Removing frozen/rusty drums

[dremu]

Have me a dually 14BFF. One side the drum came right off, but the other, not so much. Yes, I took the spindle nuts off It's loose, but it feels like the shoes have frozen to the drum or there's something lodged in there at the top. God help me if it's the inner bearing jammed up on the spindle.

I've been prying against the backing plate and whanging on the drum with a sledge (thankfully I don't need to reuse them.) The drum will move in like 1/2" around the diameter if I bang on it, but won't slide all the way off.

I don't want to bung up the spindle, so I'm leery of doing anything in the middle. The backing plate I figure is fixable if I bend/dent it, or worst case I can replace it.

Any other tricks? Bigger sledge? Cut the drum (ugh)?

-- A

 

[nvrenuf]

Adjust the shoes in some?

 

[dremu]

Adjust the shoes in some?

Oh bloody hell. Through the stupid little slot at the bottom, you think? Worth a try, thanks.

-- A

 

[nvrenuf]

$1 :d

 

[rebelgregory]

Made the same mistake on mine. BFH'd it for about 30 minutes before I got tired and had to take a break, at which point I had the same Aha! moment.

Adjusted em in and the drum almost fell off .

 

[Deuling]

Ive always found on drums that dont come off, that its because the shoes wear into the metal and create an area on the outer edge that now catches on the shoes. If you can adjust it thats great. All the adjustors up here get so solid full of rust that they wont work anymore.

I bfh them off, then take a file to that edge before I put them back on.

 

[4X4HIGH]

The shoes have wore into the drum and like others have said you'll need to back off the adjustment in order to remove the drums.

 

[dremu]

I didn't think the other side was so scored, but then maybe they weren't replaced as a pair or one side wasn't adjusted right or whatever. Anyway, I have a nice almost-new set of drums ready to go on, so when I'm back out there I'll have a whack at the star adjuster.

Thanks all!

-- A

 

[diesel4me]

More than once I've had to cut the "nails" holding the shoes to the backing plate off from behind,in order to remove the drums on vehicles at the junkyard ,so the drum could be removed without damaging it...often the shoes had rusted tight to the drum surfaces...so it was impossible to back the adjustment. off..

 

[dremu]

The drum was indeed stuck on the shoe, but not because the drum was worn. (Well, not ONLY because of that, let's say )

The wheel cylinder seals on that side were rotted out, so brake fluid got everywhere. The dead giveaway was that the shoes were thicker than new because they'd soaked up so much brake fluid. Shame they'd have no stopping power, cuz they look they have lots of wear left

And because brake fluid is hygroscopic as all getout (meaning it picks up water for those of you not into Greek) there was surface rust on everything, binding all the moving parts into, you know, not moving.

Carnac The Magnificent foresees a serious bout of "Might As Well"-itis going on while I wirebrush and paint all the pieces I'm keeping.

-- A

 

[rebelgregory]

Carnac The Magnificent foresees a serious bout of "Might As Well"-itis going on while I wirebrush and paint all the pieces I'm keeping.

Ha. Not a bad thing. 'Might-as-well-itis' took my CUCV axle a long way.

 

[dremu]

Ha. Not a bad thing. 'Might-as-well-itis' took my CUCV axle a long way.

Yeah, mine's gettin' to be purty like that, albeit purty with drums. Big drums. Dually drums.

I forgot how heavy drums were. Ow, my back.

I forgot how heavy drums were. Ow, my fingers.

Also, now I remember why I like disc conversions. Sure, a parking brake is a pain and fitment is a challenge on the dually. But drums have little pieces, sooo many little pieces.

And they're heavy. Ow.

-- A

 

[wasted wages]

I found this to work good on frozen drums....at least full floaters...

1) pull axle flange bolts and pull axle from housing....
2) pull the bearing lock nuts and locking rings....
3) pull outer bearing....
4) take the axle shaft and flip it over,,, using the axle flange bolts,, place the flange cap of the axle against the spindle and install the axle flange bolts again.
5) you should now have a drum with a long axle sticking out of it....
6) as you carefully tighten the bolts down the flange will now act as a puller as it tightens against the spindle. you can now use the shaft as a lever also...
7) loosen the flange bolts and stick something solid (like a socket) between the spindle and the axle cap and tighten the bolts again...it will pull the drum of further each time....you may have to use longer bolts,, but it will get the drum off this way...the ones i did on my ford project were so rusted to the drums, it pulled the rivets through the brake shoes and ripped the linings off the metal shoe..

 

[dremu]

Putting a socket in there worries me that it could bung up the end; those threads look surprisingly delicate.

But using the shaft as a lever or a handle, that's a good idea. Did not think of that. Might be worth cutting up one of my spare shafts to use as a handle

-- A

 

[wasted wages]

Putting a socket in there worries me that it could bung up the end; those threads look surprisingly delicate.

pull the outer bearing.......thread the nut back on the spindle if your worried about the threads.....The nut will pass thru the hub hole where the bearing rides...