My right rear drum is stuck (a.k.a. I hate drum brakes)

[grantf]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h--f_k3xy1e

Beer just came out my nose!

Edited February 2, 2012 by grantf

[geezer]

Try to release the adjuster and back down the adjustment. The adjuster is a ratchet. You need to move the ratchet pawl away from the toothed wheel so you can move it backward. Look at the side you can get apart and figure out how to get a probe in there to push the pawl out of the way.

The pawl is the auto-adjuster arm that moves when you apply the parking brake.

Look for a hole in the backing plate near the adjuster wheel. While puching on the pawl with a probe through the hole in the brake drum you should be able to rotate the adjuster with a brake adjusting tool of a small screwdriver through the hole in the backing plate.

This is how I do it also. If you don't get that pawl out of the way you will never get the shoes to back off.

After getting the shoes backed off and you find the drum is still frozen, mix up a 50/50 solution of acetone and automatic trans, fluid. Apply generously by any means you can. This solution has the ability to actually wick up hill, get in behind the drum and will penetrate better than any other product I've used. The acetone evaporates quickly so use it up till gone after mixing or seal it in a jar. Now if all else fails, use the large 3 arm puller and you will get the drum off without damaging it.

I never fail to get them off without damage since using these methods.

[BoldUlysses]

Success!

Used a combination of these two ideas:

I used a large size, 3 jaw gear puller. Put the jaws around the drum and cranked on it. Got it as tight as I could, and left it sit. Went back about every 10-15 min. and tightened a bit more. Went on to other tasks when, POW, I thought my car blew up. It was the drum releasing from the hub and shoes. Might be worth a try.

Brake shoe material is designed to have high friction on the interior of the brake drum. I would remove that friction by oiling up the inside of the drum and shoes. Push the drum back on, squirt some oil in, motor oil would probably work well. Spin it around a few times, and keep spinning while you're pulling it off to make sure the contact points get oiled. It will probably slide off fairly easily.

Hosed the interior of the drum down with PB Blaster and turned it with a prybar until it was so lubed up I could almost spin it freely. The shoes wanted to twist and bind if I tried to pull it off, though, so I scared up my BFP (Big F***in' Puller) and got it off that way.

Thanks for all the input, guys!

[ZCurves]

POW! - That's what I'm talkin about. Nice job.

[BoldUlysses]

Thanks! It wasn't too bad. No pow. Just a gradual but inevitable slide off.

Honestly, I'd forgotten I owned the BFP, otherwise I'd have used it a lot sooner. Though probably without lubing up the interior of the drum quite as much, so there probably would have been a POW in that case. Or a cracked drum. In conclusion, it's good that it happened the way that it did.

[Reverend]

With rubber hammer, you can pow as much as you want without breaking the drum. I found it satisfying

[geezer]

Now that its off, it would be a good time to study the mechanism and learn how the shoes can be backed off without resorting to extreme force. Would be good to know for the next time.

[Mark Maras]

I doubt that you'll have to resort to this. After breaking the drums loose from the flanges with lots of penetrant and levers, I found the shoes bonded to the drums on the bottom. I released the two springs that hold the shoes to the backing plate from the back. Then I had to remove the wheel studs. After a few good pushes and pulls the shoes and two springs came off with the drum. I didn't see any damage to the adjusters or anything else.

Mark in Portland

[racerock]

Very Old Thread, but proof I use search button:

- IF anyone is looking at this to figure out why their rear shoes are always tight:  I recently picked up a 240z and have gone through the entire brake system.  Shoes looked good, so kept them on there (for now...) pending overall plan for the zcar.

- Then my rear brakes would get really tight especially on one side.  The other side would get a little tight as well.

- Looked at the shoes and pads and get this - the mfr's are putting the leading side pad on upside down!  And I see in the picture above that it too is not right

- The pad on the screw side of the brake adjuster should go to the bottom so when you use the parking brake, there is pad material there.

- So far, two mfr's have sent me incorrect shoes.  I have a third vendor trying to get me the right ones today.  May update when I find a vendor with the right ones that don't cost an arm