stuborn stuck brake drum

greendoglive · Post by **greendoglive** » Sun Jun 06, 2010 12:54 pm

hi all you may or may not have had this problem but my brake drum will not come off even with repetitive persuasion

any hints ?

don't have a blow torch or bearing puller . they are on the wish list.

Did see one suggestion off knocking the studs through then applying the brakes and trying to spin the axle .
by way of transmission . (hope that made sense)

Would this work?

Is there enough room in the brake compartment to push studs through?

will they loosen from the axle?

Tubal Cain · Post by **Tubal Cain** » Sun Jun 06, 2010 5:26 pm

The drums being cast iron can easily be broken if they are hit too hard with a hammer.

In the past I have removed the halfshafts from the axle, then stood them vertical on the wheel studs, on a piece of wood; and filled the depression formed by the brake drum and the hub with releasall/Diesel and left it for a day or two.Then using a hammer and a piece of wood, worked around the rim of the drum giving it a good clout trying to work it free.

If you do decide to remove the half shafts, remember to slacken off the brake adjusters first so that the shoes do not bind on the drums and prevent the backplate from being removed.

Gerald

john.n · Post by **john.n** » Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:09 pm

is it the machine screws that hold the drum on that are stuck?
a propane torch will get most things hot enough to get things moving. just takes about 5mins of constant heating.

Dunggatherer · Post by **Dunggatherer** » Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:36 pm

Knocking back the studs might work,but you will not be able to knock them back so deep that you can actually spin the axle without taking the brakedrum with it.
Behind the brakedrum is the bearinghousing,and there's only an inch and a half of room while the studs are 2 inches long.
Knocking them back a few millimeters may free things up though,but after that it's possible that the end of the axleshaft is rusted to the brakedrum too.

You did retract the brakeshoes and took out the two flatheaded screws?

greendoglive · Post by **greendoglive** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 1:59 am

unfortunately i did remove the 2 screws and realese the shoes i wish it was that easy.

I am going to give it another go today it has had all night to think about what it is doing and how badly it has behaved..

When you say remove the half shaft are you suggesting to undo the bearing retainer bolts behind the back plate and everything should slide out?

I thought of running a welding rod around the end of the axle to heat up would this fry the seal? or do untold damage ?

Tubal Cain · Post by **Tubal Cain** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:27 am

If you remove the nuts securing the bearing retainer to the trumpet you can slide the halfshaft, retainer and drum out of the axle. If you then remove the backplate you have access to the drum.

In this instance I would suggest that the amount of heat required to successfully free the drum will probably cause damage to other components.

As an Engineer I have learnt the hard way, that the easiest way to solve problems like this is invariably the way which at first appears to be the hardest; in that major disassembly allows the work in hand to progress faster and results in minimal damage!

Gerald

greendoglive · Post by **greendoglive** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:51 am

it's free!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info guys a little time and lots of spray with some friendly persuasion and slowly it came off.

Was a little greasey and sticky inside though but it looks like a very slow leak from the seal in there somewhere.

I think i will just have to ignore for a little while and hope not leaking to fast.

Any temp fix that will get me by for a few months would be good. Tractor is in the paddock at the mo and need to get the old girl running sooner than later.

john.n · Post by **john.n** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:02 am

clean it all up in there, i found on mine the seal wasnt leaking it was the join between the trumpet housing and the bearing retainer. just use some sealent if you find the same.

greendoglive · Post by **greendoglive** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:47 am

cool thanks for that will check out today.

EddieJ · Post by **EddieJ** » Sat Jun 12, 2010 9:31 am

We had a stuck drum on the dexta about 18 years ago, we were changing a rear seal due to oil on the brakes. We removed the axle which is pretty easy. Being cast we didnt use the heavy hitter instead luckly at that time my father had access at work to a large workshop press. One of the guys built a rig to support the drum and shaft (shaft downwards).

I think it took more than 2tons to shift, I remember Dad saying it went with an almighty bang and he was surprised that nothing was broken.