The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Stuck brake drum - Advice (or moral support) needed

Have I lost my touch? Am I losing my freakin' mind? I've been trying to remove my front brake drums for the last few hours. I've used PB blaster, a propane torch, a larger hammer, and these suckers haven't moved so much as a fraction of an inch.

I backed the brakes all the way off. The hub spins fine with no drag from the shoes.

And no there aren't any machine screws in my drum that are holding it to the hub. What the heck could be holding these drums on? They don't look particulary corroded around the hub or the studs. Is there something I'm not thinking of? Are there some magic words that I don't know?

Granted it's been a long time since I've done brakes on a TF (right now I'm not sure that "TF" stands for Task Force. I think it may stand for something else) but there should be nothing else holding these drums on, right?

AAAAARRRRRRGH!

Someone please tell me that I'm not the only one who has had this problem. Or maybe tell me that I've forgotten some simple thing?

you've taken the the wheel bearing cover off and removed the cotter pin and the castle nut off the spindle right? i did my back brakes first and it took me a while to figure that out. the front and back dont come off the same way

Since you said that there's no screws holding it on, I'll take it that there's no rivets either. I'd suggest taking the bearings apart and removing the entire drum and hub as an assembly. Then you can deal with the drum removal off the truck. There's a chance that there's rust buildup behind the drum. You may have to hammer between the studs to get it loose. An Air hammer works well for this. But be warned, if too much force is used, the drum can be damaged. I'd olny suggest the air hammer if you pln on installing new drums. If you are going to have them machined, they can be turned with the hub in place.

Yes Bill! There are 3 rivets!! Talk to me!! Would these rivets be holding the drum to the hub? I don't recall ever dealing with rivets on a brake drum before. Why in the world would a brake drum be rivetd to the hub and how are you supposed to do a brake job? It's unlikely that this is the first brake job this truck has had, although truthfully I don't remember it ever having one before. Talk to me, Bill!

Uh oh...geez Murdoc. Are you telling me that the hub and the drum are one unit? I don't remember that but I may be getting old. Can someone confirm that?

thats how it is on my 65....i just did my brakes last weekend. im going to bleed them today in about an hour

ding ding ding, we have a winner....Joe

Thanks guys!! I feel like an idiot!!

Yup, those 3 rivets hold the drum on. It can be machined as a unit if you need them done, or just cut them off, drive 'em out, and the drum will come right off. It's not necessary to replace them, they only really hold the drum on during manufacturing.

Most people pull it off as an assembly and repack the bearings while they have it off.

I just pulled the whole assembly off. (sheepish grin)

The TF that I did the brakes on in the past must have already had those rivets removed, I certailny don't remember cutting them off anyway but I do remember removing the drum from the hub.

I'll definitely repack the bearing and replace the seals. Everything looked good in there and my drums look great.

I always know that when I'm working on my bolt I can come here for answers and if not for answers then at least for therapy! Once again, thanks for your help guys.

Before I got my '62 Suburban, I'd never seen front drums on a car that came off WITHOUT taking the entire hub assembly off. Every other vehicle I've worked on had the drums riveted to the hub. This includes '54 Buick, '56 and '57 Chevy, '68-up Nova, etc. etc. etc.

I was very, very surprised to see the front drum come off my Suburban without removing the dust cap/cotter pin/castle nut and big washer with the tang in the center.

-Brad

heres the trick get a big peace of fire wood or a 4x4 throw it at the ouside corner of the drum as hard as you can i had been working on one for a week with hammers heat and prey bars my friend comes over and has it off in less then a minute with the 4x4 on the outside corner

Number 7's front drums are held on by two screws (each).

I've had them off both ways (with the hub and without) and it's easier to work if the hubs are out of the way.