I am rebuilding the drum brakes on my 51 F-1. The front right drum is stuck on the hub and/or lugs. The other three came off without a problem. The front right is giving me a real hassle. It spins fine, just won't come off.

I would post pics, but the only thing you would see would be the outside of a brake drum. Not too helpful.

Any suggestions?

Tyler

 

Hey Tyler. If it is spinning free, then its probably stuck on the hub. Take a hammer and give it a few whacks in the center on the flat surface near the wheel studs. But be careful and DO NOT hit the studs. It SHOULD come off after that.

 

Squirt some Liquid Wrench around the studs. Give it some time to find it's way in there. It is most likely rusted to the hub flange. When you come back, smack it with a soft hammer. I hit them at the outside of the face, which serves to momentarily distort the drum and break the rust loose.

 

I would only add; make sure the shoes have been compressed enough to make them smaller than the drum, and you might want to take a piece of sandpaper or emery cloth to the hub to clean it off of any rust or paint real good.

 

I used a small file to go around the hub where it comes out of the drum. This allows the penetrant to get in between the two. I fought one of mine for several days till I did this and it came off in about 5 minutes.

 

If your aim is good, use the ball end of your ball peen hammer and hit the drum between the studs. If your aim is bad use the flat end of the hammer and hit the outside of the drum where the shoes ride, don't be afraid to use some muscle.

 

I used my air chisel by installing the flat hammer looking attachment on the air chisel then gave it heck around the hub since my aim stinks! jwj

 

As I recall, you had at least one wheel cylinder that was bad, correct? Presuming this is true, the shoes likely haven't compressed and are holding the drum. My solution was a BFH (rubber coated) and a sustained beating to get the attention and cooperation of the shoes. You'll need to bang a bit - and try to back off the adjusting screw - to get the shoes to release enough from the drum. Two of mine never did release and needed to be levered off - yours should be easier.

Make sure the truck is rock steady on the blocks before you start this process - safety first.

DW

 

If worst comes to worst, the 2 pins that hold the springs to the brake shoes ( in the backing plate ) can be drilled or chizeled off to make it easier to remove the drum. If you are rebuilding the brakes the hardware kit will come with new springs.

 

Hmmm....nobody has said a word about a mapp gas torch? I use one alot! hotter than propane but not as hot as oxy/acet.
And you can buy them for about $40. works for me!

 

Mine were like this. The shoes had worn a groove into the drum which created a lip on the inside of the drum. I kept adjusting the star adjuster in untill the shoes were compressed as much as possible and then a few good whacks with a dead blow hammer and the drum came off.

 

Don't use a regular hammer. I've cracked two drums that way because the rubber mallet wouldn't work.

 

Like I said above, if the drum is spinning freely, then the problem is not the shoes stuck to the drum. In his case, the drum is most definitely frozen to the hub. Whack it a few times with a hammer and it will let go.

Edit: Ilya has a good point about the rubber hammer.

 

My drum spun free too. But the wear on the inside of the drum had created such a large lip that it still wouldn't come off till I completely released the shoes. It was so bad I had to replace the drum. No way it could be turned that much. If you don't have a dead blow hammer ( rubber mallet with the head filled with lead or steel shot) use a block of wood pressed up against the drum and whack the wood with a ball peen hammer.

 

Thanks for all the great advice guys! I tried variations of all these ideas except the torch. By the time I got that piece ibhad already gone another route.

My objective was to get into the brakes to check and rebuild them as necessary. I ended up pulling off the hub cover, the cotter pin, nut and bearing and took the whole hub off with the drum still attached. It worked out ok and I got the brakes taken care of.

The best part was that I got my dad to come help me. We haven't done anything like that together in a long long time...maybe ever. I thought he was mechanically inept (and he pretended to be so he didn't get assigned too long of a honey-do list but he actually had some pretty good suggestions and some experience from his teen years in the 50s to fall back on. It was really cool. So overall I'm glad I couldn't get the drum off the hub!