Need HELP!! on installing '40 Ford rear brake drums

I am building a 1940 Ford with a Columbia 2 speed rear-end in it. It has the stock/original rear drum brakes on it with new shoes, new wheel cylinders, turned drums with new bearings and seals installed in the hub. I cannot get the drums, with the hubs still ***embled to drums, to go on the taper axle ends with the key installed in keyway. But if I removed the key, the drums/hubs will slide on. It has the original key and it has no burrs on it, have filled it smooth and clean. Is there a certain procedure to installing the drums with the key in place or a special tool that must be used to installed them, such like the tool used in the removal of the drums/hubs? Any help would be appreciated and very much needed.
Thanks,
Ronnie

 

No help here. Line up the keyways and slide them straight on. Can't imagine how they can NOT go on.

Good luck


Just thought, are the brake shoes binding with the drums?

 

the shoes has some drag but not binding. As stated, with the key out the drum/hub will slid on the tapered axle shaft ok, but when key is installed it will not, which I know doesn't make any sense. there is a special tool to remove hub so was wondering is there one to install them.

 

The hub puller is just to break the friction hold of the taper. It's only for the first few thou of movement then hubs slide right off.

Only other thing I can think of is to make sure the key is properly seated in the keyway and in the right way with the tapered end to the run out of the axle keyway.

Bruce Lancaster is your man with this stuff. What he doesn't know, you'll never need.

Pete

 

explain to me what you meant about this "Only other thing I can think of is to make sure the key is properly seated in the keyway and in the right way with the tapered end to the run out of the axle keyway." This is my first experience with an original 1940 brake set-up. Thanks for you r help! and who is Bruce Lancaster and how do I get ahold of him?

 

You could try removing the key from the axel and trying it in the hub, when you're running out of options you'll try anything. Striper is refering to the tapered end on the key, it should be facing up and toward you as you slide the ***embly on. Also, with keyways and keys in general I usually tilt the key up a little at the back, this lowers the taper at the front and gives a little more clearance, also put a little lube on the key, a solid whack with a heavy hammer on a block of wood may be all you need to get it on.

You can look up Bruce's profile and PM him.

 

If key has the taper, it is likely original, I think 1/4" square...if it is from a resto place, compare it carefully with what you took out; plenty of off-dimension parts are made nowadays...
I hope direction of taper is correct above; That is something I can never remember, and I always set the thing down carefully when I take one out. I'd have to actually go home and pop a hub to tell you for sure.
With hub off, tap key all the way into axle and then all the way into hub to be certain it is not blocked by a burr or crud.

 

Only going by the way mine came out...could be wrong....the taper on the key was into the axle keyway and inboard. Seems to make sense in that it sits in the run out at the end of the keyway in the axle.

As i said, that could be wrong but that's how I found mine.

Pete

 

Yes...inner end, in axle, matches the run out of the cut...checked an axle I removed and parked intact. Waaay too lazy to pull a hub for total confirmation...
I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that workable Ford axle keys are available at... Home Depot! They are in a drawer actually marked "axle keys" in the fastener aisle, they lack the taper and are a bit long, and of course the steel quality is probably dubious, but there they are! Snap a key between Kosciusko and Possumneck on Sunday afternoon and you can actually just go buy one, along with a file to fi**itup!

 

My solution to getting the axle key index to match the hub key index is to put a paint marker dot corresponding to the key slot on both the hub and axle , line the dots up, jockey into position and everything should slide together. Dotting the two parts will also make a reference to determine if the axle shaft is turning out of index slightly as the hub is being installed.