Stuck brake drums are making my head explode!

I can't get the rear drums off my 59 Biscayne. The adjusters are unadjustable, and no combination of heat, hammer and penetrating oil seems to be changing that. One of the drums will turn freely, the other is stuck but will turn when hot. I've spent a week's worth of nights trying to get these drums off, and all I have to show for it is an empty can of pb blaster, an empty can of MAPP gas and an empty case of beer. There is no pressure in the lines, no tension on the e brake, but the car sat for quite a while, and these adjusters are rusted tight. What else can I do to get these drums off, short of cutting them off?

 

I've got the same thing on my 61 ford wagon, About ready to take a torch to it and cut it off.

 

The drums are probably worn bad and have a groove where the shoes run. It leaves a high rim on the back edge and they won't slide over it. I had to beat some off with a sledge hammer. one broke a chunk out of the drum edge and the other tore up the brakes. If this is what it is the drums are no good anyway so give it a try with the hammer.

 

I had a similar problem a while back on a Caddy. I used a boat propeller puller to remove the drum. Its basically a wheel puller with chains and hooks instead of hooked fingers. Bunged up the backing plate a bit jamming the hooks in but once that rascal was tightened up to the point I thought something was gonna strip I hit the end with a BFH and the hub jumped off and hit my in the ankles. Apparently one of the shoes had come loose inside and jammed up the works.

 

damn, how much is your time worth? $50 each for new drums is not that expensive...

 

agreed, but I don't have a cutting torch, and taking the angle grinder to them seems like a bad idea in my cramped overly flammable garage.

 

Wow, I don't have the patience to work at an ugly job like that for more than half an hour, let alone a week!! I'd have had them torched off and the schrapnel swept up by now. And if your overly flammable shop is a concern, I'd deal with that first and then go out an buy an oxy-acet welding rig. You'll always need heat for sumptin'.

 

You can break the cast iron part of the drum with a hammer, it is a bit dangerous so be careful (wear very good eye protection and gloves, etc)

try breaking it on top between the shoes.

 

Sawzall. Cut top and bottom. GENTLY DAMMIT! Just enough to get most of the way through and hit drum with BFH. And as said use gloves and eye protection. Saves backing plate, less flames (usually) and preserves most of the parts you don't want to buy.

 

drag the rear outside and have at the drums with a torch

 

I have cut the little heads off the retaining springs ... then the shoes and the drums come off as a unit.

 

I love my sawzall.

 

DR,has it right.
Chisel off the heads of the retaining pins.
Unbolt the wheel cylinder,'59 has a large bolt on top of the backing plate?
Unbolt that too,sounds like the shoes are stuck in a groove on the drum.

That's what we did at the wrecking yard.

 

so you mean to tell me, if i had just unbolted the wheel cylinder, the brakes would have slid off my galaxie as one big assembly?

the retaining pins are already out, the part inside the drum was rusted completely off......i have one drum left to get off, i will definately be trying to get the wheel cylinder off...

 

I ussually grind the head off the liffle reatining pin and unbolt the wheel cylinder... They just "slide" right off, with a little bit of wiggling and hammering. But you'll get it off.

 

Ahhhhhhh, nothin better for your back than being curled up in the fetal position for 5 hours trying to muscle drums off of old iron. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiibuprofen!!!

 

If it is a model where used drums can be had fairly cheep, Yes, take that BFH and the drums will come off in chunks..Right now I can't take my own advice, my 66 Chevy two-ton towtruck is unloaded about a mile from where it needs to be because of a stuck drum in the front, can't beat it off because the big drum is hard to find..so I'm just soaking it down in WD-40 hoping for the best...

 

that whole busting it off thing just seems to be BS to me....i have beat on mine with the claw (and head) of a 24oz framing hammer and they wont even chip, much less bust.....

 

Thats because a 2 pound framing hammer is the wrng hammer..use a sledge!
but reall what those other guys are saying is the right way to go..take off all the retaining hardware from the backing plate, it will come off than. because nothing will be keeping it on.
and you will not have to break your drums to do it.

 

Yup, you should be rebuilding all this anyway.

And I hear what you say about your garage situation.... I always hear that the easy answer is a torch, or a cut off wheel on my air gun, or just pull the rear.... but that never helps when your are working caveman style!

Good luck.

 

i guess i will go out and buy a sledge if the cylinder bolt will not break loose, but theres not much room to swing a sledge while under the car.......i have got to get the brakes unlocked so that i can tow the car home and strip the drivetrain out of it before scrapping it....

 

Ok cool, I'll cut off the back of those tonight and remove everything together. This is why I love the HAMB.

Follow up Question:

One of the front drums was completely empty. When I took off the drum, nothing was there. No shoes, no springs, a hollowed out wheel cylinder, and when I traced back the line it was pulled out of the block and plugged off. Serious hack-job fix. I got a hardware kit, shoes, a new cylinder, and adjuster.

Problem is, I am missing some other parts, like the steel piece that goes over the wheel cylinder where the springs attach. Is there somewhere to buy the missing pieces or should I fabricate them myself?

 

hit the wrecking yard for the piece your missing on the front. on the back make sure the axle flange sticking through the drum isn't flared out from sombody beating on it or that drum will never come off. pretty good chance with the bullshit going on with the front brakes. i destroyed the rear brakes on my 60' impala doing my first brake job,what a mess but i had a parts car so i lucked out.

 

They do break if you hit them hard.

The '59 I tore apart had steel discs with cast iron bands around them. With the brake shoes loose, I just pried it out enough to get the crowbar in a slot in the front of that. The crowbar ripped that slot open. A cutoff wheel in a grinder opened it more and eventually I got it to where it came off. Never messed with the wheel cylinder bolts or anything else.

It can also help if you can get the drum to move out at all, to tap a screwdriver in between the shoe and drum, and break them apart that way. You usually only need to get one knocked loose to get the things off.

Interchange on these is pretty wide, 51-58 front and 51-64 rear are all the same drum I believe.

 

A claw hammer? Please go get a hammer, a real hammer meant for pounding and breaking stuff. Not one for framing walls. Using a claw hammer will haunt you one day.

 

just cut the pins that hold the shoes on everything will come off! its that simple!!