Seized Brake Drum '78 C30 - HELP!

[SirRobyn0]

If it's sat and your thinking that the shoes are stuck to the drum, and since your going to need to replace those shoes before it goes back on the road, it would be perfectly fine to shoot penitrating oil on to the shoes though the inspection holes, around the edge from the inside whatever. Or you could try heating up the drum. On the farm we have an extremely old trailer, we think the axle is out of a model T. It doesn't get use often and it's not licenced, so it'll do task jobs. Last year we had extra hay piled up in it. It really likes to stick the shoes to the drum. I can't remember why off hand we don't remove the shoes and leave it that way, but what I do is take the wheel off, get my 6 foot pry bar jammed between the lugs and get someone the stand on it. Then I hit the drum with a hammer. Works everytime

In your case if the drum won't turn and you think the rear end is to blame of course you can take the bolts off the axle and the drum should turn.

Hopefully this we be more helpful than my initial post. Sorry about misunderstanding your initial post. As you don't have very many post on the site we don't know your skill level and assumed you were trying to remove the drum, not free it to roll. Sorry about that.

 

[newbie17]

The factory Service Manual is your friend.

 

[tpripps]

If it's stuck to the shoes you should be able to pick up a slight amount of movement because of slack in the assembly. If not there may be more to it. Let us know how the unloosening goes.

That's a good point... I may take off the axle bolts to see if I find anything different.

 

[tpripps]

The factory Service Manual is your friend.

Is this available online someplace? Or am I stuck buying the paper copy? How helpful is the Chiltons or Haynes?

 

[Blue Ox]

Is this available online someplace? Or am I stuck buying the paper copy? How helpful is the Chiltons or Haynes?

Go to the reference library section of this forum. It should be available there.

 

[Raider L]

@tpripps,

How are you going to address that broken leaf spring? And it looks like it might be more than one spring broke. I mean obviously replacing the leaf, I was wondering about the shocks to. If it hit something hard enough to break the leaf what did it do to the shocks?

 

[Grit dog]

Yes, the drum appears to be seized on the pads, or the bearings are seized altogether. I got the other side to turn but it feels pretty crusty. I'm just assuming the pads are seized to the drum. Eventually I'll want to pull the drum off but for now, I just want the truck to be mobile. i'll try loosening them up.

So the wheel doesn’t spin at all. Had to drag it onto the trailer and across the yard?
I’m inclined to think it’s bearings not the drums. brakepads aren’t made of metal ( even metallics aren’t solid steel) so they shouldn’t/likely won’t rust to the drums. There’s a chance that the brakes are stuck, pistons extended on the wheel cyl, locking it up.
trying to adjust the star wheel is the first thing I’d try if you suspect it’s the brakes and not the bearings. However as rusted as everything is, don’t be surprised if the adjuster threads are seized up too. if they are and if it’s the brakes, I recall once having to torch the adjuster in half through the adjustment slot.
Not because the brakes were froze to the drum, but the drum was worn and hanging upon the brake pads.
Sounds messy but it only cut the adjuster and the little tension spring. Then the hub/drum (was a ff axle) came right off

 

[Vbb199]

I had this issue with a D70HD, despite loosening the adjuster, i had to take a giant sledge and beat on those drums until they finally moved

 

[Raider L]

@tpripps,

It's been a few days since this showed up on "most popular". What did it turn out being, the shoes or the bearings hanging up the drum?

 

[tpripps]

*UPDATE*

I worked on it all day last monday. Gained ZERO ground. I got all of the access covers off the drum backer to see if I could get at the adjuster wheel. With the lighting I had I couldn't even see the wheel, let alone adjust it. I think I may try what somebody mentioned earlier and put a lever on it. I'll weld a tube to a scrap wheel and stand on it to see if it'll break loose. It's possible it's the bearings but I pumped the brakes to see if that'd jimmy it loose and the other side locked up again until I worked it back and forth again. I'll keep y'all posted.

 

[tpripps]

@tpripps,

How are you going to address that broken leaf spring? And it looks like it might be more than one spring broke. I mean obviously replacing the leaf, I was wondering about the shocks to. If it hit something hard enough to break the leaf what did it do to the shocks?

For the time being, as I will only be moving it from our back yard up to our garage, i'm just going to tack weld the spring back in place to the axle doesn't go anywhere while i'm moving it. Then i'm going to look for full replacement packs. I had considered just replacing the main leaf but, you're right, everything else there (shock absorber included) look to be fully spent too.

 

[tpripps]

*UPDATE*

I was out in the yard till O'Dark:30 last night working on my hub. I pulled the tire off of an old rim and welded on a 5' 2.5" square tube as a lever. I bolted the lever-rim back on to the hub and stood/bounced on the end of the lever... I'm ~250# after a good supper, and with a 5' lever that makes 1250lb-ft of torque on that hub, maybe 1500lb-ft of "impulse" when I bounce on it. I didn't have anybody available to whack the drum with a hammer while i was doing that but I sure thought that would have done the trick. I tried getting at the brake adjuster but it's too far in and/or rounded off that I can't get good purchase on it. I read in another post that somebody had to cut it in half to get it apart.

My next course of action is to unbolt the axle shaft and see if the drum moves then. If it does I know where i'll have to shift my focus.

 

[70SBUDGET]

Any update? I too didn’t understand how to remove the brake drum.

Silly question that I haven’t seen asked. Is the emergency brake engaged?

My truck hadn’t moved in 10 years. My right rear was locked up. Even with my axel out I had to beat and pry the f’er off from the back. You got this!

 

[tpripps]

Any update? I too didn’t understand how to remove the brake drum.

Silly question that I haven’t seen asked. Is the emergency brake engaged?

My truck hadn’t moved in 10 years. My right rear was locked up. Even with my axel out I had to beat and pry the f’er off from the back. You got this!

I finally got it. I drilled a hole through each side of the drum and whacked at the pads with a punch. I pulled out the axle shaft to make sure it wasn't a seized bearing, which it wasn't. I soaked everything with penetrating oil and heated it all up with a map torch. Lastly I put a huge gear puller on the drum and hit it with an impact. BANG! finally came off.