I was wondering if the two screws on the top rear was what held the rear drum in place. If so how do you get around the brake line to remove the second screw. If anyone has any pics or links that would be great.

It can be a PITA but the only thing keeping you from freeing your drum is the star wheel adjuster. Undoing the screws might loosen things but will not allow you to remove the drum.

There should be a rubber covered slot in the lower part of the backing plate. (directly below strut) You pop off the rubber and use a flat heaed screwdriver to turn the star wheel. This causes the shoes to adjust inward and eventually allows easy removal of the drum.

The HARD part is when you have drums which are worn and have a lip that holds them to the shoes. You simply have to turn the adjusting wheel a LOT more. The wheel in question is a sawtoothed wheel. To tighten (spread) the shoes farther apart you pry the wheel the "easy" way. This means prying the wheel up. The screwdriver engages the wheel easily because it is catching tooth side of the saw.

To loosen, (what you need to do) you turn the wheel against the saw tooth pattern. See picture. Use a flashlight to verify that you are actually turning the wheel. Check the drum every few turns to see if it is loose enough to come off.

There is a technique using a second screwdriver (small one) to hold the adjuster bar away when you get the first side off play with this technique so you can see how to do it.

2c

Jim

just checked to photo on prev post. You can only read it when it's maximized.

Forgot to mention that the Haynes manual has a picture/instuctions like mine.

Here's some tricks I use. Some brake drums have little threaded holes in them near the hub. Stick a bolt into each one and turn slowly and evenly. This will push the drum away from the hub and get the drum off. Use lots of WD40 or equivalent on the area near the hub and drum because the rust tends to fuse them together. A brake drum puller or big gear puller works good too, if you have one. As a last resort, lots of WD40 on the hub, and a BFH (preferrably rubber mallet) - pound, shake, pound, shake . . . . Careful, the drum could shatter causing injury and unnecessary expense. Good luck.

Three jaw puller and my impact wrench. Works every time and I haven't damaged a drum yet. If you use that method, thread a couple of lug nuts on opposite studs beacause sometimes they really pop off with some force.

I always used a BFH that wasn't rubber. I found the corrosion between the hub and the aluminum drum to be the issue, and that you really have to whale on it sometimes to break it loose. After doing that a couple times and I went to rear disk...

Thanks for all the help. I didn't realize it was so difficult.

Well it seems like I'm gonna leave the rear drums alone and focus my attention on the front brakes. Does anyone have a good walk through for removing/replacing the brake rotors and installing new brake pads? Or a good book that i could purchase. Thanks.

Oops!

My picture was wrong. Now that I recall the start wheel can be turned via a hole in the front side of the drum. I'm thinking of some american cars backplates. Sorry.

Just turn the drum 'til the hole is roughly at 6:30 and use a flashlight to find/observe the starwheel as you turn it.

The posts above mention something common which is rust. Soak with hub protrusion with parts blaster and use a soft hammer (rubber/wood etc) to hit the outside face of the drum to unsettle it. If you see movement between the hub and drum but the drum is still stuck you have a lip inside the drum. If the drum is worn and has a lip it is a matter of turning the start wheel enough to slacken your shoes so it will come off.

In extreme cases I've cut a large hole in the drum (trashing the drum) to adjust the start wheel and/or cut the drum off. This is rare though.

I used a piece of wood and a maul hammer - what a pain, but it worked.

That part about shattering the drum... believe it.

When I originally bought my car one of the rear drums had been thrown in the back hatch area, in pieces.