63 chevy drums

[squizzleboy]

I am trying to pull the rear drums on my 63 and i am having no luck. When i pull on the drum, the lugs come with it almost like they are atached. There is about a 1/4 inch of play in them. I tried to back off the adjuster but that didnt seem to work. Is there something that i am missing, or do i have to remove the axle to get the drums off?

[Chevyboy1962]

I had a bare of a time getting the rear ones off on my '62 myself. Make sure that the emergency brake is off, and the cables are fully relaxed, and the cables are not frozen.

The rear cables on mine ended up being froze. After time a lip will form on the outer edge of the brake drums, and will cause the shoe pads to not go pass this lip making them stay on.

Those are the only things I can think of at the moment, if I can remember anymore I post them.
David

[jim walker]

Sounds like you ve backed off the adjusters, check that emergency brake is relaxed. It s common for these drums to get stuck or rust to the axle hub for it is a close fit to begin with. Have had the same problem many times. A slide hammer hooked to the edge of the drum works great at removing stubborn drums and no,,,,,,the axles do not have to be removed. Jim. also note that there will be a small amount of axle side movement due to a small amount of clearance with the axle c clips and spider gear/carrier retainer pin.

[bpmcgee]

Squizzle,

Are you saying that your lugs move 1/4 inch when you pull onthe drum? That's VERY bad! Time to pull the back off of the pumpkin and see if stuff is moving around. There should be essentially ZERO movement in the axle shaft.

That being said, the best thing I've found to separate a reluctant drum from the axle is a BFH. Usually giving it a couple of whacks is all that it needs.

Brian

[thekid54]

I ran into the same problem on my '62. The quickest way I found to get them off was with a torch. Just run the torch around the drum where it meets the axle for about 5-10 seconds and then give it a pry, should pop right off!