i need help. how do i get a stuck brake drum off

I bought a 45 ford. The drivers brake drum in the rear is locked up. I winched it onto a trailer and the wheel wouldn't break loose at all. I already tried the hammer the crap out of it method and prying off the backing plate. There has to be a better way to get a stuck brake drum off. Plese help.

 

Did you loosen the shoe tension on the inside? Then... BFH.

 

I tried to it is stuck too!

 

Yep

You've tried the usual steps to remove the drum with no success. Now it's time to get serious. Heat the surface around the hub and lug holes with a torch, one of those propane jobs for sweating pipes works well. You need to get it hot, not red hot, but close. Once it's hot, smack it with a hammer,

 

I ran into this with a 46. It got serious. Heat didnt work. Had an old drum puller that didnt work. Had to cut the drum and hub off.


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Avoid using the hmmer, unless you don't care about saving the drum. You can break it or chip a nice big piece off the edge. It's always best if you can adjust the tension off, but if you can't, first grind the heads off the pins that secure the shoes to the backing plate. (back side) Then use 2 or 3 wedges of some sort...big screwdrivers, small crowbars, etc. With the pins out, the shoes will pull away from the backing plate and probably come off with the drum.

 

I'll try the heat first. I got propane one. And a BFHammer. Any other tricks are welcomed.

 

You need one of these.

 

The shoes won't actually come off, but will pivot away from the backing plate and allow the drum to come off. Pull on the crowbar that's near the middle of one shoe.

 

What exactly is this? CTJ

 

how exactly did you hit it with a hammer? the best method i found was to hit it directly on top and on the sides. don't try to hit it from the back and push it out

 

It is a hub puller. I got it on eBay & it
works like a champ.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1928-1948-F..._Automotive_Tools&hash=item257b90872d&vxp=mtr

 

I had the same problem on my 42 Ford. I used a small 3 jaw gear puller. It worked just fine. Tighten it up good, hit the end of the puller with a hammer and it popped right off.

 

Heating,prying,hitting with a bfh,pullers, grinding the heads off the anchor pins almost always work. I had a slightly OT car that the rear brakes were so froze/rusted up none of those things worked and I had to cut the drums off with an angle grinder.

 

One time I was trying to pull a drum off a 54 Cadillac.
I thought it was stuck, tried everything to get it off....

Turns out the parking brake was engaged... so.. check that first haha

 

You are aware that the Hub and Drum are on piece so in order for the drum to come off you need the Axle Nut off and to brake the taper lock of the Axle to Hub at the same time. Just thought I'd put that out there just in case.
The Wizzard

 

Yep you need to pull the hub and the drum will come with it. Do NOT pull on the OD of the drum as all that will do is ruin the drum and it still won't be off. Do a search as there are many threads on here dealing with the correct way to remove the hub/drum assy.

 

Find someone in your area in the early V8 club with a puller,and put the nut on backwards so not to ruin the axel threads.Might use heat also.

 

Use that puller...it'll come right off. It catches the groove on the hub snout,.. DON'T use the kind that pulls on the lug studs,...the drom will bend, and the hub remains stuck.

KRW still sells a repop of the Ford dealer shop item....well worth buyin one.

4TTRUK

 

If you have a an air chisel with a hammer head that might generate more vibrations to break any internal rust bonds than a BFH. Best you can do with a BFH and a normal arm is probably a couple of minutes worth hammer blow vibrations.

 

Gee ya telling me I've been doing it wrong for the last 50 years pulling hubs/drums with a stud attached puller ??? Must have pulled a couple of hundred and ain't bent a drum yet. Ya do need the puller made to do it that way though.

 

What is taper lock? I did realize you have to take the nut off thank god.



UOTE=Pist-n-Broke;8858728]You are aware that the Hub and Drum are on piece so in order for the drum to come off you need the Axle Nut off and to brake the taper lock of the Axle to Hub at the same time. Just thought I'd put that out there just in case.
The Wizzard[/QUOTE]

 

You might be able to borrow or rent one of these at a local auto parts store;

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Tools-Garage-and-Equipment/Axle-Flange-Puller/_/N-264n

I doubt that you will find the other style locally.

It is rather like removing a tie rod end as the axle hub connection is a taper lock. Put tension on with the puller then hit the head of the puller shaft.

 

Correct info above as Engine Man says. The Axle to hub is a machined tapper like a Ball Joint or a Tie Rod only it's about 3" long with a Key Way. You can't just take the Nut off and take the B.F.H. to it. You need a correct puller as you have read. In fact you may not have a Brake Shoe issue at all. You could have a problem in the Differental preventing the Axle/Drum from turning at all.
The Wizzard

 

My puller is a small 2 ton effort Matco puller. Like one of the above posts said, it just reaches the back of the snout on the hub, I think maybe 3 inch reach. And I didnt have to put a lot of effort on it. Just tightened it up tight and hit it with a decent size ball pien hammer, and the drum/hub assembly popped free. And yes I beat the crap out of it first before I did the research to find out its a taper fitted assembly.

 

John Evans,...you definitely lucked out, bu using a stud attatched puller.... We did that also, bent a cpl of drums, as well as succeeding in removing others. That was in the late 50's,...when replacement drums were available everywhere.

4TTRUK

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=575135

 

Agreed! I spent hours and hours fighting a drum that had rusted to the brake linings and it wouldn't budge. JeffreyJames turned me onto this little gem so I bit the bullet and ordered one.

Let's just say, my hammer is officially and definitely retired from all future "drum-bashing."

 

I've had the center of the drum rust right to the axle before. Cleaned all the rust off the axle and I was able to get the drum off.

 

A "trick" I learned a long time ago, there is no sense using a steel hammer to persuade something to come off, on the other hand I got a 8 lb Brass hammer that fits the bill