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AndrewM Samba Member
Joined: February 18, 2002 Posts: 496 Location: Charlotte, NC
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 6:58 pm Post subject: Stuck rear brake drum blues |
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Any tips on getting a stuck rear brake drum loose??? I already got the nut off now the rear brake drum won't budge. It spins free but won't come foward. Should I rent a puller or just knock the shit out of the drum with a 15lb sledge hammer? |
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chazwood Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2006 Posts: 678 Location: The last word in edgewise
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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find the break shoe star adjuster (thru the little hole) and crank that thing until its all the way in.
Most of the time, the break shoe wears a little lip in the drum, over time, which catches on the edge of the break shoe as you try to pull it off. Screwing in the break shoes adjuster as far as possible will help get past this lip.
If it is stuck on the spline and not moving at all yet.... a little light tapping on the drum right around the axle with a hammer will somethimes jar it loose. Go easy.
Last edited by chazwood on Sat May 06, 2006 7:32 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14271 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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Knocking it will tweak it. First do what chazwood said. Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster the spline area. Try a propane torch on the hub with some hammer to wood block hits to the hub area. Also put the nut back on til' it's flush with the the stub axle. Hold a good wood block against the nut/axle flush surface and hit that with the sledge. Sometimes it will get the splines loose. Then get the puller, load it up and wait an hour or a day for it to pop. If you thrash the drum by torturing it from backside sledge blows it will ruin it. If you try it, at least put wood between the drum and your weapon. |
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Flipseat Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2000 Posts: 1089 Location: Nursing 40 horses back to health.
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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If you decide to hammer it... go easy!! No big blows please. A little hammering can help persuade a slightly stuck drum to come free though. If you have access to a drum puller, use it. Otherwise, I've heard that loosening the axle nut some and driving on it a little bit sometimes helps. This isn't the greatest idea in the world, but back before I had adequate tools, I did this. Railroad tracks and bad roads work wonders. Don't go far from your house, don't go fast, and check it often. I like to lightly grease the splines when I put my drums on. _________________ Insert random important looking club initials here. |
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iamdonquixote Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2003 Posts: 2041 Location: M*ssholia
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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you can use heat, put a torch on the drum near the spline and get it real hot, then try it, this approach may require replacing axle seals though.
The drum gets stuck for two reasons, the stub axle or the brake shoes. If you have a little wiggle you can tighten and loosen the axle nut in sequence to try to get thing going.
I have now idea where I could rent a drum puller but you could make one. |
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Stocknazi Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2004 Posts: 5150
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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andrew,
if you have an auto zone nearby, they will rent a puller for free with a deposit. last time i was there i saw one on their chart, and it looked like it would work. i know i will be needing one. is this on your dd? _________________ WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).
"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
Thomas Jefferson |
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chazwood Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2006 Posts: 678 Location: The last word in edgewise
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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Just pulled both rear drums off this morning. (haven't been off for years)
1) adjusted the stars, all the way in.
2) left the wheels attached to the drums.
3) jacked up the rear so the axles were tilting down.
5) grabbed a dead blow hammer (rubber) and proceeded to smack the axle ends smartly.
The extra weight of the wheel, gravity, and the down hill slope proved too much, so it slid off in no time.
Found leaking bearing seal on one side and leaking wheel cylinder on other.
can't tell ya what I did on #4 .... I'd have to kill ya. |
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rusbus Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2003 Posts: 790 Location: Maryland
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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I've never had one stuck on the splines. I've pulled some nasty ass 12 year sitting in the woods kind of drums, and every one has been stuck on the shoes. It builds up a lip of rust on the inner edge of the drum, and the shoes can't get past it. I've rented a couple of pullers and they did the job. Eventually I just bought one. Basically bends the shoes out as you pull the drum off. Get ready to replace brake hardware... |
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10198 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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rusbus wrote: |
I've never had one stuck on the splines. I've pulled some nasty ass 12 year sitting in the woods kind of drums, and every one has been stuck on the shoes. It builds up a lip of rust on the inner edge of the drum, and the shoes can't get past it. I've rented a couple of pullers and they did the job. Eventually I just bought one. Basically bends the shoes out as you pull the drum off. Get ready to replace brake hardware... |
I had to use a drum puller on four last week and all four were stuck on the shoes. Bent the shoes slightly but I was able to press them back into shape. Sometimes the front drums get stuck on the bearings if the spindles chewed up.....and it usually just pulls the drum off while leaving the bearing and axle seal stuck on the spindle. |
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AndrewM Samba Member
Joined: February 18, 2002 Posts: 496 Location: Charlotte, NC
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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I went by National Tool today and bought a 3 arm puller. I got off work late and didn't feel like messing with it too much, but I did go ahead and put the puller on the drum and cranked it down a bit. Squirted some PB blaster into the drum again. Not budging. I'm hoping in the middle of the night I'll be awakened to the sound of the drum and puller hitting the garage floor. I think the drum is sticking on the spline.
