i spent the past hour trying to get the drivers side drum off sarahs ranger and it wouldnt budge. when i took the wheel/tire off i seen a nice patch of fuzzy ****...i figured corrosion from the wheel/drum (alm wheels)...so i cleaned it up with a wire brush and sprayed the ever-lovin **** out of it with PB blaster and proceded to tap on the drum. i did this same procedure for about 20 minutes and then i stopped.

then i tried to parking brake about a dozen times and it wasnt stuck and it was off...so i tried the star adjuster and backed it off. then i tired the PB and tap for a little more and gave up, because it was getting dark. the drum wouldnt budge one inch! WTF!

so my question, is there a trick to getting these drums off? im no noob to anything auto but this has me stumped...

also what is the miniunium allowable thickness for the front brake rotors?

 

could u push it back up ?

 

only movement i get is the little play from the axles.

 

can u see any of thr shoe?

 

i tried but i couldnt get my head in far enough to look. i know ur not supposed to but i took my small pry bar behind the drum and backing plate and gave it a little wiggle and it didnt even budge.

im stumped, out of all the drum brakes i messed with this is a first.

 

try this (if u havn't already) make sure the drum is all the way up and hit it hard with a hammer between the studs HARD

 

STOP!!!! First of all, there is an adjuster wheel behind the rubber piece on the bottom of the backing plate. You need to retract the shoes before you try to get them off anymore. And if this doesn't work, try getting a gear puller.

 

yep! he is right. jsut keep smacking it in between the studs... it will come off

 

i did try the star adjuster...and im gunna need one big gear puller LOL

as i said before, im no noob to this. i never have seen a drum this hard to remove. all that corrosion on the drum/flange should have been a warning sign to wait to do this later when i had more time.

just how hard do i need to hit this summa*****? i was doing full on baseball swings with my 3 lbs dead blow! LOL when i said "tap" i mean beat the **** out of it.

 

A deadblow absorbs too much of the impact.

Use a 2 or 3 lb. BFH and whack the crap out of it, as previously described.

The center hole of the drum gets gaulded to the axle hub. You can use a small wire wheel to get the rust off the exposed part and PB Blaster to soak it.

It's sounds bass - ackwards to smack it between the studs in the installing drum direction, but that will work. Once it breaks free, it takes a lot of wiggling to get it off. Resist that urge to hit it really hard on the outer diameter in the removal direction, unless you are planning on installing new drums.

Truly, once you break that bond in the center, you can work it off. Wear gloves!


Thank PennDot for all that salt!

 

I had bad experiences using a BFH so i stuck to the DBH...i severely cracked a drum hitting it between the studs with a 3 lb hammer before and i didnt wanna damage the drum on her truck...mainly because it isnt mine LOL.

once i do the front brakes today ill give it another try on the rear drums.

 

I alway put a light coat of anti- seize compound on the hub where it contacts the center of the drum. I keeps the salt from rusting it solid. I know this won't help you now, but will in the future. The salt in the winter will literally salt/weld the drum to the hub if you don't.

 

that is a great tip, i do plan on it once i get there LOL.

 

this happened to me in my E-150 when i did the rear brakes, the star adjuster was loosened all the way but the shoes ground down the drum, and the edge rusted over and wouldnt let the drum come off-it did come off but in 4 pieces
i just pulled the drums off my ranger to check the shoes and it was rough but it came loose

 

Im gunna let the tech who inspects it deal with the drums, lol. i dont have the time or room to be playing with them. the same **** happened with the drivers front rotor so i had to persude it to come off but it didnt take much.

funny how i have alm wheels on my F150 but i never had this problem before. are the factory wheels (5 spoke) made from a different kind of alloy?

 

Rear drums that haven't been removed in a long time (or never) can become "welded" to the axle stud flange. Beating, tapping, fluid and a propane torch are a waste of time. The easiest way is to use an oxy/acetelene torch. It has an intensely hot flame and will heat shock the drum without heating up the flange you're trying to remove it from. Play the flame around the face of the drum near the studs and within a few seconds you'll hear a loud "snap" when the drums breaks free. A propane torch warms up the metal too slowly and ends up heat soaking the drum as well as the axle flange so they expand at the same rate and won't separate. If you don't have an oxy/acetelene set but know someone who does, and the truck is drivable, take it to them, remove the rear wheels, use the torch to pop the drums free, squirt a little penetrant around the studs, reinstall the wheels and drive home. They won't re-seize before you can remove them.

 

I've always had good luck with MAP gas, but never on something with that much surface area. In between propane and the hot wrench.

 

I actually tried a MAPP torch too before resorting to the oxy/acet and, like you said, it's just too much area to heat quickly with anything less. Maybe if you used four mapp torches held by a couple of people ......?

 

After success getting the Ranger drums off I went ahead and tackled the Prizm drums (gave up on getting them off 5 years previous)! Anyway, you'all call it "weld" to the spindle, I call it rust. Had success getting Ranger drums off by off and on spraying around lug bolts with penetrating oil. And hammering the flat area around the lug bolts. And hammering the outside part of the drum. And some prying between backplate and drum. I also had a sticking EBrake cable on one side that was interfering (replaced that later).

Kept at it till they came off. Gave them new shoes and springs and adjuster... Anti seized the flat surfaces when putting back together for future help. These drums may have never been off before (same as Prizm?). Didn't aply heat but it definitely entered my mind. Some drums have 2 threaded holes for driving a bolt into to push drum away from spindle. Don't remember seeing them on the Ranger drums.

Max drum inside diameter ought to be stamped into the drum somewhere.