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1956 Chevy 6400, 2 speed axle. Every thing I read says to remove tires, remove screws (if used), remove drums. But yet there is no movement. Have tried penetrant, heat, ratchet strap as a puller, yet no movement at all. Is there a trick or something that I am missing to the removal of these drums? Any ideas would be appreciated.

If the drums are on the inside of the hub you will have to remove the axle shaft & wheel brearings to remove the hub & drum together.

check for left handed threads. One side might be left handed and the other side might be left handed

the other side might be right handed.

On my 55 6100 with a two speed I removed the 3 screws and the other thing holding the drum on was rust. You sometimes have to really beat on them to initally break them loose. It's pretty brutal but they will usually pop free. Also you might back off your brake shoes in case they catch on the lip of the drum.

I vote for pulling hub and drum as one peice. Most likely the shoes are rusted out against the drum, or a ridge catching. You can try to adjust in, but most times the adjusters are all stuck and rusty if been setting awhile. I have gone as far as cutting off any little mounting heads on back of backplate for holding shoes, then removing screws for the cylinders so they can drop away, pushed away or come off with drum. I have little luck removing the 3 screws, they are usually stuck. I have had to chisel some out carefully to loosen. Then the hub needs to be cleaned good and where they meet is thin space that rust can gather. I have scraped rust out there with a sharp instrument or knife, plenty of penetrant and around the studs too. As noted, the whole hub/drum coming off is still easier. Pull the axles, remove both lock nuts and outer bearings, then hub may move around more to work itself off. Big hammer is a must too, be careful you don't beat drum to death. A heavier 2 to 4lb hammer is better than small one.

hey 56-5400 did you ever get the drum off your truck.
I am having the same problem but i have aready pulled my axle and removed the nuts but havent been able to get the bearings out yet.My drum moves but the darn thing seems to be catching on my brakes shoes.
Anyway let us know if you get it because i need help too. I'll let you know if i get my drum off.

Thanks to all. I finally got them off. Here's how it went. After weeks of penentrant I took a 2" rachet strap with nice metal hooks on the end that grabed the drums well and went around a small length of 4x4 perched on the end of the axle. The rachet strap was said to be able to supply 10000 lbs of force. Once tight I set up a jack behind the wheel to perch a spud bar against the back of the drum, 90 degrees out of position from the straps. Then using an oxy/acetlene outfit with a rosebud tip heated the face of the drum opposite the spud bar location. Once heated I went to the opposite side of the truck and hit the spud bar with a 12 lb sledge hammer. About 3 hits and the drum popped off. Reset to the other side and repeated. Hope this helps. The saga does continue. So I'm sure there will be more posts.