I have tried twice now to get the rear drums off my car but to no avail. I have tried PB Blaster, a torch, a BIG hammer, you name it. Problem is--the drum seems to be stuck around the center hub--it's all rusted. Damn car has 19,400 miles on it---to not be able to get these things off is ridiculous. This is almost motivation to drop $1k on a rear disc conversion.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get these damn things off and keep them from getting stuck again?
thanks
just a question but you dont have your ebrake on when trying to take them off do you?
nope--believe me, it was so bad, I kept checking to make sure it wasn't on
when i pry on the drum, I can see it bowing out from the center. It's like it's pulling away everywhere but in the center--it's that damn rusty hub!
that may not be a bad idea---once i get the drums off. Problem is, the drums are stuck. I was also thinking of painting the hub to keep it from rusting again.
sounds like you have access to a shop grab an air hammer with the flat adapter and go around it evenly on the edges. the shaking will make the rust loose
You've got ox/acetylene torches?
Put a three jaw puller on the drum, turn the screw until the drum
bows a bit and builds up tension. Hit the drum with the torch between
the lugs and the hub. Hit the drum with a snowball if you want to
try to shrink it a bit.
take a large ballpein hammer and wack the @!#$ out of the middle of the studs it will come out.
-Borsty
take it to a shop for a free brake inspection LOL then refuse the work they tell you needs done
Phil Thacker
JCO North President
Just put some liquid wrench around the spindle where the drum fits on. This will disolve the rust and then you can tap it a few times with a hammer and it should pop loose. This works for me.
Now i have heard, that if it is the factory drums, as in the drums have not been replaced at all on the car since factory, that there is a C Clip somewhere that holds it in, i dont know the truth to this or anything, but if anyone can follow up if this is true for a fact or false information, please chime in. Hope this might help.
^^ i am not sure chevy put those on the cavaliers. i know my 97 didnt when i chagned my rears. we took a hammer and hit the lip on the back side of the drum and after a few hits it poped right off
i used wd-40 on the rust and let it sit for like 2 minutes....then i tapped it with a hammer a few times and it came right off.....and my car is a 97 with 140k on the clock so there is definatly a rust problem there.......
Facing the drum hit the outer edge, the edge facing you with a BIG hammer, thats the way the inspection techs do it.
Cavalier2k wrote:Now i have heard, that if it is the factory drums, as in the drums have not been replaced at all on the car since factory, that there is a C Clip somewhere that holds it in, i dont know the truth to this or anything, but if anyone can follow up if this is true for a fact or false information, please chime in. Hope this might help.
Not sure about the J-bodies, but many cars I have worked on in the past do have a small clip on one or more of the studs that you have to remove. I think these are just used to facilitate the original assembly-line process. Be careful banging on the drum, as they can be cracked if too much force is used. Make sure the brakes aren't holding the drums on. If necessary, take it to a tire/wheel shop and ask them to remove it. How much could they charge for just removing a wheel? $10? It might be worth it to avoid anymore hassle.
I had this same problem a couple of weeks ago when I was replacing the shoes on my rear drum brakes. I swore, hammered and did just about everything I could think of to get the damn things off and only one thing worked- a torch.
Now, I didn't just get the surface a little hot and then hit it a little bit- I got the damn thing hot as hell. I probably had the torch running over the surface right next to the hub for a good 10 minutes or so. When I tapped it with a hammer, it came right off no problem.
There's another possibility you may want to pursue. I didn't have this on my brakes, but most j-body cars have an access hole on the back that will allow you to adjust the star wheel (the part of your drum brakes that make them automatically adjust) to retract the shoes from the drum and remove it. I can't offer much more than a suggestion since my car didn't have any access hole whatsoever (despite much searching and swearing), and the torch was the only thing that got my brakes off.
-Glynn
You have to decide that you don't want to save these drums, put a ton of liquid wrench where the drum sits on the hub, than heat the @!#$ out of the drum around the hub. Not for too long or you will fry your bearing seals.
Lay down, curse and get mad as hell and whack the (back edge of the drum as you spin it.
Make sure you don't hit the backing plate
Apply more heat and liquid wrench when it;'s good and hot .
Repeat until they come off.
Than go out and buy a new set of drums.
Clean up the area where the drum makes contact with the hub, apply a coating of neversieze, (don't go crazy here , you don't want the stuff on your brake shoes)
Paint the drums with some flat black barbecue paint and it will delay the rusting.
Just remember, you have to get really pissed off to get them off. But they come off.
I know, cause my sunfire sat for 2 years ( salt laden) on a dirt driveway, and I got them off
thacks99z24 wrote:take it to a shop for a free brake inspection LOL then refuse the work they tell you needs done
@!#$ kill yourself. do it, end your life.
joe4 wrote:Facing the drum hit the outer edge, the edge facing you with a BIG hammer, thats the way the inspection techs do it.
no its not. the only way to hit it and have the least occurance of damage is inbetween the studs.
dude get some PB blaster spray it down good, get a nice size ballpein and whack the crap out of it
-Borsty
