be a tremendous help.

Truly great and knowledgeable!

[psychobilly451]

i googled the part number and it comes up as for 1973 to current?

[Sinister]

Originally Posted by psychobilly451

i googled the part number and it comes up as for 1973 to current?

It works on my '69 as well. The studs only need to be pressed out if you're replacing the drum. Only turn the drums if they are scored. Here's a link someone had for new drums: http://brakeperformance.com/site/bra...php?&dv=020410

[truckdude239]

I've done ti with normal hand tools before also

[long67]

Apparently there is a difference as I had to press my studs out also to get the drum off.

[psychobilly451]

I dont have to separate the drum from the hub to replace wheel cylinders, hardware or shoes do I?

[Sinister]

Originally Posted by psychobilly451

I dont have to separate the drum from the hub to replace wheel cylinders, hardware or shoes do I?

No.

[psychobilly451]

great. I know I need to replace the wheel cylinders and probably some hardware. But i dont want to go through pressing out the studs to for that.

can the drum be turned with the hub attached?

I hope I get my service manual soon so I can just refer to that! heheheh

[Sinister]

Originally Posted by psychobilly451

can the drum be turned with the hub attached?

That's a good question, I'm not sure.

[crakarjax]

What's the difference between the chassis service manual and the assembly manual? Hard to find book reviews on these things

[vectorit]

I just did all four of my drums last summer.
Like you I wasn't totally up to speed, and had lot's of questions...

In my case I had one drum that would not come off, and after everyone here told me to just beat the dang thing to submission and that's what it took in the end.

So if after you find that after you have drawn up the brake shoes away from the drum as far as they will go, and the drum spins freely with no sounds of friction, and have removed the axle, and the spanner nut's with their washers.

Give the drum a tug or two with your hands, and if you are lucky it will come off of the rear seal. If not, then find a BFH and give the outer surfaces of the drum a few good whacks. Try again to pull it off with your hands, if not then repeat the process. Mine seemed to just laugh at me with love taps, so be prepared to put some muscle into your swing! Just watch out that you don't clip your fender with that hammer.

As far as parts go...

Napa carries the following:
Drum seals
Wheel cylinders
Brake shoes
most of the springs

The spring kit that Napa didn't carry, I was able to get them from the resto shops.

The rear rubber brake line, which I highly recommend replacing I got from a resto shop and I think most carry it. Word of warning though! Make sure you use the correct size LINE WRENCHES, since if you bugger up the line nuts so much that it causes you to have to replace hard line fittings you will be in for a huge PITA. (My rear brake line I had to use a Dremel tool to cut the nut off of the hard line fitting, just since mine was frozen on and I didn't want to damage the frame brake line).

If you are still using the OEM closed knuck front end, the rubber brake lines I had to have made up at an industrial hose shop. I also had them made a couple inches longer, since my burb has a couple inches of lift over stock.
Just find a shop like that in your area, bring in your old lines and they should be able to fix you up.

Also, in my case the automatic brake shoe adjusting arms were missing. I searched EVERYWHERE for those dang things, and let me tell you they are hard to find since if your K20 is like mine it will have 12" drums. The 11" drum adjusters are everywhere, since those are the most popular.
If you are missing any let me know, and I will fill you in on how I found mine.

Attached are a couple pictures of when I first started.

Here is a link to drum brake assembly - It came in handy for me, since I like pictures...

http://www.pbase.com/nufsed/drumbrake