[getmygoat]

Hi all,

Trying to pull a brake drum off. The drum slides almost all the way off but then gets stuck on the hub with just a smidge left to go. Tried wire brushing the hub and pb blaster. Tried banging on the back of the drum with a BFH - then read people say not to do that or I risk damaging the drum. The tight spots seem to be where the "tangs" (go in toward center) of the hub are (each side seams tight) - but it seems loose everywhere else (e.g. can wiggle drum side to side except aligned with the tangs).

Put my leg up on the frame and pulled as hard as I can - no luck.

Seems like heat might work but I don't have any. Went to home depot its like $30 for a plumbers torch - not sure even if that's hot enough or it would work. Brake drum puller is like $150. Ouch

Any ideas? Thanks!

[jwcfbd]

are you sure it's stuck on the hub and not hanging on the brake shoes? Try backing off the adjusters. You may have a big rust ridge built up inside the drum not allowing it to slide over the shoes.

[Verdoro 68]

Agree - try backing off the adjusters as much as you can. I just had to do this on my son's Ventura. The shoes were caught on a ridge.

[Goatracer1]

If it really is stuck on the lip of the hub either file or sand the outside edge of the hub slightly. Works for me.

[Maxthe222]

I had one that was absolutely diabolical. This was on my 1978 Macho T/A with a GM 10-bolt Series III drum diff.

I thought to myself "Maybe I have no idea what I'm doing, maybe I have no idea how to remove a drum brake." I was literally at this for an hour+, thinking how is this supposed to come off. This one was really rusted and stuck on there. Drowned it in WD-40, softened it, up, I was absolutely bashing it with a hammer for hours, and I thought... maybe that's not how a drum is supposed to come off? Took off the other back wheel, gave it one slap, came right off. Uh oh, it is meant to be that easy.

Went back to the rusted one, started slamming it even harder around the circumference, nothing. Wouldn't budge one millimetre. A friend stopped by, saw I was working on the brakes and was like, what are you doing? Saw the drum, went to the back of his ute, got an even bigger sledgehammer, and absolutely started blasting it. 20 minutes of absolute belters later, it sounded like something finally broke loose. It started to slooowwwlly inch off, and finally with one or two more hits, ker-chunk, it came off. Look how rusted it was inside... the brake shoes were totally fused to the inside of the drum. Never ever seen one as bad as this was. The shoes were fully rusted inside the housing, but even after all those massive hits, the drum actually came out fine. It was very very rusted, and needs to be thoroughly re-machined and blasted, but it was still fine afterwards.

[dataway]

If the drum moves in and out on the studs even a tiny bit, but won't come off ... then it's the shoes that are hung up. Back off the adjuster as far as you can, and try again.

Still stuck, then yes the shoes are probably fused to the drum. If you gotta bang on the drum, then remember the shoes are on the front and rear, not the top and bottom.

I've had to pry the drum away from the backing plate and insert something to keep tension on the shoes while banging on the drum, sometimes works.

Amazing how well those rusty old springs and clips can hold on to the shoes.

[Formulas]

recently i was evaluating old used drums for keepers or tossers, i noticed a ring around a wheel stud in the face of a drum, only thing i can come up with that caused it is a lug nut bottomed out on the drum this pushed drum material towards the stud and made it real tight on the stud

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by Formulas

recently i was evaluating old used drums for keepers or tossers, i noticed a ring around a wheel stud in the face of a drum, only thing i can come up with that caused it is a lug nut bottomed out on the drum this pushed drum material towards the stud and made it real tight on the stud

If this was the front a lot were swaged that way - a real PITA to remove!

[Formulas]

was the rear, my cars have disc in front,

[getmygoat]

Thanks for all the insights guys. I had to button the car back up w/o getting the drum off for now. Will take another crack at it sometime soon and report back. Sounds like its hung up on the shoes. It comes almost all the way off, then stops at the end of the hub.

The car is very original, the drum is dated to the car so it might have never been off. Not a rusty car however, original car from Alabama was one owner for most of its life.

Not a rare pontiac

[Sirrotica]

If the shoes are hanging up on the rust ridge, you will not be able to rotate the drum when it's to the position where it hangs up. If you can still rotate the drum, then it's hung up on the end of the axle flange.

That's the best info I can give you on determining where the problem is.

If you determine that it's hanging up on the axle flange, and filing it, or sanding it won't get it off, then by all means a propane Bernz-O-Matic torch will usually supply enough heat to get it off. The torch does 2 things to help you. The rust will break down from the heat, and the heat will expand the center hole.

One other trick is to hit the flat portion of the drum between the lug studs, and bounce the drum off the end of the axle flange. You better have good aim with a hammer though, because a miss will booger up the ends of the studs.

Maybe one of these things will help you get it off, good luck.......

[jamaca85]

drill two 3/8 holes on the drum around the stud holes one at 3 and one at 9 o clock ..one on each side..thread a bolt into it first spray some wd 40 into the holes... they have these holes on the newer drums

[mgarblik]

If you have a stuck, rusty mess under the drum. A easy way to gain access is to simply chisel the heads of the hold down pins off the back of the backing plate. Then the whole assembly will just come off with the drum. Shoes, springs, levers, adjuster, all in one pile. I assume your going to replace everything inside anyway. Only items you may reuse are the wheel cylinders, parking brake lever and strut, possibly the starwheel.