The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts brake drum problem

I have a small problem. I have a 65 C60 with a drivers side rear drum that refuses to come off. It spins freely. I have tried prying, tapping with a hammer....the adjusters will not back off.They don't appear to be rusted either....any tips or tricks to get this thing off?

There may be a ridge created by wear at the inside edge of the drum catching on the brake shoes. They can be a bear to get free. I have gotten them loose by removing the axle shaft and outer bearing which enables more movement to get the brake shoe past the ridge. Ugly and heavy work, eat you Wheaties before jumping into this.

You may try doing a bit more than "tapping" with your hammer. Try using the BFH!

Are you pulling the drum for inspection or do you have another problem with the brakes? I agree that pulling the axle and then remove nuts and outer bearing helps.

As of right now I'm just trying to do an inspection. I did have the axle half shaft out of the truck. However I was not able to get the outer bearing out. I could almost get it out but it would get stuck near the end of the hub. I suppose if I played with it a little more I could have gotten it out. Sounds like removing the outer bearing might help me quite a bit. So I'm going to try that. I soaked the adjusting screws with penetrating oil and ordered a brake spoon so I will try that again in a few days. For fear of warping a hard to find brake drum, I am a little reluctant to just beat on it with a sledgehammer. I was not gentle with it but I didn't beat it like a crazy person. I work in a railroad locomotive shop and am well versed in BFH, Heat it and beat it etc....lol

It is good to take it easy on the brake drum for the reasons you described. Even though it is a big chunk of metal, the edges are quite fragile.

I have one of these, and we use it occasionally.

http://www.tigertool.com/index.cfm?...;sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=10&

They are expensive, and I'm not recommending you buy one, but maybe it will give you some ideas as how to rig up a puller. Sometimes it takes a puller.

There is often three screws located between the studs holding the drum to the hub. Look closely they can be hard to see if the heads are full of rust and dirt.

Update - Was able to back off adjusters after they soaked with penetrating oil for a few days. Drum came right off.

good deal...now the fun starts

Right on. How far you from getting those wheels on? Do you have tires yet?
The money from the wheels helped to put a torklift super hitch magnum 20K receiver on the new Duramax.

I didn't realize you had air brakes. I usually just torch the slack adjusters. Manual slacks can be bought for next to nothing these days. In fact I just recently threw a bunch of 30 year old NOS ones in the scrap iron dumpster.