HOLY BRAKES! Enough to get me by?

[tpripps]

So a while back I had posted about a rear drum that was stuck and some of the methods I used to unstuck it. One of the methods I tried was to drill two holes (one on each side) of the brake drum, about 3/16" dia, and used a punch to try to drive the pads free from the outside. Being that there is now a hole in the wear surface, do you all think I can reuse this drum, even on a temporary basis? I don't expect to do any highway driving, towing or hauling until it's replaced with new, but I also don't want to stick a ton of money into drums (about $150 per side, before shipping) until I give the ol' truck a road test. I just don't want to destroy new pads by having a weird spot in the drum. Maybe I just block off that corner and do 3 wheel braking for a little while...

 

[Grit dog]

It'll be fine, just make sure there's no burrs or lip on the inside surface that would eat up the brake lining. Even bevel the inside edge of the hole a little with a larger bit if there's any concern. Theoretically you will loose about 0.215% (estimated, lol) braking performance, but on the upside, you may have just invented the worlds first "high performance" drilled drums!

 

[bucket]

It'll be fine, just make sure there's no burrs or lip on the inside surface that would eat up the brake lining. Even bevel the inside edge of the hole a little with a larger bit if there's any concern. Theoretically you will loose about 0.215% (estimated, lol) braking performance, but on the upside, you may have just invented the worlds first "high performance" drilled drums!

I actually read about someone trying that once. I think it was a Dart or something, with 4 wheel drums. They drilled a bunch of holes, like a drilled rotor. Unfortunately I can't remember exactly what the outcome was, but I'm wanting to say that no difference was felt.

So did that trick work to get the drum unstuck? If so, that's a good idea.

 

[WP29P4A]

Can't you just access the adjuster through the slit in the backing plate and back the pads off enough to remove the drums?

 

[Bextreme04]

Can't you just access the adjuster through the slit in the backing plate and back the pads off enough to remove the drums?

Not if the pads are rusted to the drum from it sitting for decades

 

[WP29P4A]

@Bextreme04 My overactive imagination filled in the missing parts of the story with assumptions, I didn't think about the truck hibernating until arthritis set in. Good point, rust is like politics, it gums everything up and leaves behind an ugly mess.

I would think the adjusters would rust together a little sooner than the pads, making them useless by the time the pads are becoming one with the drums. Drilling holes is a clever idea. I think my ideas would have been less kind and included a sledge hammer, cutting disk, or saws all.

 

[Bextreme04]

@Bextreme04 My overactive imagination filled in the missing parts of the story with assumptions, I didn't think about the truck hibernating until arthritis set in. Good point, rust is like politics, it gums everything up and leaves behind an ugly mess.

I would think the adjusters would rust together a little sooner than the pads, making them useless by the time the pads are becoming one with the drums. Drilling holes is a clever idea. I think my ideas would have been less kind and included a sledge hammer, cutting disk, or saws all.

Yeah, my first though is always to bust out the BFH too.

 

[tpripps]

Can't you just access the adjuster through the slit in the backing plate and back the pads off enough to remove the drums?

Everything on the inside of the drum was one rusted mass from sitting for 28 years. I tried finding the adjuster but I couldn't tell what was adjuster and what was other piles of rust.

 

[tpripps]

Yeah, my first though is always to bust out the BFH too.

This was all after the BFH proved fruitless. I was surprised how much insult a cast iron drum could take.