I am so completely confused here.

Are the front drums and hubs one piece?

I just redid my rear brakes, no issues there. Moved to the front, took the drivers side wheel off, and without doing anything else, the drum slid right off. The hub and wheel studs still attached to the axle. I replaced the shoes, wheel cylinder and all springs, put the drum back on, and noticed it doesn’t sit flush with the hub- there is about a 16th or so gap. I put the wheel back on, and the lug nuts don’t seem to crank down as far as the other wheels. Something definitely seems weird. I thought maybe the new shoes were wider than the old ones, causing the drum to not seat properly, but I measured the new and the old and they were both about 2 1/8” wide.

I move to the passenger side, take off the wheel, and the drum doesn’t just slide right off like the drivers side. I bang it with a rubber mallet for about an hour. Four beers later and it still won’t come off. Then a light bulb went on and I remembered back about 10 years ago to the last time I replaced front drum brakes. I then removed the dust cap, the cotter pin and the castle nut... and the drum came right off, along with the hub... all in one piece.

So my question is, is my drivers side drum broken? Is the drum and hub supposed to all be one piece? Please say yes because that’s the only thing that would make sense.

Whats throwing me off is when I look up front drums to buy a new pair, all of the photos look like the rear drums, where instead of wheel studs they have holes, as if the hub is a separate piece. So is my drivers side broken because the hub and drum are separated, or is my passenger side broken because the hub and drum are fused together and shouldn’t be?

And maybe I’m not using correct terminology here, but when I say hub, I’m referring to where the bearing goes.

Thanks!

 

Here is what the drivers side looks like. See what I mean how the hub is still attached though the drum is off. Is that how it’s supposed to be?

 

And this (not my photo, just one I found on the web) is what my passenger side looks like after I removed the drum. Just the spindle. The hub and drum were all one piece.

 

No the drum is pressed onto the hub. Notice the splines on the lugs. Get it pressed on and be done.

 

Okay thanks, so then the drivers side is technically broken? I assume they’re not meant to come apart. So the fix is to take it to a processional and I guess they have a tool or machine of some time that can press it together? Is that a permanent fix?

 

The drum and hub are held firmly together and then the lug bolts are pressed through the adjoining holes and the splines on those lug bolts are designed to hold them together. They CAN come apart to replace just the drum or hub without having to buy both - but they should never come apart unintentionally - I'd replace those lug bolts since those splines do not look to have enough grip left on them to do their job.

 

I found a guy local who has a good pair of front drums for a 1967. Any chance they would fit a ‘66? Some catalogs lump 66 and 67 together for their listing for front drums, so I’m thinking they might work.

 

Yes, 1967 F100 should use same drums for fronts.

 

Guys...I think you may have corrected me on this before, but can't he just remount the drum to the hub and unify them when he installs the lug nuts...??

 

So the 67 drums worked fine. Much easier than dealing with the loose lug bolts and trying to press the hub back into the drum. They were a little rusty on the surface that meets the shoe, so I went at it with some 1500 grit. I installed new bearings but reused the races and seals. Looks good, thanks!