The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk dang wheel wont come off

I might be missing something? Two problems here?

First the lug nuts- A cheap tool called a nut breaker will be found at Harbor Freight. The Nut breaker is a small tool that slips over the lug nut, and tightening the chisel point down on the nut will break it, leaving you with a lug that can be reused. Kind of like a vise, this tool. Better hardware stores may have it on the shelf, or auto parts stores. Let your fingers do the walking.

As for separating the drum from the shoes, you should have a couple of prybars working to open a space up between the drum and the backing plate. The drums have a bit of back and forth/in and out play, due to the mountings, springs and nails. Then using any sharpened screwdriver or chisel, work to "split" the lining material off of the shoe metal. The glue that bonds the lining to the shoe can be convinced it wants to let loose. In all reality, you're buying new shoes anyway. You may only have to split the lining off of one shoe, to get the drum off. Use a BFH to the outside of the drum, all the way around, many times-ish, just to send a message to the drum, you ain't kidding around. And to break up any phantom adhesion.

Usually the drum sports a wear lip out on the edge of the drums, and loosening/tightening the shoes with the star wheel will "shrink" the shoes size and you can pull it. This tight fit or stuck symptom is all about rust and moisture, and wear. Chances are better than average that swelling has occured, and magic adhesion is only apparent. That and the wear lip. Further, the lugs and the drum have a nice close tolerance with each other, and the tiniest rust and corrosion to both parts makes the drum difficult to pull off the six lugs anyway. When you re-assemble, sacrifice one lug nut, and without the drum, chase the threads of each lug with the one lugnut repeatedly.

I just pulled one drum off of the Mousewagon, and the lining unstuck itself with just the two prybars in the gap and the wear lip working for me. One complete piece of lining, intact, will let me carry it to Autoparts store and ensure I have the right ones when I leave.