VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 3/4 ton brake drums

Does anyone know of a brake drum puller with arms long enough to grab onto to rear drum on a 1952 3/4 ton pickup? The only ones I have found have a reach of around 5”. I’m thinking I need about 8 or 9”. Most appreciative of any help I can get.

I am not sure why you need a puller on a 1952 3/4 ton truck rear brake drum. In fact I would be concerned that you will crack the brake drum pulling on the outer diameter.

You need to make sure that the parking brake cable is disconnected and that the adjusters are all the way in. This will make sure that there is plenty of clearance so the inside diameter of the drum will clear the shoes.

If the drum is stuck it is being held on for one or both of these reasons.

The shoes could be stuck to the inside diameter of the drum. You can often break them loose by lightly tapping all around the outside diameter of the drum.

The other place they stick is on the face of the axle hub. There are some tricks to braking that bond. One is to hammer on the outside face of the drum near the center. Screw the lug nuts on to almost full depth of the nut so you do not damage the wheel stud threads with your hammer swings,

The other method is to use an impact tool in an air hammer. That is the easiest and quickest way to break that bond.

I would be careful with the drum because they are almost impossible to find, and at only used. I agree with smacking the face on the hub. When you see powdered dust come out, you know the rust bond is starting to be broken down. If it turns, you can undo the hub bearing and take it off with the hub.

Thanks for your replies Rusty37 and Old 216. My drums will turn both clockwise and counterclockwise. The adjusters are all the way in but I’m not sure about the parking brake cables. One of the PO’s cut the cables just ahead of where they attach to the frame. They look pretty rusty so I cut them close to the backing plate and sprayed them liberally with PB Blaster. They may still be hanging up a bit but as mentioned previously the drums do turn. Also, I can move them in and out from the backing plate about 1/8” so I know they are not rust fused to the axle hub. My thinking is the drums are grooved and the shoes aren’t getting past the grove. I’m running out of ideas at this point and am waiting patiently for the PB Blaster to work it’s magic.

Don't take this wrong, but I have to ask.
Your truck has a full floating rear axle so you have removed the axle shafts and the outer nut, lock ring, bearing...correct? If yes, try wiggling them up and down and side to side as violent as possible, to possibly shrink your brake shoes a little more. I think you are close. Remember to protect the threads on the hollow spindle before the process. Using a dead blow hammer at the outer end of the hub, would probably be safe. Good luck.

Mike

Thanks for the additional details. I agree that it sounds like the shoes are not retracted as far as they can.

Is there enough parking brake cable left that you can pull on it?

I know that pulling on it will make the shoes move outward. My thinking is that making the shoes move some might loosen things up so the springs will retract them more.

My other concern is that if the drums are as grooved/worn as you are thinking they might not be serviceable. The normal limit to turn a worn drum is .060” over the standard diameter. That means only .030” of material can be removed.

If the drums move in and out slightly then they are probably hanging up on the shoes. If they don’t move on and out slightly they are stuck on the hub.

The last thing you want to do with a rare brake drum is:
Crank on it with a big puller....Hit it with hammers.... or Destroy it using an air chisel

The fastest & easiest way to free up brake shoes that are preventing the drum from being removed is to :

Remove the brake line from the wheel cylinder, remove the bolt that is securing the brake cylinder to the backing plate.

Manipulate the wheel cylinder until it falls down inside of the drum....the brake shoes will then retract enough to get the drum off.

Thank you Old49er. I’ll give that a shot. Is the idea to manipulate the brake cylinder straight down until it clears the brake shoes?

What Old49er is recommending makes sense. If you can get the wheel cylinder to drop that should allow the shoes to come together more.

I have been thinking about why the shoes will not react enough to remove the drum. If the pistons are stuck in the wheel cylinder the adjusting screw will not be able to screw in as far as needed to give clearance for the shoes. If that is the situation the adjusters themselves will start moving off the end of the wheel cylinder. That could interfere with trying to make the cylinder drop.

Rainy cold and downright nasty here today so no wrenching for me today. As soon as the weather clears, I’ll give the cylinder drop a try and let you know how it goes. My front brakes are done and they were no problem. Hopefully the backs will eventually cooperate too.

Driver’s side is now off and it looks like the rusty old parking brake cable is the culprit. Brake drum is scored but not terribly. Brake shoes are in bad shape and need to have new linings bonded on. I’m going to take the drums to a local brake shop and have them measured. If there is enough meat on the bone, I’m going to have them resurface to 12.05”. If not enough meat. I’m sticking with what I have.

Again, thanks for all the encouragement and good advice. Both rear drums are now off and I’ve discovered that there were a number of contributing factors to their wanting to stay put. The cylinder pistons were rusted tight so they didn’t move when I turned the adjuster rings. The parking brake cable was rusted tight on both sides but that was no problem as the parking brake connecting rod was missing on both sides. And finally, they main pivot pin that holds the shoes to the backing plate were so rusted that the shoes didn’t move. I got the driver side drum off with some gentle prying but had to drill out the pivot pin to get the brake shoes off. On the passenger side I disconnected and dropped the brake cylinder into the drum area. That finally did the trick. Everything is apart now but I destroyed a pivot pin in the process. If anyone knows where I can locate one I would be most grateful for the contact. And so, the project marches on.

Many thanks for the update. It is good to hear about your progress.

Working on these classics can be challenging, frustrating, and rewarding. Developing solutions such as you did takes time and patience. And as you experienced there is often collateral damage.

Hopefully someone has the parts you need.

A couple of ideas. If you have a spring and axle shop in your area you might give them a call. Also both The Filling Station and Chevs of the 40s have an evolving inventory of used parts that aren't in the catalog. Give them a call. The last is call Vintage Chevy Parts 7607235134. I don't remember the fellows name but he had an unobtanium part for my 53 210. Good luck.

Thanks Tiny. This is very helpful. I’ll give them all a call and hope that I hit pay dirt with one of them. This search reminds me of the “good old days” prior to the internet. You needed to know a guy who knew a guy. The chase was half the fun.

Yes indeed… patience and persistence. Sometimes I need to dig deep to find both.

I think that pin is something that could be fabricated by a good machine shop.