Seized Drum Brake

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SD_R/T

SD_R/T

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Rear passenger drum brake (9") is stuck. Trying to get the drum off but having a hell of a time. I got it loose from the backing plate, so it appears it's the shoes keeping it in place. Per the FSM I took two little screwdrivers through the access hole on the back in order to loosen/release the shoes. I can get the first screwdriver on the adjuster lever to get it off the star wheel, but for the life of me I cannot get the star wheel to move in either direction with the other screwdriver.

How easily should the star wheel move? Due to the nearby spring shackles I've got a nice collection of bloody knuckles. I sprayed a ****-ton (technical automotive term) of PB blaster on it. Anyone have any ideas? If I'm missing something, please let me know. This is my first foray into drum brakes so I'm open to input. You can call me Drum Brake Grasshoppa.

Car is a 68 Valiant. Parking brake was off. If my continued PB blaster attacks don't loosen it up, do I have a fall-back position to get this drum off?
 
yes that sucks----- if the star adjuster is stuck-- use the the 2 hammer method, place 1 on the drum in different areas --- smack that one with a bigger hammer.
if all else fails-- drill out the 2 hold down pins on the back side & pry the drum carefully loose.
usually swearing & big hammer blows get it done .. Lawrence
 
VDART said:
yes that sucks----- if the star adjuster is stuck-- use the the 2 hammer method, place 1 on the drum in different areas --- smack that one with a bigger hammer.
if all else fails-- drill out the 2 hold down pins on the back side & pry the drum carefully loose.
usually swearing & big hammer blows get it done .. Lawrence
Click to expand...

Thanks Lawrence,
I did get the drum slightly off the backing plate (big hammer + swearing), but if I peek behind the drum while pulling I can see the shoes starting to come out with the drum. Since my knowledge of them is somewhat limited I didn't know if I continued to yank on the drum if I would do some serious damage to something else?
 
Sounds to me like your doing everything right..... PB blaster is real good as I use it around my shop quite a bit. What has probably happened is the car has sat for a longtime somewhere and the heat and possible weather conditions have pushed the wheel cyl pucks out of their bore and made everything tight inside the drum. Just keep on soaking the star adjuster as often as need be, and you may get it to turn, with luck. If you want to spend the money O'reilly's auto parts sell some penetrant that is made by Seafoam Co. called Deep Creep which is really good but is around 15.00 a can. Sometime's I've had some luck by unbolting the wheel cyl. AS MY LAST RESORT...... SOMETIMES I HATE TO DO IT...... BUT OUT COMES THE MILLER PLASMA CUTTER!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK:angryfir::toothy7:
 
Well I gave it another good soaking of PB Blaster this evening and I'll let it sit overnight. I've got a little time tomorrow morning so I guess I'll give it another shot then. Stupid little star wheel. ](*,)

Assuming it loosens up a little bit, which direction do I need to be spinning it to loosen them? FSM says to 'pry up'. Assuming this to mean that I rotate the top of the star wheel away from me (if I'm behind the drum looking through those access holes)?
 
I think its still lefty loosey, so you actually want to tighten the star nut. Remove the brake line from the slave cylinder so it will contract and it may relieve the pressure enough to get them off. Last resort if the shoes are binding is to drill a small hole in the drum edge "shoe level" and use a punch through the hole to tap the shoe back against the backing plate while you pry the drum off. I had a huge ridge on my old drum and that was hanging me up.
 
I would remove the 2 pins that hold the brake shoes in place (new ones come with brake hardware kit), use pry bars & carefully pry off the assembly---

your park brake cable might be frozen slightly engaged causing the shoes to be stuck to the drum.

if you are free from the axle -- tap around the drum numerous times, rust causes many problems when removing.

I think you have sprayed enough stuff ,you need to get medieval on the assembly.

ck your p- brake cable for movement,
place a pry bar between the drum & backing plate, tap drum with prying-- do this with even pressure-- it will come off Lawrence
 
I have never tried this but what would happen if you drilled a hole in the side of the brake drum then stuck a screwdriver through it and against the shoe and then pound the shoe away from the drum.
 
SD_R/T said:
Assuming it loosens up a little bit, which direction do I need to be spinning it to loosen them? FSM says to 'pry up'. Assuming this to mean that I rotate the top of the star wheel away from me (if I'm behind the drum looking through those access holes)?
Click to expand...

That is correct. A lot of the time the adjuster seizes up and can be quite a pain to loosen. Like pishta said there is probably a ridge in the drum that won't allow it to come past the shoes. If you can grind the head off the pin on both sides then you can pull it more to maybe get in there and get things moving.
 
Could you use a metal chisel and cut the heads off the pins that hold the shoes to the backing plate and pull the drum off with the shoes.
 
Thanks for all the great feedback, guys.
Had a small amount of time to work on it this morning. Star wheel still wasn't going to budge. Let a few expletives fly why swinging the hammer at it.

So I got the grinder out and cut off the two little pins in the back. That seemed to really free it up and was hopeful that everything was going to come out with the drum. But there is still something holding it in: feels like it may be towards the top?

What else might be fighting me besides those two pins? Remember, I am a brake drum novice. It's entirely possible (or likely) that I've skipped something easy or obvious. :)
 
Stole this pic from another thread. This shows you what you're dealing with. If you can pull the bottom of the drum out enough to get to the adjuster and work it loose then it will be easy pickens then.
 
Thanks for the picture badsport. It looks like maybe that top bolt/pin that the springs attach to might what's keeping me from taking everything off at once.

Ran out of time today, but I will see if I can get better access to the adjuster now that I can pull the drum out a little more from the bottom. Hopefully I can steal some time after work this week.
 
Sweet baby Jesus! That b$&*tch put up a fight! Thanks again to all those who chimed in with assistance. I tried:

1. Detaching the brake line to relieve pressure on the wheel cylinder. No luck. Probably a valid approach, just didn't work for me this time.
2. Drilling a hole in the drum, but couldn't get quite enough leverage while pushing on the shoe and pulling on the drum at the same time.

Ultimately, brute force won out. Was able to wedge a large screwdriver (with a hammer) between the shoe and drum from a small gap behind the drum. With that wedged in there I then took the pry bar and went around the edge of the drum. The results:

View attachment 1 075.jpg

Looks pretty nasty in there. I have a new wheel cylinder (that one is mangled now), hardware kit, adjuster kit, and shoes. The drum doesn't look to be in horrible shape, however with the holes I drilled into it I think I'll just order a new one. If I'm missing anything, just say so. By the way, the two pins that I cut off (from the rear of the backing plate) don't appear to be in the hardware kit. Is this a common item that I can get at a parts store?** Thanks again, guys!

**Edit: Found a 'brake shoe hold down kit' at Rockauto. I think this may have what I'm after.
 
You should be able to get everything you need in there at NAPA. When you put your adjusters in use some Never Seize on the threads, and screw them all the way down. Then you can adjust accordingly after you assemble everything.
 
While you have it all apart you may want to switch to 10" drums. It'll be a big improvement in overall braking ability. Those 9" brakes never were good even when brand new.
 
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