Hello bolters, I have been following with interest the advice given about removing stubborn rear brake drums. My truck was unforgiving in my efforts to remove the drums. Friends in the area advised me to back off the brakes, use the slots and don't use any pulling devises. Trouble is there were no slots in the back plates to adjust the brakes. There were two "bolt" stubs on either side of the brake line coming in. These had a washer and a spring under the bolt head and a screwdriver slot across the head. The drivers side drum bolts were loose and by wiggling them, they fell away into my hand. I was surprised, being so loose that they were even still with the truck. The reason I called them "bolt" stubs is because there is no thread but an end that was flattened on opposing sides and swaged into something inside the brake. With no way of backing off the brake I made some maple wedges and forced them in around the drum and made a puller out of white oak for the beam and long bolts for the grabber arms. 3/4" all thread with nuts for the center piece along with a strap around the bolts and drum finished the job. Inside the drum I found a broken spring in two pieces and two adjuster "stars" floating around and doing damage to the drum. Even if the adjusters were operable the wheel cylinders on both rear drums were remnants of the petrified forest out west. So the gear puller gizmo was the only means of success. Now that the drums have been successfully turned and cylinders rebuilt I could use advice as to pros and cons of using high temp paint on the outside of the drums. Is it a bad idea? Does it matter? I've wire brushed the outside and am ready to put it all back together. The truck has 18 leaves on the rear so the axle and drum may be from something larger than a one ton. Thanks for reading all of this. It is still a fun adventure Ricster
