Instruction on how to remove 96GR voyager rear brake drums

[zander5]

96Gr voyager need to check rear wheel cylinders, how to release emergence brake to remove brake drum?

[gary v]

You need to back off the automatic adjuster to get the brake shoes out of the groove in the drums.

[RIP]

This is from page 9-7 of the Haynes manual: Remove the brake drum. If the drum won't come off, create some slack in the parking brake cables by pulling the exposed section of the cable down and to the rear, to the point where it passes through the body brackets. Clamp a pair of locking pliers to the rear of the rearmost bracket.
I did this a couple years ago and it worked fine for the passenger rear. I had to pry and pry the drivers rear drum off, bending some of the internal hardware. Use something to cushion the cable when you sqeeze the locking pliers on the cable. You don't want to fray the cable. Please let us know how it came out so we can all learn something.

[zander5]

Originally Posted by RIP

This is from page 9-7 of the Haynes manual: Remove the brake drum. If the drum won't come off, create some slack in the parking brake cables by pulling the exposed section of the cable down and to the rear, to the point where it passes through the body brackets. Clamp a pair of locking pliers to the rear of the rearmost bracket.
I did this a couple years ago and it worked fine for the passenger rear. I had to pry and pry the drivers rear drum off, bending some of the internal hardware. Use something to cushion the cable when you sqeeze the locking pliers on the cable. You don't want to fray the cable. Please let us know how it came out so we can all learn something.

What a PAIN: I removed the inspection seal on top, the emergence cable needed to be moved in order to see the adjuster, once the cable was moved I was able to move the adjuster in the correct direction to remove the drum.

[RIP]

zander5 - Now that you mention it, I remember looking in the hole but couldn't see anything. Thats when I got on the this forum and asked for help and got none. Wish you were around then. I'll use glasses next time! Cheers!

[nixonrules]

One other item of note is that when you put the drums back on , put a light film of never-seize on the wheel studs where they are pressed into the hub (and the drum meets the surface. Mine were so tight that I had to use a puller, heat and a hammer to get mine off because they were stuck in that area.

[zander5]

Originally Posted by nixonrules

One other item of note is that when you put the drums back on , put a light film of never-seize on the wheel studs where they are pressed into the hub (and the drum meets the surface. Mine were so tight that I had to use a puller, heat and a hammer to get mine off because they were stuck in that area.

I use anti-seize on as much as possible. I never know when I may need to remove the item again. thanks

[HeadlessHorseman]

I did not realize until after I wrestled my rear drums off that there was a hole in back to gain access to the self-adjusting doo-dad. I bought a new second set of drums (turning down the originals, now on a shelf in the garage) with the plan to simply replace the drums every other time I do brakes in the front.

This eliminates the need to back off the self adjuster because the drums are never on the van long enough for the rear brake shoes to dig trenches in the drums... which makes the backing-off procedure necessary in the first place. For me, it's just sooo much easier to do it this way...

...with a spare set of already-turned-down drums waiting to be installed before I pull the old ones off, I can finish off my brake job very quickly and take my time later having the old "trenched out" drums turned down.

[RIP]

HH... Organized people. What can you do with them! Nice tip.

[HeadlessHorseman]

Originally Posted by RIP

HH... Organized people. What can you do with them! Nice tip.

Thanks for the kind word RIP, but for me, at least, it's about ease of replacement... getting my trenched-out drums off was a biotch and I can see how easily anyone can damage brake shoe hardware if, like me, they were clueless the first time about how to back of the self adjuster.