Still trying to remove the rear drums on a 54 Dodge. They have been fightimg me forever...and now it's go time. The rear cylinders are leaking and need to be fixed so i can get it on the road. Any advice?? I've tried every sort of hub puller there is, heat, sledhe hammers, you name it!
you need a brake drum puller... also, make DAMN sure you leave the nut on... when the taper breaks loose, that drum can come flying off fast enough to do some serious damage
Yup. Still won't move at all. I've heard of driving it in circles with the axle nut slightly loosened...but with no brakes that might be rough.
FiddyFour is correct. Prior to pulling, be certain the brake shoes are adjusted all of the way in. That way, if there are grooves in the drum and/or ridges on the shoes, they will clear each other. When you have the correct puller, just when you think you have whacked it hard enough, WHACK TWICE AS HARD. It will come off. And oh....check to see if there are any screws holding the drum to the axle hub.
Those early mopar ones can be bad. Might have to look in to making one like this here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=575135&highlight=hub+puller Alternate method: Back the nut off a bit and drive around till it breaks free. Make damn sure the shoes are in. If there is enough of a ridge on the drum, you may still have to remove all the fastening hardware from the backing plate and pull the whole mess off.
I would defiantly do what 31Dodger and FiddyFour said, they are on the money, I've hit the ends of the dog bone on the puller hard enough that I thought for sure I was destroying the puller. Then decided, well I'll hit it till something breaks, puller, axle, me...and the hub has always popped before any damage occurred to the puller. But if that doesn't work: I would grind the rivets holding the drum, pull the axle and put it in a press. Then use the rivet "stubs" to locate the drum in the future. I've tried pressing those rivets out before, nope, nada, wasn't happening, so I'm certain they will not work their way loose, however, if you're concerned about it, just tack weld the heads on the backside to the hub. I'm assuming your drum is not centered by the boss on the hub that centers the wheel and is only centered by the rivets, if not, if your hub is centered by the boss on the hub, then I would probably grind the rivets smooth on the hub as well. In either case, I would index the drum and hub for future disassembly / reassembly. Good luck Kipp
as all the above have mentioned, tighten puller, use a BFH and hit the center of the puller, to jar it some, back the puller off, tighten again, and go at it, it will pop eventually, sometime you gotta be aggressive. I have got some really stubborn drums off old Mopars. You could try the heat on it too, never had to cut or break 1 off yet...
I've read many places you need to have five feet as the others will not work. Check the Forward Look tech site for info...
Soak them with ATF/ ACETONE mix and get the puller right and heat the hell out of it. Slowly tighten the puller and if it doesn't pop their is ridges in the drums.
If there are ridges in the drum holding it together....am I screwed? Do I need to cut them off and hunt for new ones?
Yep, this is what I did on my 54 Chrysler. Get the damn puller as tight as you can with a sledge. Heat it up, tighten more with sledge, then hit directly in middle (head of middle thread) hard. Mine finally came off. That was actually easier than the damn bearing!
They do grow together over the years. You need a GOOD, HEAVY DUTY puller. A cheap puller from China will not do the job. Auto parts stores and rental places have them for rent. Get the biggest one that will fit, and wail.
I've tried it all at this point. Starting to lose hope. Was there something different with the rear end on the Royals?
You can try thermal shock too. Heat the drum aria and shock with brine "ice+salt+water" or liquid co2 from a large can of keyboard duster held upside down. Do this with tension on the drum. If the ridges in the drum were holding it on the puller would have broken the shoe retainers and peeled the whole mess off already. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Try hitting the outer edge toward the axle ,turn it a bit and repeat all around the drum a couple times with your puller on it ,then wail on the puller ,it will go. Sometimes if you wail it with a loose grip on the hammer and kinda let it bounce off the drum ,it will kinda give it a ring[as a bell] and that could shock it kinda and loosen it a bit also.
Frankly, given I have several you-pull yards near me, before I spent $100+ on the heavy duty puller for these stupid tapered axle rearends, I'd go get me a whole other rear axle out of some newer car or light truck with the same wheel bolt pattern and change the whole rearend in it. There's a good chance, assuming they don't hit you too bad on the price and you get lucky and find one that doesn't need the perches moved, that it will be cheaper and easier in the long run to change the whole rear axle, even if the replacement still needs a brake job. A 2" block kit with replacement U-bolts is $30 or so at most parts stores - cheaper than buying just the bolts separate. They'd charge me $50 or so for the rearend and one yard lets me bring in a cordless sawzall. The rest is measuring.
Yeah..."Loosen the nut and drive it"... 1956. My buddy Mileway had a '52 Dodge, Fluid Drive...(L head 6) He and his cousins tried all Saturday to get the left rear drum off, to no avail. An old man told him to just loosen the nut, about 2 threads. Drive the car around the block a couple of times. Mileway drove the car around the block...over to my house, (1/2 mile) and all over town. It wouldn't move...it was tighter than an old Scotsman. One day during the week he filled the brake fluid reservoir, loaded the car up with friends and girlfriends, and left Santa Clara for Santa Cruz. Played all day at the beach, then returned home over Highway 17. ('Blood Alley') Just the home side of the summit, they felt a big bump, and the car sat down on the right rear spring 'U' bolts, throwing out a shower of sparks that'd make a lowrider envious! The wheel passed him up, then disappeared over the side. He got the Dodge stopped, everybody out, and jacked the car up. Two guys came back with the wheel/hub, and one of the girls actually found the nut! He drove it home. Funny thing was, they found a piece of wire to use to lock the nut...but Mileway said, "Don't tighten that blasted nut, we want to get it back off!" The funniest things happened to the non-mechanical guys.
Nothing different on those. Make sure the lugs are tight on the puller. Get a large air wrench on it if you have a compressor. That should jar it loose. You can drive it without brakes (to do the procedure mentioned above) as long as the handbrake still works.
I have an old proto hub puller that has an inch and an eighth nut onthe puller shaft , I use the longest breaker bar I have , about three foot long , then put afour foot cheater pipe on that, tighten as tight as I can then hit the end of the puller shaft with a ten pound sledge. It works every time.
Is it possible the wheel studs are sweged. i.e. mushroomed over the drum Sent from a tin can and string.
Let's have a photo of your situation, please. Stand back about a foot from the side of the car and take a shot slightly forward from the rear of the drum.
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