Doing a rear brake job. The drum seems rusted super tight to the hub. I've opened the knockout and loosened the adjusted to relax the shoes, but the drum won't wiggle one iota. I've soaked it in liquid wrench, hit it with a heavy hammer from the front and back rim... nothing. Does anyone have any tips on how to break the drum free? :banghead: :mad:

You've tried the usual steps to remove the drum with no success. Now it's time to get serious. Heat the surface around the hub and lug holes with a torch, one of those propane jobs for sweating pipes works well. You need to get it hot, not red hot, but close. Once it's hot, smack it with a hammer, it'll just about fall off by itself. When reassembling, clean the rust from the hub and drum and put a coat of anti-seize on the entire hub surface, that will make it easy for the next guy to get the drum off. Ya never know, the next guy might be you!

Remember, Have some thick gloves on before attempting to handle the hot-ass Brake Drum's.......

Try a real penetrant like PB blaster or Break Away, liquid wrench and WD-40 are about as effective as water.

Good whack with a hammer should get it loose.

You probably don't even have to heat it.

You sure you didn't tighten the shoes against the drum? I don't mean to be a smart @$$, but it would be easy to do.

I was a dumba** just last week & beat on mine for 10 minutes before my wife, of all people, said "didn't you set the parking brake before you jacked it up?" Old habit....

Damn.

Probably not what's going on in your case, but just thought I'd tell on myself there.
-Mike

I was a dumba** just last week & beat on mine for 10 minutes before my wife, of all people, said "didn't you set the parking brake before you jacked it up?" Old habit....

Damn.

Probably not what's going on in your case, but just thought I'd tell on myself there.
-Mike

I hate when that happens! :banghead:

I am doing a rear brake job today and had frozen brake drums. The drums were rusted to the hub, NOT frozen because of the shoes/parking brake.

I just tried about everything mentioned in this thread and what worked for me was this:

- Both rear wheels were jacked up and and place on jack stands, with tires and lugnuts off.
- I sprayed some liquid wrench on the lug holes, but doubt it did anything.
- Started the truck and set the parking brake. It is a stick shift so basically i almost popped the clutch with the truck in gear, alternating between first and reverse popping the clutch and pretty much stalling the truck.
- Did this a few times with lots of popping/clanking sounds coming from the rear drums, and it did the trick! Drums now were un-stuck.

Banging on them with a sledgehammer and heating the drums didn't do much except waste my time, but maybe I wasn't aggressive enough.

Hope you didn't damage you clutch for this.

Clutches are not the cheapest thing to replace.

[QUOTE=Sunliner]I was a dumba** just last week & beat on mine for 10 minutes before my wife, of all people, said "didn't you set the parking brake before you jacked it up?" Old habit....

Damn.

Probably not what's going on in your case, but just thought I'd tell on myself there.
-Mike[/QUOte oh thats great. atleast i know i anit the only one that does goofy stuff sometimes it like the brain falls asleep aint it, but back to the trouble try hitting the drum between the lug stud that the spot that they stick carefull not to graze a flat spot on the lug stud with you hammer (been there) but if all else fails take a sharp chisel and knock the heads off the hold down pins from behind the backing plate, this shouldnt be necessary i have had to do it once in like 300 brake jobs.

Hope you didn't damage you clutch for this.

Clutches are not the cheapest thing to replace.

Nah, it was no different than how my wife drives it anyway.