Abeed, i'm working on the red/grey bus to hopefully take to the Transporter show in 2 weeks. |
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14271 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:24 am Post subject: |
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When you say "into the drum" you mean the spline area, right. The "drive around with the nut cottered loose" is an excellent way to free it up, too. Just don't drive too far. Try not to go koo-koo with tightening the puller as it can wrack the drum. |
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Goodfellow Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2005 Posts: 95 Location: oklahoma
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:54 am Post subject: |
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chazwood wrote: |
Just pulled both rear drums off this morning. (haven't been off for years)
1) adjusted the stars, all the way in.
2) left the wheels attached to the drums.
3) jacked up the rear so the axles were tilting down.
5) grabbed a dead blow hammer (rubber) and proceeded to smack the axle ends smartly.
The extra weight of the wheel, gravity, and the down hill slope proved too much, so it slid off in no time.
Found leaking bearing seal on one side and leaking wheel cylinder on other.
can't tell ya what I did on #4 .... I'd have to kill ya. |
ditto chazwood |
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AndrewM Samba Member
Joined: February 18, 2002 Posts: 496 Location: Charlotte, NC
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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I finally got that mofo removed. Today I tried to crank down the puller I bought and no luck. WalkthruKO stopped by my house with a bigass puller and I had to use the bigger puller, a breaker bar, and a cheater pipe. Eventually the drum came off slowly. There was some red rust up on the splines. We didn't trash the drum either so it turned out good. Big thanks to Keith O. He has worked on buses for years and said he'd never seen an axel as stuck as this one was.
When I put the drum back on i'm going to use some peratex antisieze on the splines. |
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iamdonquixote Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2003 Posts: 2041 Location: M*ssholia
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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here is a picture of a homemade one,
the steel wedge is in the wrong place in the picture.
A interesting tecnique involves putting the wedge between the stub axle and the puller, you pound the living hell out of the wedge to get things started. Afterwards, you can switch to a long bolt of all thread known as the "henry". Once you have the drum off, clean and sand the stub axle so that the drum will go on and off easily.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/274551.jpg |
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CheapBusForSale Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 496
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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I am having the same trouble now on my drivers rear after replacing the brakes on every wheel except that one. And I have tried every tectonic in my arsenal to get the bugger off, Including adjusting the stars all the say in, Pb penetrating oil, hammering it with wood & hammer everywhich way from Sunday and heating it up. And I thought I would rent a puller from Auto zone but the only one they have is to small, and I can't seem to find one anywhere around here, Unless I order one online, which I can't do because I need the van to get to work. Any other idea's? _________________ Looking for Groovy Bumper Stickers? Check out my Ads! |
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Clara Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2003 Posts: 12401
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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CheapBusForSale wrote: |
Any other idea's? |
Post your location.
The best thing with a really stuck drum is to get a good puller.
This is a fine item:
_________________ The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/ |
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joe cool Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2006 Posts: 1259 Location: Yolo County CA
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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In case it helps someone: I am near Sacramento, CA and I have the mother-of-all 3 arm pullers. If you ever need to use it, just ask.
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Da TOW'D Samba Member
Joined: December 25, 2005 Posts: 1321 Location: Bella Coma Canada
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:10 am Post subject: |
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We have a bigazz 3 arm puller also(not quite as big as the mother of all 3 arm pullers).
I used the plasma cutter to cut the centre out of a old bent wide 5 rim
and bolted it to the drum and mount the puller to pull on the rounded lip of the rim
I sure like Clara puller---mine can be a bit of a pain to get everything lined up almost need 3 hands to hold it til it starts to pull-
hank _________________ '57 type 1 Blackberry
'58 SC Ruf
'62 type 3 Notch
'92 Eurovan Willy DD
and NUTS |
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LittleThunder Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 1015
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:55 am Post subject: |
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It's been years since I read it but I think it was in Muir's idiot manual. Leave the wheel on the ground of the side you want to remove and jack up the other side of the bus. Then when you smack the stub axle (with the nut on flush), the shock of impact is able to move the bus and axle away from the drum/wheel which is being held solidly on the ground. In theory. I've only tried it once and it worked but mine wasn't stuck that bad. Anyone else try this? |
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Thetrevornator Samba Member
Joined: February 21, 2013 Posts: 59 Location: Yuma, AZ
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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I am having trouble getting my rear drum off.
using a drum puller and nothing
plenty of penetrating oil nothing
hammer nothing
not even a wiggle nothing
starts backed off yes. nothing.
HEAT around spindle area. nothing
this thing is stuck on here!
HELP _________________ 67 Panel Camper and a 64 OG ratty bug
"Life's a Journey"
http://instagram.com/dubtrevornator/ |
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