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chronoman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 6 Location: unemployed
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:15 am Post subject: 67 bug rear brake drum stuck |
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OK so i have a 67 bug and the passenger side rear brake drum is messed up. the lug nut threads are stripped so i'm replaceing the drum.
I have removed the pin and took off the axle nut with a breaker bar. Turned the star gear deals all the way in so the drum spins freely but it won't come off.
I have tried pulling it. hitting it with a little hammer on both the front of the drum and the lip in the rear. I have tried sticking a screw driver inside the holes of the drum to pull the brake pads away from the drum.
I have tried shouting curse words at it.
I called a few places to get a hub puller but no one has one. A bunch of people have gear pullers and steering wheel pullers but nothing specifically for hubs. I'm going to advance auto parts to check out what they have..
Now here I am. I don't care about the brake drum. It's already useless to me. It has like 2 threads still usable which I might be able to use for a drum puller. Can I just beat it with a sledge hammer and brake it w/o seriosly damaging anything important?
I haven't tried heat yet.
I would like to just beat it off.
Has anyone tried heating it then freezing it to make it crack in half? |
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Zundfolge1432  Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2004 Posts: 12566
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: Re: 67 bug rear brake drum stuck |
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"chronoman"]OK I would like to just beat it off.[/ |
Ok do that first to relax then when you are ready to work on the car again apply heat to the drum around the center where the splines are.. Dont go nuts heating and certainly dont try to make itr cherry red, just heat it and then spray some liquid wrench on it , let this soak and heat it again then try the hammer it might take several attempts but heat and penetrating oil will work......... Worst case senario you cut the drum off using a cutting wheel...
Has anyone tried heating it then freezing it to make it crack in half?[/quote]
Never heard of this, |
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GeorgeL Samba Member

Joined: January 16, 2006 Posts: 7346
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:58 am Post subject: Re: 67 bug rear brake drum stuck |
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Quote: |
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Has anyone tried heating it then freezing it to make it crack in half? |
Never heard of this, |
Won't work, because metal in mallerable. Now if the drum were made of glass...
Basically, the splines are rusted together. Applying penetrating oil (not WD-40) might loosen things up with time, tapping, and heat. Don't wale away at it with the BFH, as this will damage the bearings. If a wheel could be mounted I'd recommend backing the castellated nut off a wee bit and driving the vehicle, but it sounds like this cannot be done with this one. Pullers come in two forms, one that attaches via the bolts and another that grabs the outer edge of the drum.
Sometimes they are just plain stuck and you end up cutting them off
When reassembling, put a light coating of anti-seize grease onto the splines to keep this from happening again.
Good luck, keep us informed. |
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chronoman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 6 Location: unemployed
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:12 am Post subject: |
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ill give the liquid wrench and heat a shot. No way to hook the tire to the drum. The lug nuts end up comming right off. (Happened while driving 45MPH!)
well Im def going to use a BFH on that drum whether it be on or off the car.
I tried cursing at it again but that didnt work.
Wish me luck |
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GeorgeL Samba Member

Joined: January 16, 2006 Posts: 7346
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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chronoman wrote: |
well Im def going to use a BFH on that drum whether it be on or off the car. |
If you insist on using the BFH, here is a way that might do some good.
Remove the nut. Support the "snout" of the drum on a sturdy jackstand. The idea is that the support is rigid and cannot move. Take the BFH and give the snout a healthy whack, striking downward toward the jackstand. The idea is to "flex" the cast iron drum around the splines a bit. Jack car up, rotate drum a bit, lather, rinse, repeat until you have gone all the way around.
This is relatively safe for the bearings as any side loads will be transmitted to the jackstand.
George |
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chronoman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 6 Location: unemployed
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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IT CAME OFF!
Heated it up sprayed some liquid nail on it and tapped it a bit. Didn't budge. waited a while tried again.
Well I got a 4lb hammer and beat it until it cracked and then beat it some more then all of a sudden it gave a little!
then I tapped it with a smaller hammer in the back as my brother pulled and it came off. There ended up being a crack all the way through the brake drum. It took a lot of effort to get that beast off. Hope i didn't mess up the bearings..
so how will i know if i messed up the bearings? |
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GeorgeL Samba Member

