Stuck rear drum brake hubs and how to get them off?

[HeavyHauler]

I am trying to get the rear drum brake hubs off my 1968 Chevy C10 and they will not come off. Made sure emergency brake is not on,I have tried adjusting the star wheels,tried to pry them off and also giving them some taps with a hammer around the edges and on the face of it but they will not come off. I am able to rotate the drums.

Do you guys have any suggestions on how to get the brake drums off?

[Steeveedee]

Spritz some penetrating liquid like Kroil or Liquid Wrench around the hub and the studs. Rotate the drum while you do that, and let it soak. It may take a couple of hours, and doing some rotisserie work to get the liquid into the crud.

[Jason Banks]

Mine has the same problem. I have yet to tackle. I think my drums have grooves worn in them and I need to back off the adjuster to get the pads away from the drums. I'm 99% sure they are not rusted to the axles or anything... I beat the crap out of them thinking that may be the problem. My truck just isn't that rusty.

[custom10nut]

A BFH has always worked for me, especially if they’re the originals.
Spray a liberal amount of your favorite penetrating fluid (actual stuff, not WD-40), and give it about ten taps with a heavy hammer. Then about every hour or so, tap it again. Let it sit overnight ()or even a couple days) to let the oil work it’s magic. Then using pry bars and a hammer, slowly pry them off

[REDROCKER652002]

It depends. Is the whole assembly moving, IE the pads and all? Or is it the drum itself if not separating from the back plate? If it is the whole assembly moving, you have grooves in the drums and shoes. My experience has been to get the star as far down as you can, try hitting the center hub with a hammer as you apply pressure to the drum. I have not work on drum brakes since I was in High School (I had an old 65 Ford Coupe with them), but that is how I remember getting them off.

Premise all this with I have had a few beers, so take it for what it is worth. Good luck.

[Mike C]

If the drums are grooved, I use a cut off wheel to cut the shoe retainer spring pins heads off from the rear of the backing plate and they will come off.

If the drum is rusted to the axle, my favorite tool is a hammer head attachement for an air hammer. Just place it between the wheel studs and hold the trigger down. Move to the next stud and so on. Pretty quick it is no longer stuck to the axle.

[maverickmk]

You could always get a puller.

https://www.amazon.com/ABN-8in-3-Jaw...7233374&sr=8-9

[HO455]

If the drum doesn't flex in the center when you pry on it or if the drum starts to come off but jams then the adjuster needs to be turned in farther to get the shoes out of the groove they have dug in the drum. It can take as many as 10 full turns of the star wheel to get enough clearance to clear the shoes.
If the drum is obviously flexing in the center then some sort of penetrating oil will help. I have also used soft heat from a propane torch to heat the area around the center hole. This expands the hole slightly and helps breaks the rust free.

[Andy4639]

If they are grooved then beat them off you have to replace them anyways so you not gonna hurt them. If you can move the star wheel then get it to the end of it's travel no need to only do a few turns go as far as it will go. Spray it down good and beat the snot out of it. Take the lugnut's and put on the lugs and knock them in. You can always put them back in afterwards.

[HO455]

This is fine if you know you have new drums available. But some of our rear ends no longer have replacement drums available, so be careful not to damage what may be unobtainium. Personally I have never been able to judge whether a drum is still usable until I got it off the axle and measured it.

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by HO455

This is fine if you know you have new drums available. But some of our rear ends no longer have replacement drums available, so be careful not to damage what may be unobtainium. Personally I have never been able to judge whether a drum is still usable until I got it off the axle and measured it.

This may be true but if it's stuck that bad that it wont come off, I'll be willing to bet they wont be re used.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

This may be true but if it's stuck this bad that it want come off I be willing to bet it want be usable after it does come off, no matter how he gets it off.

???

[maverickmk]

Originally Posted by HO455

???

Want = won't.

*fixed

Originally Posted by Andy4639

This may be true but if it's stuck this bad that it won't come off I'd be willing to bet it won't be usable after it does come off, no matter how he gets it off.

[HeavyHauler]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Spritz some penetrating liquid like Kroil or Liquid Wrench around the hub and the studs. Rotate the drum while you do that, and let it soak. It may take a couple of hours, and doing some rotisserie work to get the liquid into the crud.

I already tried that. It wont even start to move off.

[HeavyHauler]

Originally Posted by custom10nut

A BFH has always worked for me, especially if they’re the originals.
Spray a liberal amount of your favorite penetrating fluid (actual stuff, not WD-40), and give it about ten taps with a heavy hammer. Then about every hour or so, tap it again. Let it sit overnight ()or even a couple days) to let the oil work it’s magic. Then using pry bars and a hammer, slowly pry them off

Already did that and nothing.

[HeavyHauler]

Originally Posted by Mike C

If the drums are grooved, I use a cut off wheel to cut the shoe retainer spring pins heads off from the rear of the backing plate and they will come off.

If the drum is rusted to the axle, my favorite tool is a hammer head attachement for an air hammer. Just place it between the wheel studs and hold the trigger down. Move to the next stud and so on. Pretty quick it is no longer stuck to the axle.

I have not tried cutting the retainer spring pins but if that doesnt work than more than likely tomorrow I am just going to cut through the drums themselves and knock them off.

I am not going to use any of he drum brake stuff anyway as I am converting to 4 wheel disc brakes.

[Ironangel]

What Mike C said!...Cut or grind those spring retainers (nail heads) off. Then remove the brake line fitting and two brake cylinder bolts, and I also remove the 15/16" anchor stud and pull the whole mess off the backing plate...If you can punch the cylinder free and then reach inside with a torch or stout cutters to cut the springs the assembly will fall apart and come off the backing plate. When brakes wear a groove so deep that the shoes cannot be adjusted down far enough to free up the drums, the drums are usually shot anyway. Count on replacing the drums because turning them most likely have the adjusters expanded to the outer extremes of brake shoe travel causing uneven wear on the brake linings. Once more, if the shop that turns the drums turns them to quickly in the lathe, the shoes on one side of the vehicle will follow the machining groves and try to walk off track against the backing plate while the other side walks or (screw themselves) against the drum..."Just sayin" Be prepared to buy drums and complete brake kits for each side...NEVER use a big hammer on cast iron brake drums unless your ready to buy new drums! "Work smarter not harder!"

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by HeavyHauler

I have not tried cutting the retainer spring pins but if that doesnt work than more than likely tomorrow I am just going to cut through the drums themselves and knock them off.

I am not going to use any of he drum brake stuff anyway as I am converting to 4 wheel disc brakes.

That makes it fun! Burn it off with a torch. Everything is better with fire!

[Smitty]

Used to call it “The Fire Wrench”! Dads favorite tool.

[Steeveedee]

Or the "Gas Hacksaw".

[HO455]

Also known as the "Blue Wrench"!

[Steeveedee]

Nothing beats a hot enough fire!

[BigBird05]

Liquid Wrench.

[HeavyHauler]

This afternoon I went out to my garage and adjusted the star wheel all the way in until it fell out. I then hit the drum in between the studs again then applied some by bars again and it just popped off! The opposite side came off easier.

Just thought I would post the result! I am sure these are the factory drums and it does not look like any of the other owners ever changed the brake shoes as there wasnt any left just metal on both passenger and driver side. NOTHING.

[Mike C]

Glad you got them off. The PO is the biggest problem for most everything I buy used.