James
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 posted on 28/5/02 at 05:07 PM |
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Brake Drums- help help help!
Help me please!!!
I spent atleast 4 hours on Sunday trying so get off the brake drums from my 'F' reg 2.0i GLS Sapphire to as to then be able to get the whole
assembly out of the car.
Steps: (1-3 as per Heynes manual)
1. Release hand brake.
2. Remove wheel.
3. Remove brake drum
4. Pull for ages on drum until fingers hurt.
5. Consult Heynes- it says "press ratchet thingy through whole with screw driver).
5. Find drum has no whole either side.
6. Consult Heynes- it says "press plunger thingy with screwdriver).
7. Press plunger thingy.
8. Pull on drum till fingers hurt.
9. Use crowbar between drum and back plate- notice back plate and drum is bending. But drum is still stuck firmly in middle.
10. Spend ages pulling with crowbars, large screwdriver etc. Even Dad can't help (Head won't fit in gap between plate and drum  ).
10-1. notice black powder on floor under drum.
11. Get bored, phone mate who's ex-mechanic. He says: "hit with large hammer".
12. 3 hours of hitting with copper/hide and levering with crowbar.
13. Give up and go watch television in bleeding handed sulk.
So gentlemen, what's the story? Has the drum become fused to the hub? Or, have the drums been worn (bear in mind the car's done under 60K) such that
they're catching on the shoes?
What can I do about this? A colleague's just suggested it may still be being pulled by the (it's released!) handbrake so I should either cut the
cable or disassemble the handbrake lever etc from car. I'll need it anyway for the car so might this idea work?
Please, any suggestions very gratefully received!
Thanks,
James
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UncleFista
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| posted on 28/5/02 at 06:05 PM |
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Bigger hammer...
Keep hitting the drims with a large steel hammer, none of this copper/hide hammer malarky 
Have the drum rusted/seized in the centre, where the hub is ? If it has, it takes a lot of "shocking" to free it off.
Good luck
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 28/5/02 at 06:38 PM |
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does the drum rotate?
is there a little screw - surely its not that - you havnt taken out....
Tried lots o wd40 raound the hub centre and the studs?
is there such a thing as a hub puller you could use?
atb
steve
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john_s
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| posted on 28/5/02 at 06:38 PM |
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Hi.
It could be that the drums have worn to leave a lip which is struggling to clear the brake shoes.
Can only repeat the suggestion of big hammer. Might help to keep turning them occassionally.
John
--
John Singleton
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James
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| posted on 29/5/02 at 09:49 AM |
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Thank you for all the suggestions gentlemen.
UncleFista,
I didn't want to use a steel hammer in case I shattered the drum as my mechanic mate said it's happened to him- but at this stage I might as well
risk it!
Steve,
The drum will rotate along with the whole system (shafts and dif' etc.)but not independently. Or atleast it did till I started bashing with hammer!
Now it goes round a bit then gets stiff then goes round a bit more sort of thing...
Couldn't find a screw or anything else that needed undoing- there were four bolts (in two pairs) on the back of the back plate I guess I could undo
to see what happens but Heynes said they were something else (can't remember what off the top of my head).
Put as much WD40 as I dared around the hub centre (didn't want it to get inside the drum) but none around the studs as it appears to be free at this
point because I can see the drum flexing away from the studs.
I might be able to borrow a hub puller from someone I guess- will give that a try when I get hold of one.
John,
I think this is the most likely reason- especially as there appears to some slight 'springiness' when the hub flexes back.
Guess it's back to the hammer then! Problem is- there's not really anything decent to bash that means the force is going in the right direction- if
you see what I mean.
I had resorted to getting underneath the car and using a cold-chisel and hammer at the lip of the drum near the back plate.
Thanks again everyone- I'll go and try these suggestions (ie. bigger hammer  ) and hope for the best.
Thanks,
James
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Bob da builder
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| posted on 29/5/02 at 11:55 AM |
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First suggestion is the Big Hammer method!! copper is best as it wont damage the drum, try turning the drum as hitting it. (as already discussed
earlier in thread)
But....
If the worst comes to the worst im sure that there are plenty of drums at the scrappy going cheap!
try cutting into the drum with a grinder and smack a coal chisel in the cut that will break it into 2!! not the best soloution but it may be the
method that causes the least damage. i.e. no bending the backplate & Hand Brake Mechanisim.
I know that its a bit crude but it may save you many more hours of grazed knuckles!!
Rob
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 29/5/02 at 01:00 PM |
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I meant there is sometimes a screw on the wheel face - too obvious for you to have missed that!
I recon the wear lip theory might be it.
I would suggest that you drill a hole in the wheel face, and squirt a lot of oil in, and rotate the drums to get it all over the shoes and drum. Lets
face it, you are trying to get a high friction thing to come apart - you need to reduce the friction.
Cleaning up after and buying new shoes for those that a probably shagged isnt a big loss.
ATB
Steve
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 29/5/02 at 05:41 PM |
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Yo James look at the hub bit that sticks out in the centre of the drum,you will probably find a lot of corrosion from the alloy wheels being on,clean
that off with a wire brush and soak in wd 40 the drum should come off with modderate hammer work 
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James
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| posted on 5/6/02 at 10:14 AM |
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James
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| posted on 5/6/02 at 10:17 AM |
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DONE IT!!!
Thanks for all the advice everyone!
I used the method known as: getting ex-mechanic mate to come round house and hit drum with big hammer!
Actually, I very soon realised what I was doing wrong- I was hitting the 'top' of the drum so as to try and 'knock' it off the hub. Doh!
Mechanic mate just hit it in the gap between each of the studs and with a couple of bashes away it came- easy!
Oh well, I'll learn one of these days!
James
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