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Best way to freeze up rusted drums

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by davidh73750, Nov 23, 2010.

  1. davidh73750
    Joined: Apr 21, 2009
    Posts: 1,608

    davidh73750
    Member

    often we come across cars in a pasture, sitting, so forth and the drums are rusted, wheels will not turn. What is the best and easiest way to free them? heat from the torch? wd-40 or similar on the backside of the drum? Often we are in a hurry or the car is far away so we dont have a lot of time A quicker suggestion would be excellent. Come-alonging a car on a trailer with rusted brakes flat out ****s.
     
  2. Pull the drums, yank the shoes/springs, install the drums, roll the car around. It's obvious that you're going to need to rebuild the brakes if they are rusted stuck, so it doesn't hurt anything to pop the shoes/springs out to move the car around, then install new brake hardware when you get to that point during the build.
     
  3. tb33anda3rd
    Joined: Oct 8, 2010
    Posts: 17,588

    tb33anda3rd
    Member

    banging the backing plates with a hammer sometimes works.
     
  4. chopt55bc
    Joined: May 10, 2008
    Posts: 886

    chopt55bc
    Member

    invest in an electric winch and drag it up.
     
  5. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,660

    Truckedup
    Member

    You did bring a torch set and a few buckets of water,right?:D Heat the drum with a large cutting tip,move the heat around the drum..heat to about 300 degrees,quench with water.if the shoes were stuck to the drum they should be free now..
     
  6. mrforddude
    Joined: May 30, 2010
    Posts: 134

    mrforddude
    Member

    BFH...and a strong arm
     
  7. Buzzard II
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 354

    Buzzard II
    Member

    I've always had success by using a sledge hammer and whacking the drum between the lugs. You're bouncing the drum against the axle and once it moves a little, it will move more as you continue whacking it. The hot wrench is a lot easier though! Good luck!
     
  8. carcrazyjohn
    Joined: Apr 16, 2008
    Posts: 4,841

    carcrazyjohn
    Member
    from trevose pa

    Cordless drill and drill a hole in the backing plate and start pumping grease gun into them ,Or wd40 .Id use grease ,Sounds like it needs restoration anyway ........Also the harbor freight winch is pretty good in your situation ,I adapted one to my trailer made real long jumper cables to connect to car battery and works great ,Usually you only have one stubborn wheel ,The others roll or break free........
     
  9. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,397

    indyjps
    Member

    hammer away, usually with a rock or some discarded car part.
    It usually cold and windy while youre doing this. neel down in the mud the car has sunk in, slide a jack under the frame, break the lugs loose, break a wheel stud off if youre in the mood, lift it up, pull the wheel, hammer away on the drum with your rock of choice. use the tire iron to leverage against the wheel studs to get the axle turning, bend another wheel stud if youre lucky hopefully not enough that the wheel wont fit back on.
     
  10. petritl
    Joined: Jul 31, 2006
    Posts: 949

    petritl
    Member
    from Marion, TX

    Quick and dirty method:
    I been helping a friend cleanup his property off and on for the last few months, over a dozen 60's - early 70's era cars have been moved around and most of them had frozen brakes.
    I have had real good luck with popping the hubcaps off and hitting the wheel around the dogdish ring hard a good 5-6 times with a sledge hammer. All but just a few of the wheels began to spin after that.
     
  11. Thorkle Rod
    Joined: May 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,392

    Thorkle Rod
    Member

    indyjps:
    You nailed it perfectly although you may have given up to soon if you didn't heat the drums resulting in a large gr*** fire which heads for the Gas tank. Also don't forget to hit the drum with the big rock and break a large section off of the drums.
     
  12. paintcan54
    Joined: Oct 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,101

    paintcan54
    Member

    Carcrazyjohn, which HF winch do you have been looking at one for my trailer, I'v had some of their stuff use it once throw it away!
     
  13. rusty1
    Joined: Nov 25, 2004
    Posts: 13,095

    rusty1
    Member

    ...and the rock breaks and 2 of your fingers hit the lugs taking big chuncks of skin with em!
     
