The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Brake drum removal 42

any tips on removing brake drums? mine seem to be fused on. I've soaked everything with PB blaster, hammered, and tried a gear puller. I've got some movement (3/16 inch) but they return to position when I release the puller tension......
some help please

Are these on the front or back? If the drum is actually moving that far and springs back, it is catching on the shoes. It probably has some ridges. Have you been able to back off the adjustments for the shoes?

These are the rear drums. I've backed off the shoes and the drum turns freely. That's why I have the question.....seems to me they should come off with .250 movement....

If it is a 3/4 ton or 1 ton, the drums are not reproduced. I would try tapping on the drum while pulling and turning . Some people have unbolted the wheel cylinder and that seems to allow the hole assembly to move enough to make a differenece. If the drums have a ridge at the back they can catch the shoes.

Thanks for the tip on unbolting the wheel cylinder....makes sense. it's a 1/2 ton and the drums appear to be the originals.

I asked about the type of truck because as you might want to check, I think you can buy new drums. That would be a dream come true for us 1 Ton owners! If you can buy new ones then you have the option of cutting the old one off.

You might need to back the adjusters waaaaaayy off. It depends on the amount of wear (groove) in the drums. I know on my '49, to get the rear drums off, I have to turn the adjusters back so far I wish I'd bought one of those proper bent tool things to do it! Each click doesn't move the shoes back very far.

I've backed the wheel cylinders way off. (with proper bend tool) the drum moves freely until i start to remove it....then it hangs on the shoes. I think the shoes are frozen in that they did not retract with the adjuster......
I've got so much PB blaster in there i'm afraid a flame wrench is not an option (fire)
i'll give it some more blaster and work it with a dead blow hammer.

I watched someone work on my COE that were hung up on the drum the same way. He used long spikes or punches and "walked" the drum off the shoes by prying, starting between the backing plate and the drum. It damages the shoe material but you will probably want new shoes or linings anyway. It took awhile as you gain a fraction of an inch each time. He worked his way around and around and eventually you could start to see the shoes and then the drum came off.

I've taken the same approach and have had some luck.
Thanks for the tips

Success!!!
in the end I pryed the drums off the backing plate enough to insert one of my gear pullers and easily pulled the drums.
I thought I'd share a tip :
on the drums there are 2 smaller holes parallel to each other about the center of the drum. Tap these holes with a standard tap. future removal can be achieved by placing bolts in both holes and using a air wrench to turn the bolts in. this method will push the drum off.

cheers

There is a small spring that holds the center of the shoe to the backing plate. The spring is held in place with a pin through the backing plate. You can gring the head of the pin off. Also be sure the parking brake is backed way off.