Brake Drums

Good gosh almighty!! How do you get the drums off of these old devils? I have beat them, kicked them, and cussed them and they will not come loose. I currently have them soaked in PB Blaster and I am hoping for the best. If any of you have a trick please let me know.

 

Front?
Rear?
What year/model/axles etc.?
More info please!!!!!!

 

1967 CJ 5 stock rear axel Dana 44. I have pulled drums before but man, I have never seen them stuck like this.

 

There probably not truly stuck, but common practice back then on jeeps was to swedge the steel around the studs. You will need to grind the swedged material out around the studs and then pull them off.

 

Do you mean pull the drums off the hubs, or pull the whole works off? A 67 is still a tapered rear axle, so usually you need the big puller to yank the drum and hub off together. Pulling the drums off the hubs is a tougher job, you'd probably need an arbor press and a flak jacket...
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Do a "search" on brake drums. Tons of advice..
Just don't give up..

 

you need puller dude. that pulls on the studs not the outside of the drum dont take the nut off all the way or the whole shebang will shebang your shins

 

I am just trying to get the drum off to get to a leaky slave cylinder and have a look at the pads. I have done this on many older vehicles in the past, and usually a couple of pops with a hammer on the outside edge will get it off, but not this time. I think Mcruff has the solution. I will try that after work and thanks everyone.

 

I don't know whether the 67 is built this way, but my 53 has flat head screws holding the drums to the hubs. They are easy to overlook and forget about.

 

If you don't want to make your own puller, one of these should work:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/professional-3-arm-hub-puller/p2007847.jcwx?filterid=j1

http://www.jcwhitney.com/3-arm-hub-puller/p2007845.jcwx?filterid=j1

 

Agreed. Check that the 3 screws are out.


I had to use a BFH and an impact driver to avoid stripping the flat heads.


Not sure the condition of what you're working with or when the last time they were removed. The grimey shoes a likely what are holding them on. Try and get the grime out of there. Blow air, good soakings.

I had to cut one of the brake shoe spring retainer pins (from the back) on one side,
to allow the shoes to move a little so the drum would come off.

Good Luck.

 

I think the screws are on earlier models, mine does not have them. I just have a nice flat unyielding surface that taunts me every time I look at it.

 

Look at it MEANER.

 

If you havn't already done this, open the bleeder valve and then beat on the drum. A few Hail Mary's is probably a good idea too.

 

I don't know if anyones mentioned it yet, but ensure the shoes are adjusted all the way in so their the least diameter. Sometimes they'll wear a groove into the drum and the lip caused by the wear is smaller than the shoes diameter.

Have to make sure they're adjusted down or they'll really be hard to get off.

 

Ok, promise not to laugh too hard. Seriously!! It seems that these early CJ’s are not what I am accustomed to.
Now, on “normal” drums you have a hub with the lug studs attached to it, and the drum slips over that. Right? Am I right? YES! Well not on this SOB!
Here is what I did. I tried what I “thought” Mcruff was telling me to do and took my little grinder and tried to grind what I thought was the “sweld” from around the lug stud. Know what I found? I found that the lug stud is actually pressed into the drum. Huuuh? That aint right! Oh, no but it is! It is right! That is the way it is built, and no amount of cussing, kicking, BFHammering, and mean looks will change this fact. So, if you want to pull the drum here is what you do.

1. Remove the dust cover. Just take a screw driver and pry around the edges until it pops out. At this point I didn’t care if it was threaded or not but every thing turned out ok and I can reuse it. That is a good thing when I get in the don’t give a sh-stuff mode.
2. Remove the cotter pin.
3. Remove the big giant nut.
4. Don’t worry about the square pin, it will come out with the drum.
5. Get a drum puller. Yeah, you will need it!! It is worse than a steering wheel, I am not kidding.
6. Pull that sucker off.

Ok, stop laughing it aint that funny!!!!!!! If you want to see funny, I am going to start on the front drums tomorrow. Now, THAT will probably be funny, because there is no way they are attached the same way as the rear ones. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

what did i tell ya those things are torqued to like 250ft/lbs on a tapered shaft no kidding. The front is just as dumb. youv got to take the locking hubs off and the two big axle nuts and the wheel beaings and everything come out. its all pressed together one piece with the hub.

 

If you grind the swedged material out it will come apart without a hub puller, they are not pressed together they use a tool to seat the material on the drum when its mounted. This use to be a standard procedure on cars from the 30's thru the early 60's, simialr to left hand lug nuts.