  14. chubbie
    Joined: Jan 14, 2009
    Posts: 2,361

    chubbie
    Member

    wow all these ideas! but only a few of these sound as if they have been field tested!!;)
    how ever, a couple of these gave me an idea........ (rock on wheel studs? WTF??) if a guy could drive the wheel stud out (or in as it where) it would provide a neat hole to use your favorite penitrating oil. I have several froze for years and have soaked with all kinds of oils , no luck. I could be interested in a thread called "how to UNFREEZE stuck drums"
     
  15. fleetbob50
    Joined: May 1, 2006
    Posts: 306

    fleetbob50
    Member
    from Waco,Texas

    take the bolts out of the wheel cylinder, punch it into the wheel and the shoes will usually collapse allowing you to pull the drums, remove the junk, put em back on to roll it or it will sometimes roll from there . not fool proof but has worked many times and saves
    the drums and your knuckles
     
  16. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 25,195

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    how far you got to move them? I rope towed a buddies VW notchback home about 5 miles with one brake locked up. squeeling the whole way and a 5 mile black mark behind us. tire popped just as we got to his house.
     
  17. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 36,054

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Been there and done that more than once. I've had to back brake shoes off a lot of times too to help the process but half the time the adjuster is rusted solid along with the shoes being rusted to the drum.

    Carcrazy John I think this is one of the winches that guys are buying for their trailers.
    http://www.harborfreight.com/8000-lb-electric-winch-with-automatic-brake-67576.html They also have a 10000 one for a hundred dollars more.

    I've got one of their 2500 lb winches on my sailboat to pull the mast up and I am more than happy with it. It turned a real pain in the **** job into a simple process. But it is pretty noisy although that isn't an issue as I only use it to raise and lower the mast while on the trailer.
     
  18. tb33anda3rd
    Joined: Oct 8, 2010
    Posts: 17,588

    tb33anda3rd
    Member

    :confused:
    maybe torch the adjuster but the shoes are against the anchor pins.
     
  19. fleetbob50
    Joined: May 1, 2006
    Posts: 306

    fleetbob50
    Member
    from Waco,Texas

    39 to 48's don't have the upper anchor and from 48 up where there is one on a ford or merc just take the nut off the back and let it fall thru also. always take plenty of good
    penetrating oil such as Kroil
     
  20. carcrazyjohn
    Joined: Apr 16, 2008
    Posts: 4,841

    carcrazyjohn
    Member
    from trevose pa

    I have the cheapest 2000 lb on my car trailer and I just keep it covered with a trashbag ,Its sufficient for old cars.The drll and grease mehod does work ,Just need alot of grease and hole must be in the top...And here is one drill hole in yop of backing plate and pump keroscene inside drum ,Need to drill bigger hole .
     
  21. petritl
    Joined: Jul 31, 2006
    Posts: 949

    petritl
    Member
    from Marion, TX

     
  22. davidh73750
    Joined: Apr 21, 2009
    Posts: 1,608

    davidh73750
    Member

    thanks for the tips
     
  23. TORR
    Joined: Dec 17, 2002
    Posts: 298

    TORR
    Member Emeritus
    from BOSTON, MA

    I really like the idea of this, thanks for the tip!
    And I second the Kroil plug! Its my new PB replacement!

    -Torr
     
  24. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,356

    Hnstray
    Member
    from Quincy, IL


    This has become my most successful method of moving/removing rusted drums. Started doing it a few years ago when nothing else worked very well, short of torching the drum centers out.

    Ray
     
  25. MeteorMan
    Joined: Dec 5, 2008
    Posts: 373

    MeteorMan
    Member


    I had pair of drums that were stuck for years and just tried the Kroil trick and it worked great!
     
  26. Bad Eye Bill
    Joined: Sep 1, 2010
    Posts: 841

    Bad Eye Bill
    Member
    from NB Canada

    Ahhh, you've been there.
     
  27. Bad Eye Bill
    Joined: Sep 1, 2010
    Posts: 841

    Bad Eye Bill
    Member
    from NB Canada

    You been there too.
     
  28. Bad Eye Bill
    Joined: Sep 1, 2010
    Posts: 841

    Bad Eye Bill
    Member
    from NB Canada

    Hell, we all been there.
     
  29. Commish
    Joined: Jan 9, 2010
    Posts: 379

    Commish
    Member
    from NW Ok

    Along with punching the wheel cylinder in, if they are the type with the pin through the backing plate and the coil spring and keeper,I have chiseled or ground the head off on the backside and that will sometimes let the shoes loose.
     
  30. partsdawg
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,945

    partsdawg
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Minnesota

    I dont waste time on penetrating oil,grease,stuff.OP stated being in a hurry.
    Fire up the torch and cut around the center which leaves the hubs free to turn.
    Around here the drums are rusted so bad inside replacements are needed anyway
    so why waste time.
     

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