Hot Rods Chrysler brake drum Am i doing something wrong?

I am trying to remove the rear brake drum on a 56 Chrysler Windsor. I have the puller bolted to the brake drum .I have the axel nut backed off so the puller wont mushroom the axel thread. The brakes are backed off all the way. The E brake is off and I shot it up with P.B. Buster. Should the drum come off or am I doing something wrong. The other side came off with out a puller. I was going to leave it on over night to see if anything happens.Any suggestions? Heres a picture.Thanks Bruce.

 

Heres another shot of the puller and brake drum.Bruce.

 

This sounds normal to me, the otherside came off with no problems, this will be twice as hard.
The tapered fit makes these drums a bear to remove, I have rarely ever heard of one coming off easy.

 

I'll suggest to abruptly strike the end of the puller while it has tension on it to "shock" it free. I've used this method on Desotos of the same year with good results.

 

True dat... give it a whack with a hammer. Try soaking it over night with your favorite penetrating oil.

 

see the "wrench" on this one, which you smack with a big hammer? I think that might be the only thing you're doing wrong, not enough torque/impact

 

There is usually a bar that cones with that puller that goes on the hex head so you can use a hammer to turn the puller to get maximum tension. Get it as tight as you can then hit the end of the puller shaft hard with a BFH.

 

Yep....what squirrel and Engine man said. That little socket and ratchet will NOT do anything. You need the butterfly piece and a long-handle sledge hammer. Just when you think you have hit it hard enough, hit it HARDER. Sometimes, you can set a floor jack beneath the butterfly piece and put pressure on it overnight. It will eventually come off. It is the drive side of the axle and that is usually the toughest drum to remove.

 

O.K. Guys I have tension on it and soaked it with P.B. Buster and will leave like that over night. I will break out the B.F.H. in the morning and let you know what happens. It wont mess up the axel threads will it? I still have the axel nut on there so the puller wouldn't do that. Thanks for all the input. Bruce.

 

Just went through the same issue doing brakes on the Hudson. I have the same style puller with the end you smack with a hammer. Turns out the donut looking piece that the legs hook onto was spinning inside the legs as soon as it got tight enough to pull so it never actually did any pulling. I took the puller off and took it apart, wire brushed the threads and sprayed some WD40 on them. Put it back on and then after just a couple whacks of the hammer the drum/hub popped right off.

 

Bruce, turn the nut around so flat of nut is aligned with end of axle. Then get a flat piece of steel and put it between end of puller and nut. Tighten as hard as possible then whack the end of the puller good. I sometimes use some heat from torch. You need to be careful not to bend hub.

 

What everyone said.

Tighten the puller so everything is under tansion.

Strike the end of the puller squarely in line with the puller screw / axle.

Tighten the puller some more.

Strike again.

Rinse and repeat - all of a sudden it will pop free.

Penetrating oil is of no help on a tapered connection. Heat can help but should not be needed.

 

Yep, what they have all said, tighten it up, big, no, BIG HAMMER and it should come loose.......if not then tighter and BIGGER HAMMER........this pic is of the puller I have used for 45 yrs.....it hasn't met a tapered axle it didn't like......lol.......andyd

 

And then, after all that hammering, it still might not come off! I've had a couple that actually bent the axle shaft trying to pull the drum.
Generally, I swap out the entire rear end with a modern rear end. That solves the problem permanently, gets me less expensive brakes that are easier to work with, and are usually cheaper the replacing just the shoes in those old axles.

If you insist in moving forward, leave the axle nut loose a couple threads, put the tires on, and drive the car around the yard a bit, do a couple turns. That is often easier and more effective then all the hammering. You still have to deal with finding shoes and stuff for obsolete brakes, but at least the brake drums come off. Gene

 

I am sure Bruce will move forward, just checking the brakes after all.

In my case, I agree I am swapping out the complete rear end.
My truck has been sitting for over 40 years. It needs a complete brake job, seals replaced, the gear ratio is not what I want for a daily cruiser, it requires a Cleveland u-joint which is hard to find and cost $80 + shipping. And it has the original 3/4 ton rear end with a 5 on 5" bolt pattern, while the front has already been switched to 4.5" bolt pattern.
I have several reasons to dump my old rear end now.
I would stay with it, if only going through and checking the brakes like Bruce is.

 

Then there's the blue wrench... even if you have a bernzomatic or better yet a map gas torch, play the flame around the taper. You will never get it cherry red-hot, but it may help break the taper loose.

 

31Dodger.The drivers side came right of with out a puller. I have a 1/2 drive socket on the puller with an inpact gun , not doing it with a hand ratchet.I am going to try the B.F.H. today. Thanks Bruce.

 

Gene if all fails I will try that.Thanks.Bruce.

 

Thanks Los Control.2 things I am real fussy about are brakes and front ends.Bruce.

 

What everyone said! the most important step is the BFH blow on the end of the puller! Next you will want to replace the axle and backing plate seals! Think the drum was hard, wait till you try and pull the axle!

 

I have the same 1956 Windsor. Great car. Weighs about 10 pounds less than a Sherman Tank without your mother-in-law in the back seat.

The original brakes, front and rear are somewhat between awful and horrible. Ford Pinto has bigger and better brakes.

Before I swapped out the rear axle (a 1970 New Yorker rear slides right in) to service and replaced the original rear brakes, I would loosen the retaining nuts about one turn, with the car on jack stands.

Run the speed to about 20 MPH and slam the brakes, put it in reverse, do the same. This will break the bond on the axle tapers. Don't get too aggressive.

Drums would pop right off using the puller.

Don't get the flame wrench or any kind of heat within 20 feet of the axle to try and persuade it....

Moselli

"Never trust an Atom, they make up everything."

 

You can also drive around the block with the nut slightly loose and the drum may wiggle loose.

 

Chrysler had the best brakes in the industry at that time. That is why Chevrolet engineers used them on their custom built Corvette race cars in 1957.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/chevrolet-corvette-ss-brakes-and-chassis-page-4

The problem was, they were precision built unlike the cheap brakes used on competitive makes. They had to be put together right and adjusted right. If you did that you had the best brakes. If you threw them together and didn't adjust them correctly they wouldn't work.

 

Bruce, stick a jack stand or blocks of wood under the u-bolts & have some of the axle weight resting on it - seems to help when your work isn't bouncing around ...
I drove a '57 Dodge for 11 years - keeping 7 brake cylinders dry all at once was hard to do when it had to be stored for 9 months at a time.

 

yup, you are missing part of your puller. learned all about this on my 61 Dodge after I bent the drum using the incorrect puller, about a week after that, I found the correct puller at a yard sale for 2 bucks. like others on this thread, I fixed the brakes by swapping in an 8 3/4 rear that I actually took from a 53 Chevrolet with a big block Mopar that I parted out..

 

Here's an end game.
Take axle and drum to a machine shop.
They'll get it off.
That's what they do all day, every day.

 

How would you take the axle out if you can't get the drum off? The last I knew, the bolts to remove the axle are inside the brake drum, unless my mind is failing me again. Gene

 

Still working on it.Bruce.

 

By heavy hammer they mean a short handled 10lb sledge! Good luck, Gary

 

Mopar changed over to 'safety axles' around the Max Wedge cars time.

These old ones might come out with a clip by the 3rd member.

That's as far as I ever looked into.

And Direct Connection recommended that you do use a later rear end with safety axles

which ARE held in by bearing retainer at backing plate axle flange area.

Every once and a while you'd see a car by the side of the road and

the whole wheel and tire had come off including the axle.

That's early non safety axle type.