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Sat May 06, 2006 6:58 pm

Any tips on getting a stuck rear brake drum loose??? I already got the nut off now the rear brake drum won't budge. It spins free but won't come foward. Should I rent a puller or just knock the shit out of the drum with a 15lb sledge hammer?

Sat May 06, 2006 7:20 pm

find the break shoe star adjuster (thru the little hole) and crank that thing until its all the way in.
Most of the time, the break shoe wears a little lip in the drum, over time, which catches on the edge of the break shoe as you try to pull it off. Screwing in the break shoes adjuster as far as possible will help get past this lip.
If it is stuck on the spline and not moving at all yet.... a little light tapping on the drum right around the axle with a hammer will somethimes jar it loose. Go easy.

Sat May 06, 2006 7:30 pm

Knocking it will tweak it. First do what chazwood said. Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster the spline area. Try a propane torch on the hub with some hammer to wood block hits to the hub area. Also put the nut back on til' it's flush with the the stub axle. Hold a good wood block against the nut/axle flush surface and hit that with the sledge. Sometimes it will get the splines loose. Then get the puller, load it up and wait an hour or a day for it to pop. If you thrash the drum by torturing it from backside sledge blows it will ruin it. If you try it, at least put wood between the drum and your weapon.

Sat May 06, 2006 7:54 pm

If you decide to hammer it... go easy!! No big blows please. A little hammering can help persuade a slightly stuck drum to come free though. If you have access to a drum puller, use it. Otherwise, I've heard that loosening the axle nut some and driving on it a little bit sometimes helps. This isn't the greatest idea in the world, but back before I had adequate tools, I did this. Railroad tracks and bad roads work wonders. Don't go far from your house, don't go fast, and check it often. I like to lightly grease the splines when I put my drums on.

Sat May 06, 2006 8:06 pm

you can use heat, put a torch on the drum near the spline and get it real hot, then try it, this approach may require replacing axle seals though.
The drum gets stuck for two reasons, the stub axle or the brake shoes. If you have a little wiggle you can tighten and loosen the axle nut in sequence to try to get thing going.
I have now idea where I could rent a drum puller but you could make one.

Sun May 07, 2006 3:41 pm

andrew,
if you have an auto zone nearby, they will rent a puller for free with a deposit. last time i was there i saw one on their chart, and it looked like it would work. i know i will be needing one. is this on your dd?

Sun May 07, 2006 7:02 pm

Just pulled both rear drums off this morning. (haven't been off for years)

1) adjusted the stars, all the way in.

2) left the wheels attached to the drums.

3) jacked up the rear so the axles were tilting down.

5) grabbed a dead blow hammer (rubber) and proceeded to smack the axle ends smartly.

The extra weight of the wheel, gravity, and the down hill slope proved too much, so it slid off in no time.

Found leaking bearing seal on one side and leaking wheel cylinder on other.

can't tell ya what I did on #4 .... I'd have to kill ya. 8)

Sun May 07, 2006 7:09 pm

I've never had one stuck on the splines. I've pulled some nasty ass 12 year sitting in the woods kind of drums, and every one has been stuck on the shoes. It builds up a lip of rust on the inner edge of the drum, and the shoes can't get past it. I've rented a couple of pullers and they did the job. Eventually I just bought one. Basically bends the shoes out as you pull the drum off. Get ready to replace brake hardware...

Sun May 07, 2006 7:23 pm

rusbus wrote: I've never had one stuck on the splines. I've pulled some nasty ass 12 year sitting in the woods kind of drums, and every one has been stuck on the shoes. It builds up a lip of rust on the inner edge of the drum, and the shoes can't get past it. I've rented a couple of pullers and they did the job. Eventually I just bought one. Basically bends the shoes out as you pull the drum off. Get ready to replace brake hardware...

I had to use a drum puller on four last week and all four were stuck on the shoes. Bent the shoes slightly but I was able to press them back into shape. Sometimes the front drums get stuck on the bearings if the spindles chewed up.....and it usually just pulls the drum off while leaving the bearing and axle seal stuck on the spindle.

