The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Front drum removal

I'm trying to inspect all the brakes on our '53 9314 but I cannot get the right front hub off. I have been assuming that's it just rusted on as the left one came off normal, and the right rear had a little rust holding it on but was no match for the torch. After doing some research on here, I'm starting to wonder if there's a chance the right front drum is still attached to the hub. Can you see the rivets front the outside of the drum, or only once the drum and hub are off? I know there are a couple holes in the drum, but there is at least one bump that I remember seeing.

Thanks in advance,

Are you trying to remove the drum from the hub to inspect the brakes? If that is the case I would suggest removing the whole hub. If you can't remove the hub, that is a different problem. If it turns but won't come off, the shoes may be caught on a ridge.

That's what I'll end up doing tonight, but I just wasn't expecting the drum to possibly be attached to the hub, especially since the left side wasn't. Drum is not hung up on the shoes, in fact 3 of the brakes need quite a bit of adjustment.

The drums were originally riveted to the hubs. You can pull the hub/drum assembly as a unit, then grind or drill out the rivets to separate the 2. Apparently someone already did that on your left side.

Yup 3 rivets still on the right drum. Took 2 minutes to drill them and chisel the heads off in situ. Thanks,

There's a very good reason front drums were riveted to the hubs at the factory, and need to stay that way. Steering axle hubs and drums are much more balance-sensitive than rears, and keeping the drum in the same position relative to the hub can have a definite effect on shimmy and other steering-related problems. Ideally, a replacement drum should be secured to the hub, and the hub/drum assembly should be balanced. Then the only variable would be the balance of the tire/wheel assembly which is easy to correct whenever a tire is changed.
Jerry

How do they balance the hub/drum assembly?

On a wheel balancer- - - - -just like any other rotating part. Find the heavy spot and file/grind/drill metal away a little at a time. A pretty good static balance can be done with a piece of all-thread rod suspended on a set of V blocks and some ball bearings lubed with lightweight machine oil. I balance motorcycle tire/wheel assemblies that way. On two occasions I can remember, I've had to discard a brand new drum that was too far out of balance to be corrected.
Jerry

......agree with Jerry. One of my friends runs a tire and alignment shop and he does a light turn on ALL new rotors and drums before installing on vehicles. Some are pretty darn good but some are really bad. Its amazing at what I saw on some.

I recently rebuilt my front end but have not driven the truck yet. The balance is something I didn't even consider. I put in all new brakes including rotors and wheel bearings on the old wheel hubs. If the truck drives ok I probably won't do anything with it. If not I may try and balance things. I did not rivet the drum to the hub because I did not like the idea. It makes sense to do that if it was balanced together as a unit. What if I balance the rotor and hub separately? If they are balanced separately then orientation make no difference and there would be no reason to rivet things together. I don't want to rivet things together because I don't like the thought of opening up the bearings to contamination and brake dust every time I remove the drum to look at the brakes.

Untold millions of front hubs got serviced for decades by pulling the whole hub assembly with the drums attached. Why mess with success? Getting anal-retentive about nitpicking details like brake dust doesn't make much sense. EVERY time I pull a hub I install new grease seals and clean/inspect/service the wheel bearings- - - - -it's just the right way to do things, at least in the almost 60 years I've made a living working on these old junkheaps!
Jerry

There is no reason to remove the rivets and separate the original drums from the hubs unless either one of them is going to be replaced.
The drums can be turned with the hubs attached. They just need to be washed out to remove the grinding dust from the bearing surfaces.
Jonald, Do you have rotors or drums or both? You don't have to remove anything except the wheel to look at the condition of disc brakes.
It sounds like a terminology problem; brake drums are not rotors, brake shoes are not pads.
Fred