Brake Drums Won't Come Off

[6066gmcguy]

My Truck is a little bigger but it works the same way to get to the front brakes,

Remove the front wheel and now we can see the bearing will need to be pulled to get to the brakes.


Remove the cover to get at the bearings.


Kinda small bearings for a big truck, but it is rated only for 16000 lbs.


once the outer bearing is removed you can pull the front hub/drum assembly off.




Remove the inner bearing and seal.


clean up the bearings and seal then repack with nice clean greese.




While you have the hub removed its a good time to repack your bearings!

[aphaynes]

Originally Posted by 6066gmcguy

My Truck is a little bigger but it works the same way to get to the front brakes,

Remove the front wheel and now we can see the bearing will need to be pulled to get to the brakes.


Remove the cover to get at the bearings.


Kinda small bearings for a big truck, but it is rated only for 16000 lbs.

once the outer bearing is removed you can pull the front hub/drum assembly off.


Remove the inner bearing and seal.

clean up the bearings and seal then repack with nice clean greese.


While you have the hub removed its a good time to repack your bearings!

Thanks for the details with pics! Hopefully this weekend I will have time to check them out. When braking hard it pulls to the left, so its about time I found out why.

[Andice]

Don't rule out the brake hoses as a possible culprit. I removed the front hoses from my Henry J only to find that the hoses had swelled up inside to the point where they had almost no fluid passing through them. Years of moisture and other contamination plus weather can cause brake hose problems.

[aphaynes]

Originally Posted by Andice

Don't rule out the brake hoses as a possible culprit. I removed the front hoses from my Henry J only to find that the hoses had swelled up inside to the point where they had almost no fluid passing through them. Years of moisture and other contamination plus weather can cause brake hose problems.

Interesting. I would not have thought of that. Another check to add to my To-Do list.

[6066gmcguy]

"When braking hard it pulls to the left,"

A lot of times its not really the brakes that will make this happen. you need to check out the front suspension and steering too. Ball joints, control arm bushings, tie rod ends, pitman and idler arms, wheel bearing loosens, and get this one, rear axle loose? if it shifts when stopping you'll change direction too.

[GMCNUT]

I'm with Ken - once the cotter pin and nut are removed the whole hub and drum come off together - if you are also working on the rears, that might take some prying from each side between the backing plate and drum though - your brake shoes will be sort of stuck in there sometimes and the drum will not come off easily - you will have to fight it with big screwdrivers or cat claws, etc to get it off - I use a hammer or mallet and big screwdrivers drove in between the drum and backing plate to apply pressure, then beat from the back edge outward until they come off.

[60ShortStpeGMC]

Originally Posted by 60ShortStpeGMC

It's a PITA to post images here, so instead I'll point you to my craigslist ad that has images of 69 front drum/spindles so you can see an example of a disassembled drum:
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/4774782732.html

Trying to get rid of the stale URL and learn the image/attachment procedure.

[60ShortStpeGMC]

Originally Posted by 60ShortStpeGMC

It's a PITA to post images here, so instead I'll point you to my craigslist ad that has images of 69 front drum/spindles so you can see an example of a disassembled drum:
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/4774782732.html

Cleaning up my original post...

[aphaynes]

Thanks 60ShortStpeGMC. My master cylinder has now failed, so when the weather clears up, I'll have to replace that and pull the drums to inspect everything else. Thanks for the pics. I was imagining the setup wrong in my head. Makes sense after seeing the pic. Picture is worth a thousand words right?

I know I have issues on the front left as I can hear a scrapping noise as I spin the tire. Like I said, just waiting on decent weather, at least some sunshine, before tackling it all. Sure would be nice to have a shop to pull this thing into.

[jagarra]

One thing when drums are hard to get off that I have found is to back off the manual brake adjusters. when this is done the shoes will pull back in far enough to allow the drum to be removed.
If you don't feel comfortable rebuilding your master the best price I have found is Napa for a new one, about $85.00 The kit will run you about $22. per side on the master. Watch the items when you take apart the clutch side, the build is different than the brake side as a couple of parts are left out. I didn't catch this and had to pull it again to remove a couple items.
If you don't have one yet, get a manual brake adjusting tool, you will need it for maintenance on this truck. A spring tool will really save you a lot of grief dealing with springs on drum brakes.