So I was able to slide out the brake drum easily, but then it got stuck right about here. I tried pounding it out with a rubber mallet and whatever else I could find in my garage to no avail. The rear driver side came out fine, It's just this one that's stuck. Any tips? Is there a tool I can rent at a local body shop?



Thanks

 

my only suggestion is: if there is enough room on the back side try to slide a screw driver between the drum and shoe then twist or pry on it while pulling the drum towards you and see if you can get it to slide off.

Im guessing that the pads wore funny and perhaps keyed themselves to the drum (cut small grooves in the metal that the pad material wore into.)

-Gun

 

have you adjusted the brakes in so the pads will not be tight against the drum???

also autozone will rent you a puller and you get all the money back one you return it

 

There is a slot on the back of the backing plate. It might be coverd with a rubber plug, if so remove it. Use a small flathead screwdriver to push the self adjuster away from the star adjuster and use a medium flathead to twist that star adjuster so the shoes will retrack in. Then the drum should come right off.... It also could be a frozen parking brake cable but adjusting that adjuster should make it so the drum will come off.

 

I'll check the backing plate for that plug sometime this week, if that doesn't work then I'll ask the shops for the tool. Will get back to you guys on this one...
thanks

 

Also try pushing it back on and then cleaning off the hub with a scraper or steel wool. Mine stuck right there as well. I cleaned off the hub and it came right off.

 

A drum brake will always have an adjustment slot (at the bottom), though sometimes the little rubber plugs get lost.

A screwdriver will work, but works even better if you push the sheetmetal tab away from the teeth on the star wheel with a separate tool while you turn the star wheel with the screwdriver. If you start turning the wrong way, it'll bind up on you (and the drum will get "tight" to turn or wiggle) before you get very far. Go the other way.

Unless you've got a shoe or something else broken inside that's jamming things, occurrences like this are nearly always the result of wear on the drum creating a lip, and the normal self-adjustment of the shoes adjusting the shoes into that wear zone where the drum won't just slide off. Once you retract the shoes back to about where they were when they were first installed, there will be no interference with the drum (again, assuming that nothing is damaged) and the drum will just about fall off.


Norm

 

It sure looks to me like someone took a hammer/sledge to the face of the axle center stub and mushroomed it (center hole of the drum can't slide over the lip). I'd knock the drum back on fully and file down that stub until it's round again.
Jon

 

There is no "tool" that will get that off. You will have a to de-adjust the brake shoes so it will slide off.

 

I think you have nailed it. The mushrooming of the edge of the center hub only needs a few thousandths to lock the drum on. He has a lot more than that. After filing, as you suggest, it'll likely fall off.