Sun May 07, 2006 8:47 pm

I went by National Tool today and bought a 3 arm puller. I got off work late and didn't feel like messing with it too much, but I did go ahead and put the puller on the drum and cranked it down a bit. Squirted some PB blaster into the drum again. Not budging. I'm hoping in the middle of the night I'll be awakened to the sound of the drum and puller hitting the garage floor. I think the drum is sticking on the spline.
Abeed, i'm working on the red/grey bus to hopefully take to the Transporter show in 2 weeks.

Mon May 08, 2006 9:24 am

When you say "into the drum" you mean the spline area, right. The "drive around with the nut cottered loose" is an excellent way to free it up, too. Just don't drive too far. Try not to go koo-koo with tightening the puller as it can wrack the drum.

Mon May 08, 2006 9:54 am

chazwood wrote: Just pulled both rear drums off this morning. (haven't been off for years)

1) adjusted the stars, all the way in.

2) left the wheels attached to the drums.

3) jacked up the rear so the axles were tilting down.

5) grabbed a dead blow hammer (rubber) and proceeded to smack the axle ends smartly.

The extra weight of the wheel, gravity, and the down hill slope proved too much, so it slid off in no time.

Found leaking bearing seal on one side and leaking wheel cylinder on other.

can't tell ya what I did on #4 .... I'd have to kill ya. 8)

ditto chazwood

Mon May 08, 2006 8:00 pm

I finally got that mofo removed. Today I tried to crank down the puller I bought and no luck. WalkthruKO stopped by my house with a bigass puller and I had to use the bigger puller, a breaker bar, and a cheater pipe. Eventually the drum came off slowly. There was some red rust up on the splines. We didn't trash the drum either so it turned out good. Big thanks to Keith O. He has worked on buses for years and said he'd never seen an axel as stuck as this one was.
When I put the drum back on i'm going to use some peratex antisieze on the splines.

Mon May 08, 2006 10:50 pm

here is a picture of a homemade one,

the steel wedge is in the wrong place in the picture.
A interesting tecnique involves putting the wedge between the stub axle and the puller, you pound the living hell out of the wedge to get things started. Afterwards, you can switch to a long bolt of all thread known as the "henry". Once you have the drum off, clean and sand the stub axle so that the drum will go on and off easily.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/274551.jpg

Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:15 pm

I am having the same trouble now on my drivers rear after replacing the brakes on every wheel except that one. And I have tried every tectonic in my arsenal to get the bugger off, Including adjusting the stars all the say in, Pb penetrating oil, hammering it with wood & hammer everywhich way from Sunday and heating it up. And I thought I would rent a puller from Auto zone but the only one they have is to small, and I can't seem to find one anywhere around here, Unless I order one online, which I can't do because I need the van to get to work. Any other idea's?

Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:54 pm

CheapBusForSale wrote: Any other idea's?
Post your location.
The best thing with a really stuck drum is to get a good puller.
This is a fine item:

Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:43 pm

In case it helps someone: I am near Sacramento, CA and I have the mother-of-all 3 arm pullers. If you ever need to use it, just ask.

Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:10 am

We have a bigazz 3 arm puller also(not quite as big as the mother of all 3 arm pullers).
I used the plasma cutter to cut the centre out of a old bent wide 5 rim
and bolted it to the drum and mount the puller to pull on the rounded lip of the rim
I sure like Clara puller---mine can be a bit of a pain to get everything lined up almost need 3 hands to hold it til it starts to pull-
hank

Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:55 am

It's been years since I read it but I think it was in Muir's idiot manual. Leave the wheel on the ground of the side you want to remove and jack up the other side of the bus. Then when you smack the stub axle (with the nut on flush), the shock of impact is able to move the bus and axle away from the drum/wheel which is being held solidly on the ground. In theory. I've only tried it once and it worked but mine wasn't stuck that bad. Anyone else try this?

Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:28 pm

I am having trouble getting my rear drum off.
using a drum puller and nothing
plenty of penetrating oil nothing
hammer nothing
not even a wiggle nothing
starts backed off yes. nothing.

HEAT around spindle area. nothing

this thing is stuck on here!

HELP