The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts rear brake stuck

My 46 2 ton has beeh sitting in a heated garage for about 18 months without starting it. I decided it was about time to get it running again. A set of jumper cables and about 10 minutes and it was running, and quite well I might add.
When I put it in gear it wouldn't move, the right rear brake is stuck and woudn't brake loose.
What do I do, I've forgoten how to remove the brake drum and not so sure it could be removed even if I remembered.
Could someone help, I'm tacking suggestions.

In low gear, and low in the rear if it is a two speed, That has a pretty good chance of getting it to move. If it is still stuck and the other wheel only spins you may need to chain the back of the truck to a tree, jack up the offending wheel, and put some weight over the other wheel, and try again.

Also try it a bit in reverse, sometimes that will break loose easier than forward.

Someone else may have a simple clever idea, but that's what I would try first.
Grigg

F B H as the Aussies call it applied to the rear brake drums to brake the rust loose from the brake shoes to the drums. Or as we in the USA BFH. This method may sound a little crude but it generaly works very well.

Solved the problem by tapping the brake drum with a single jack and working the drum back and forth with a crow bar. The drum is still a little tight how do I adjust the shoes down a little.

I believe theres a little opening to put a screw driver in and you can turn the little star wheel. Give it a couple of clicks and you should be able to feel it looseing up. On the back plate, they might have a little plug in there to keep the dirt out you will have to take them out if there still there, then just put em back in. I would jack it up to do it, makes it easier to feel the wheel free up, good luck.

If the brakes were adjusted OK before they sat and locked up I would drive it about a half a mile before you decide to slack the adjustments. That should scrub the rust off the drum if that was the problem.
If the wheel turns free after a test drive then you should be fine.

Grigg

Doesn't that truck have Huck brakes, with the two hex heads on the back and top of the backing plate? There are some springs under the heads. Do not force if they don't turn easy. They are easy to brake the small disc inside that turns the adjusters on the wheel cylinder.

Yes that is exactly what they look like. A couple of hex nuts with springs under them.

Okay just be careful freeing them up. You don't want to spin the peened shaft off of the adjuster disc.

Well I did it, I broke off one of the adjustment bolts. Now what? How do I remove the brake drum

I still think you can get it off. Put it in as low a gear as you can and it will most likely break the adhesion to the drum. I don't hink you can hurt it. Then you will be able to pull the drum. Don't toss out that broken bolt, you may be able to fix the adjuster. I will take a picture of a backing plate so you can see what is goin on.

I would pull the drum off to see what it looks like in there and clean up the linkages, check for hydraulic leaks, and fix that darn adjuster. I can almost gaurantee that you are going to have to clean up the linkage so it doesn't stick. That might be part of the problem. I had the exact same problem you had so there is hope yet.

I had the same problem a few month's back. Found that the wheel cyl. was not releasing all the way, and I also broke one of the adjusters. I pulled the drum, changed thhe wheel cyl,and relined the shoes. I was able to repair the adj,buy re-peening it. Make sure eveything is clean behind the adj wheels,and they turn freely before reassembly.It is a tricky job to get the adj wheel tight against the backing plate, but can be done. Almost seems easier if the backing plate was removed,but I did it on the truck. Hope this helps.

How do you remove the brake drum.

You have to pull the axle by removing the axle nuts.Next you will see large nuts on the axle housing. There is a lock ring tab that holds the outer nut from turning,you have to bend the tabs back so you can loosen the nut. I have a socket for the nuts, but you can use a punch "carefully" to loosen them. Turn the outer nut off, pull the lock ring out, loosen the inner nut, turn it off , pull on the drum a little to get it off. A little trickey at times if you get the bearings cocked. Then remove the drum and hub assembly. Mine was stuck so bad I had to use a couple of pry bars between the drum and backing plate to get it to move. This must be done carefully , so you don't bend the backing plate. I think I covered everything Hope this helps, If not let me know. I know the inner bearing stays in the hub, can't remember about the outer.

RossBoss,
here is a picture of the adjusters, sorry it took so long. You probably have the drum off already.

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/messages/viewthumb/5655712335-1183503176-21954/preview/page/1/15/