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Does anyone have a sure-fire way of getting the rear drums off of these dual-wheeled beasts? I pulled the wheels off the passenger side last night...Everything came off nicely except for one lug nut. I broke a 3/4 breaker bar doing that. I had soaked the lug nuts in Deep Creep and PB Blaster too. The drum isn't budging at all! I had to drill out two of the flat head screws that hold the drum to the axle as well. I am thinking heat...Can anyone give me some advice before I break something? Thanks, Jim.

I feel for you Chet. BFI (brute force and ignorance) and BFH (big freekin hammer) and good prybars. Wire brush on a drill around the axle to remove whatever rust and dirt that may be holding you up. I have had a few that just wouldn't give and had to be destroyed.

Hy ChetMan, will the drum turn easily? Have you backed off the brakes?

Yes, the drum turns very freely. I've cleaned around all the bolt holes very good to try and get penetrant into the backside of the drum but no luck yet. I was thinking to just warm the drum...no cherry red...just very hot to make an expansion cycle that might loosen the rust up a bit.

Well guys, still no success. I made a puller utilizing two 3/4" all-thread draw bolts and an oak 4x4...nothing. I heated the drum uniformly around the bolt circle (not cherry) and quenched with cold water...nothing. The only positive note is that I am able to see penetrant coming from behind the axle studs and the drum, so I know the penetrant is slowly working.
I plan to use the four, 3/8" holes that are in the drum to make another puller. I will try to pull it in those four places using maximum pressure from the stud nearsest each hole. If that doesn't work, I'll drill 4 additional holes and make 4 more pullers. Surely it won't be able to resist that kind of force!
I'm still hoping someone will let me know if there is a better way. If this works, I'll supply a drawing to anyone who ever needs it.
Jim

Hammer? You don't want to beat the bejeesus out of it, but some impact will loosen things, especially if your penetrant is doing its job

Also just googled this up;
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/brakes/bt105.htm

Thanks.
I've been using a big mall and pounding the backside of the drum already. I'm not hitting it hard enough to break it ( I hope) but just using it for the mass of it as a dead blow. I think I've tried most of that stuff the fellow with the MG had mentioned too.
I am anxious to get home and work on it...couldn't sleep last night because of it!!! Sure hope something frees up.

WOW, I know what your up against,which I would guess is due to the drum rusting to the hub flange.
Mine came apart nicely,maybe due to the gasket like material the factory put between the drum and the hub flange.
Have you thought of removing the hub and drum as an assy.and then drive the hub out of the drum. Thats if a 1 1/2 is the same as a 2 ton which I'm not sure about. Other than that I would just keep soaking it and maybe in a month or two it will loosen up.
Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that cause I soaked a part on a tractor for that long and it didn't loosen up.
Dan

I'm not sure but I think the 1.5 ton axles are basically like the 2 tons . If so , I did not read in your post that you removed the inner drive axle from the axle hub. The drums don't come off if the axle is still inside of it's housing . If you have not removed the axle yet , be careful when you remove the axle nuts if you do not have a axle socket . Those nuts run about $40 each ( x2 per wheel ) if you bugger them up trying to get them off . A axle socket is about $60 and well worth the investment ,I know from experience . Hope this helps . ED H

What ? When I tore my 2ton down I pulled the drums first,then unbolted the axle from the hub,removed it,then the big nuts which hold the hub on.
If the hub and drum were like a car and didn't weigh so much I would have taken the hub and drum off together and handled it if I was 25,but my back ain't 25 years old anymore and I don't have a pet gorilla either.
So what keeps the drum on if the axle is still in place ?
Dan

I got the drum off last night! I guess three days of soaking in "Deep Creep" along with my homemade puller being on it all night and day must've been more than the rust could stand. I just said, "Praise the Lord" when it came off. Now, onto the other side. Does anyone have a good source for wheel cylinder kits and shoes?
Thanks, Jim

Wow, I had great success on the opposite side of my truck. The driver's side rear drum came off with a minimun of trouble. I have discovered something really important too that should be of great interest to all Stovebolters. The type of rust-loosening penetrant that you use makes a big difference!
Around here, my FLAPS pushes a product called "Deep-Creep" for loosening rusted bolts, etc. That product runs for a around 9 bucks per spray can in these parts, but it doesn't work as good as the product called "PB Blaster" which I got at the Dollar General Store across the street for slightly over 3 bucks a can!!
On the passenger side of my truck, it took me a whole can of the Deep Creep product and three days of beating and pulling but I didn't get the wheel off until I applied the PB Blaster! Yup, I sprayed on the PB Blaster and left the drum with the puller in tension overnight. When I came home the next evening, the drum had an oily look to it which it never had with the Deep Creep, and within minutes the drum was off.
On the driver's side of the truck, I sprayed on only PB Blaster and put the drum puller in tension. About three hours later, I returned and the drum was off in minutes.
I am convinced that there is a difference in products. The best thing is that the PB Blaster is made in the USA...just like our big bolts!
It was very important too, I think to utilize the four 3/8" holes in the drum's face to spray the penetrant into. This allowed the penetrant to soak into the backside of the drum and studs. The real sticking was between the studs and the drum...NOT the drum face to the axle face.
If you will notice, the drums have three flat head slotted screws that hold the drums onto the axle during assembly. If you look closely, you will notice that they are unequally spaced. That means that the drum must go on the same way every time it is installed. Wonder why? Because in those days, there was no CNC machining at GM or anywhere else on the planet. When the drum went on, the tolerance between the TEN studs didn't have any room for variation, otherwise the wheel wouldn't fit. Once GM established a tooling setup that would fit the drums, they nailed it and left it alone. The easiest way to insure that they had no problems in production was to make sure the wheels would only go on one way! The way they did that was with the three unequally spaced screws.
Now, I'm no GM engineer, but I work in automotive tooling quite a bit and I am confident that what I surmising is the way it was.
I hope somebady reads this post and it helps them with removing their drums without having to destroy them. Jim

chetman

just my 2 cents, use plenty of never/anti-seeze between the drum and the rim when you re-assemble, I am a believer in making things easier the next time around the same block. ( when possible). I am almost done pulling my wheels and installing new tubes. my last wheel ( pass frnt ) is rusted to the drum...
I pulled the bearing and removed the drum and wheel as an assembly. ( I was lucky my drum came right off )

regards
loadmaster47
http://s983.photobucket.com/albums/ae313/loadmaster47/