Chevy & GMC Vans

As people warned me it would be, on the side where the wheel was stuck, the drum is stuck. I have tried hitting it with a mallet and a hammer, but the centre seems rust welded together. Any suggestions on getting it off. It is getting dark so I probably will have to give up for tonight, but I put some Release-All around the centre after heating it a bit hoping that would suck some more of it in. I'm hoping that will help things along, but not I have to wait while it does its job.

The first step is to crank the adjuster back. Heat is your best friend doing this. Heat as hot and fast (high temp) as you can get between the lugs, and down towards the center hole.


Don't hammer on the center of the axle, although this works, you can do major damage to the pin that the spider gears ride on.

Worse case, pull the pin out of the diff and remove the axle. It is real easy to get the drum off then. It can be hard to get the C-clip out by yourself with the drum on, but it can be done.

back when I first learned to do a drum brake job we had a wheel puller for the front drums. I haven't seen one for decades now.
If the shoes are locked behind a ridge in the drum, and backing off the adjustment won't get them to retract, you have a chore ahead of you. If your backing plate laps over the drum, this won't work. If you can see the edge of the drum from the backside, put a big (sacrificial) screwdriver on the edge of the drum from the backside and use a hammer (22 oz. framing hammer) on it.
or alternately if you have ahttp://www.drudgereport.com/ rudy senior, otherwise known as a 5 lb sledgehammer, that will work as well. The one caveat besides sacrificing the screwdriver is that the drum may disassemble itself in the process.

Where is the adjuster access point? I took a look as it was getting dark using my trouble light, but was not sure where it was and nothing looked right. There were two small oval shaped spots side by side near the bottom. I didn't want to push anything in there as they looked like they had metal pieces on the inside and I didn't want those in the brakes if I couldn't get the drum off.

Metal pieces in the drum is probably not a good thing.
Inside those oval shaped holes are cogged wheels that are threaded onto the shaft of the brakes wheel cylinder. By backing these off you retract the brake shoes away from the inside drum surface. This will allow the drum to clear the brake shoes.
As far as the rest of your problem, keep hitting it and use lots of heat around the hub.
One day it will come off.

On the back side of the backing plate there should be covers on the adjusting holes. Remove them and look in there with a flashlight. You can see the adjuster star wheel and the adjuster which will be resting on the wheel. You need to use a piece of wire and push the adjuster away from the star wheel before you can back off the brake shoes by rotating the star wheel. As mentioned, after backing off the shoes, heat is your best friend. If everything fails then you may have to use a cutting torch and cut the drum off.

So those tiny ovals are the access points for adjusting the brakes? Wow! That is a small spot to work in, and it doesn't look like anyone in all the years of this van has ever opened them up. I will have to have another look tomorrow I guess.

Smiliesafari wrote:On the back side of the backing plate there should be covers on the adjusting holes. Remove them and look in there with a flashlight. You can see the adjuster star wheel and the adjuster which will be resting on the wheel. You need to use a piece of wire and push the adjuster away from the star wheel before you can back off the brake shoes by rotating the star wheel. As mentioned, after backing off the shoes, heat is your best friend. If everything fails then you may have to use a cutting torch and cut the drum off.

Yepper Skip-read my mind. We won't tell anyone that one.If the drums are that worn,might be just replacing them anyways.I really don't like to turn drums either.They are just too cheap to replace.So to cut them off might be the best solution.I would think heating the drums might effect the wheel cylinders seal,axle seals,spring kit.Two quick cuts and they are off.

Won't say that I haven't heated the center of the drum and applied pressure on the side.Cleaning them up really well helps.Then when I hear the pop I know they are feel from the axle,but then the wear is the ridge on the drums to get beyond the shoes.If the adjuster is frozen,it's kind of a for gone conclusion to cut the drums.You might get them freed up,but that "could take" a lot of time and effort.

At this point it seems the drum is not being held back by the shoes but stuck on the center. I haven't gotten to it today as I was a busy day. I am hoping to have time tomorrow, and I will see what I can see.

If the shoes aren't caught behind a ridge at the back edge of the drum, the drum is probably just rusted to hub.
I've had mine rust right around the center and couldn't get it to budge. I wire brushed around the center and rapped it good'n hard with a steel hammer. Iodine dissolves rust pretty good in tight places. (yep, the same caustic stuff granny put on your cuts to learn ya not to cut yerself again)
it's fairly thin so it sucks into tiny crevices quite well.

If you are buying a spring kit (which you should) take a drill or a small grinder and take the back off the little studs that hold the pads to the backing plate. Then take a blow torch and slightly warm up the drum near the centre hub and by the wheel studs. Get a Bee's wax ring for a toilet and melt it around the studs and the centre of the axle where it pokes out thru the drum and give it a good hard yank and the pads and drum should come off in one big mess. You will need to clean up the wax after but that is simple using a torch and then suck it up with some paper towel.

If it's stuck on the center... Get a propane torch and just start heating the drum itself where the axle and drum make contact. It will take several minutes. But it will eventually pop and you'll be able to get that drum off, using gloves of course...

I had to do this on my 91 p/u many years ago.

And when it comes to reassembly, smear a little high temp bearing or caliper grease around that center hub where it comes into contact with the drum. I recommend doing this for rotors also, to make them easier to remove.

SoCalli V8 wrote:And when it comes to reassembly, smear a little high temp bearing or caliper grease around that center hub where it comes into contact with the drum. I recommend doing this for rotors also, to make them easier to remove.

Doh! why didn't I think of that the last time I had this problem

Jim, you ever get that thing unstuck?