Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I've just been on a muddy 4x4 weekend, and need to clean the brake drums.

After taking the wheel off, I can see that they appear to just slide off, However mine are rather tight on there.

Am I missing something....How do I get them off?

Silly question, but have you released the handbrake?

You might also have a lip on the drum, preventing it from coming off. Does it have adjusters on the backing plate?

nope.. handbrake not on and its moving pretty freely (apart fromt he scratching noise)
I am pretty sure there is no lip.. but I'll go check

Have a look at the drums. There are two holes to screw a bolt into, which prises the drum off. Can't remember the size of bolt, but I keep a couple of spares in the toolbox. IIRC, it's a fairly common bolt size.

Simply screw them in a bit at a time on each side and watch the drum pop off.

I will go and have a look at that.
I'm pretty sure however that there is no thread

Also use a lot of WD-40 around the drum center

ok yep... I THINK there is a thread there

time to go on a bolt finding mission while the WD40 does its thing

Tzi wrote:ok yep... I THINK there is a thread there

time to go on a bolt finding mission while the WD40 does its thing

Definitely thread there.

And when you pull the whole lot apart, use a decent set of sidecutters to pull the springs. You can then do each side in 10 minutes vs. up to an hour, skun knuckles and a heap of swearing

I can get to that when I find a damn bolt to fit...There isnt one hidden on the car I can temporarily remove is there?

Mine came from the spare parts/bolts bin.... Might have come off the swaybar??? So long ago now I can't remember

AJFeroza wrote:
And when you pull the whole lot apart, use a decent set of sidecutters to pull the springs. You can then do each side in 10 minutes vs. up to an hour, skun knuckles and a heap of swearing

just for clarification.... what do u do with the side cutters? use them to turn that sproket like bit or ?

A couple of tricks.

Belt the face of the drum a number of times with a hammer, it loosens any rust holding the drum to the axle face.

The bolts are 14mm. Use 2 of them, and screw them in evenly, a couple of turns each.

Backing off the adjusters can be difficult, because they have one way cams, and the self adjuster holds against the cams. You have to get a small pointer to push the adjuster away from the cam, then use a screwdriver to try to back the cam off.

You can use 2 big flat bladed screwdrivers to prise the drums off, just be careful you dont bend the backing plates.

I personally have removed the automatic adjuster mechanism. Its more problematic than anything else. I now adjust them by hand.

When you have them apart, lube EVERYTHING, the adjuster threads, and where the U shaped bits are that sit into the brake shoes.

well.. I ended up going to see thee dude at the brake place and asking him for bolts to fit. The threads have been stripped
his technique would be to use the oxy and heat the drum up around the center... then hit it with a hammer to 'spring' it off.
I'll try that next week with the map gas torch as long as there is no fire bans

I'd be happy to remove the drums every time I get em wet.. but damn.. theyre not easy!!!

see below

meece4x4 wrote:

Tzi wrote:well.. I ended up going to see thee dude at the brake place and asking him for bolts to fit. The threads have been stripped
his technique would be to use the oxy and heat the drum up around the center... then hit it with a hammer to 'spring' it off.
I'll try that next week with the map gas torch as long as there is no fire bans

I'd be happy to remove the drums every time I get em wet.. but damn.. theyre not easy!!!

if you dont want to use heat try BundyRumandCoke's idea and slip the tips of a couple of large flat bladed screwdrivers 180 deg apart from each other in against the rear plate or axle housing and try and leaver against the drum, easier if someone else can do that while you tap tap tap tap *moderatly hard* with the hammer

word of caution dont hit the drum too hard with the hammer, the drums are cast and can crack/shatter if struck too hard. also be carefull about putting *too* much heat into the center of the axle or you will be looking at new wheel bearings as well.. just needs to be hot touch to touch dont heat it till it's glowing