Joined: January 16, 2006 Posts: 7346
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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chronoman wrote: |
IT CAME OFF!
Heated it up sprayed some liquid nail on it and tapped it a bit. Didn't budge. waited a while tried again.
Well I got a 4lb hammer and beat it until it cracked and then beat it some more then all of a sudden it gave a little!
then I tapped it with a smaller hammer in the back as my brother pulled and it came off. There ended up being a crack all the way through the brake drum. It took a lot of effort to get that beast off. Hope i didn't mess up the bearings..
so how will i know if i messed up the bearings? |
When you put the new drum on and the car goes rumblerumblerumble as you drive. |
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mailman Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 1663
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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I had the exact same problem, and couldn't find a puller to rent. So, I made my own.
Here's the component parts I used:
Here's the puller bolted to the stuck drum:
Here's the puller, on the drum, with the bottle jack in place
This thing could not have worked any better! Had that drum off in less than a minute, and never raised a sweat.....  _________________ '64 Bahama Blue Beetle / steel sunroof
'64 Bahama Blue Beetle Sedan (future ragtop) |
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neonrick Samba Member

Joined: February 03, 2006 Posts: 579 Location: Tampa, Florida
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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mailman wrote: |
I had the exact same problem, and couldn't find a puller to rent. So, I made my own.
Here's the component parts I used:
Here's the puller bolted to the stuck drum:
Here's the puller, on the drum, with the bottle jack in place
This thing could not have worked any better! Had that drum off in less than a minute, and never raised a sweat.....  |
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NICE!!!  |
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mailman Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 1663
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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I was VERY pleased with how it worked out. The only thing I eventually changed was the "buffer" between the bottle jack and the axle. If you'll notice in the picture, I had originally used a steel washer...thinking I wanted to avoid damaging the axle. Right idea, but the washer was too large to allow the drum to pass over it. I took the washer out and replaced it with a copper penny. Can't get much cheaper than that!
Now I have the tool onhand, and can use it again, on my cars or someone else's. I'm planning to pick up a junk 4-bolt wheel, and weld the chains to it, too. Then I'll be able to work with either style. The whole thing, including the new bottle jack, cost me under $30. _________________ '64 Bahama Blue Beetle / steel sunroof
'64 Bahama Blue Beetle Sedan (future ragtop) |
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chronoman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 6 Location: unemployed
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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how bad did that thing tug on the rim? a junk rim would be good idea |
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mailman Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 1663
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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That IS a junk rim.....that's why I didn't mind welding the chains to it. The wheel was rusty, and the lips of the rim were all bent. I'll be looking for an equally junky 4-bolt wheel to do the same thing to. _________________ '64 Bahama Blue Beetle / steel sunroof
'64 Bahama Blue Beetle Sedan (future ragtop) |
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mrafindley Samba Member

Joined: December 29, 2007 Posts: 642 Location: miami Florida
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mailman Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 1663
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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That's interesting...
I hadn't heard that before. I wonder why that would be? It's just a closed hydraulic system, right? The master cylinder in our brake systems are horizontal....
At any rate, it worked great! _________________ '64 Bahama Blue Beetle / steel sunroof
'64 Bahama Blue Beetle Sedan (future ragtop) |
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GeorgeL Samba Member

Joined: January 16, 2006 Posts: 7346
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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mailman wrote: |
That's interesting...
I hadn't heard that before. I wonder why that would be? It's just a closed hydraulic system, right? The master cylinder in our brake systems are horizontal.... |
The reservoir for the bottle jack surrounds the output piston, so the way that you had it the reservoir was below the input piston. I wouldn't expect it to work with the lever on top, but nothing succeeds like success!
If for some reason it doesn't work in the future, just flip the jack around so the lever is below the reservoir and it should work fine. |
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mailman Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 1663
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, guys. I'll know next time. Glad it worked for me the first time! I would have been pissed off if it hadn't!  _________________ '64 Bahama Blue Beetle / steel sunroof
'64 Bahama Blue Beetle Sedan (future ragtop) |
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