Brake Drum

[kahmke69]

I'm trying to remove the rear brake drums off my 12 bolt
and can't seem to get them off.

Am i missing some thing special trick or just not pulling hard enough?

Thanks

[Longhorn Man]

you may have to back off the shoes , but I find probably 50% of the time, smacking it with a 2 1/2 pound hammer breaks it free. They bind up on the hub generally. Just smack it where the cooling fins would be if it was that kind of drum.

[kahmke69]

uhhh
no cooling fins

[Longhorn Man]

smack the parts I circled in red... it sticks where i circled in blue.

[kahmke69]

i did and it didnt get any looser

how do i back off the shoes

[Solego]

Check your PM box.

[Solego]

I should have posted this to share the knowledge, so here is what I sent him.


"Mind you, I'm not even picking my truck up for another two days, so I've never actually owned a classic truck, technically. But, most cars that have rear drums and an emergency/parking brake have a brake shoe self adjuster. If you look on the backside of the assembly below the axle, you should see a small hole. In that hole you have access to the part that spreads the two shoes (see picture). It's part of the self adjuster. Loosening that with a flat head screwdriver, I believe by turning it up (leftie loosey), will loosen it up and you should be able to free the drum by whacking the hell out of it with a hammer and pulling. Hope this helps."

[jhow66]

Originally Posted by kahmke69

i did and it didnt get any looser

how do i back off the shoes

Try this:

[Solego]

Oops. I forgot to tell him about taking the lever off of the adjusting wheel. Thanx for bringing that up.

[Longhorn Man]

I wouldn't pry on that backing plate, all that does is ask for trouble.

[jhow66]

You just want to pry hard enough to put some pressure on drum-not enough to bend backing plate.Done this many times while saying my Sunday School lesson backwards.

[kahmke69]

the little hole
is non existent on the other side

and loosening the cog wheel
didnt seem to do anything

[jhow66]

Originally Posted by kahmke69

the little hole
is non existent on the other side

and loosening the cog wheel
didnt seem to do anything

Your brake shoes are not holding the drums then. They are rusted to the axle hub. Just keep soaking in rust cutter and do as I suggested. You have two differants drums then. Check at the bottom of backing plate on the back side to see if there is an adjusting hole there.

[kyull67]

I just did my rear brakes yesterday and I had the same problem as you with my right rear. Like Longhorn man said your drum is siezed to the hub. What I did was soak the hub in PB lube and then lightly hammer a srew driver in between the drum and backing plate. When you have a little gap give the drum a good blow with a hammer near the hub. Mine popped right off.

[Longhorn Man]

we do this many times a day at work, we NEVER pry on the backing plate, you get written up for shoving anything in there. We just smack it good a few times where I indicated.

[mvfd70]

I agree about not prying on the backing plate. A LITTLE (very LITTLE) pressure won't hurt but why chance it. Just keep smacking hit with a hammer on the hub and around the perimieter where LH Man circled. If it don't work still get a BFH out (BFH = Bigger F***ing Hammer). Worst case you'll crack the hub since it's cast, but it will be off. It needs replaced anyway, right?

[longhorn70gmc]

I just went through this and I offer the word patience. I had a very hard time with that but in the end it came off. Good Luck