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1947 Chrysler Rear Brake Drum Removal


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I have been unable to get the rear drums off of my Chrysler. I am using a 3 legged puller. I have tightened down on the center puller lug with an air impact. I have smacked the end of the lug with a hammer. I have heated the drum around the keyway area cherry red with an acetylene torch. I have left the puller under tension for days. I have used Loctite freeze spray on the end of the keyway. I have used foul language more than once. Suggestions?

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Chances are, if you don't have that big "wing nut" to whack with a sledge on the end of the puller, you won't make any progress. I don't feel as though an impact wrench will budge it in the slightest. I have removed several of these and it always takes a sudden thud to get them off and just when you think that you hit it hard enough, hit it HARDER! Leave the nut on a few threads so as not to let the drum fly off and hit you in the leg. Are you certain that the shoes are adjusted away from the drums??

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
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There is an alternative to taking the hub off. Some people have cut off the rivets with a chisel, driven them through with a punch and taken off the drum.

If you don't like that idea, can you get a bigger puller? The hub grows together with the axle after 50 years or more but they all come off in the end.

You should turn the axle nut over and screw it on flush with the end of the shaft if you haven't already. This prevents damage to the end of the shaft and prevents the hub from flying across the room like a guided missile when it lets go.

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I do have the axle nut on the end of the axle as a precaution and to help clean up any threads that might get damaged. I have not backed off the shoe adjuster but the drum still turns freely. Once it breaks loose, I will back off the adjuster if the drum hangs up. Since first posting I have been told to heat the drum away from the axle. I have been heating close to the key way.

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You need 175lbs of air pressure and a good 1/2" impact gun-say a quality Snap-on 1/2" . 600lbs on up. Then the drum will pop right off. For years I just banged them off with the dogbone and 2-1/2 lb hammer. Now days and after removing hundreds of these old Mopar rear drums I use just the impact gun as my swing and body is not what it used to be.

Never had one I had to heat or god forbid.... cut the rivits off!

Edited by c49er (see edit history)
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I have been unable to get the rear drums off of my Chrysler. I am using a 3 legged puller. I have tightened down on the center puller lug with an air impact. I have smacked the end of the lug with a hammer. I have heated the drum around the keyway area cherry red with an acetylene torch. I have left the puller under tension for days. I have used Loctite freeze spray on the end of the keyway. I have used foul language more than once. Suggestions?

Dont fret - took me 4 days of applied tension, heat, big hammer etc. Each day after work I would go into the shed, whack the puller end shaft with a big a**** hammer, apply another half turn until suddenly one day it went bangggggg and came loose; absolutley ensure you leave the nut on the axle.

As to chiselling off the brake drum rivets, what happens when you go to refit and secure the drum ??

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Nothing... the wheel and studs will hold the drum together just like on any other car. Is this car driveable or a new restoration that has been sitting for a while? I'm wondering if your brakes have seized in the on position and if your shoes are holding it together. I don't remember if these had the little stakes through the back of the backing plates like more modern versions, but if they do, you might have to cut the back of the rivet to free them if the adjuster doesn't back them off. I've also heard of guys driving them around the block with that retainer nut loose to shake things apart, but obviously you have to use some caution with that suggestion. Like the others, I've had the most success with the big hammer and tough puller, but I have seen those old dog-bone pullers at auctions that have been brazed back together so they aren't indestructible. Good luck.

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I am using a puller like that pictured by Keiser31. The car is driveable and I did try driving around with the axle nuts loose with no luck. I am hearing lots of wailing on the ears of the puller and nothing about applying heat. I will go at it a little each night while leaving it under tension during the day. This situation affects both rear drums. The good news is that the brakes work fine. I want to rebuild them based on how cruddy the front wheel cylinders looked when I rebuilt the front brakes. Thank you for all the input. I will advise as to the results. My father in law has the mother of all air compressors and a professional grade 1/2 inch impact gun. That combination did not budge the drums.

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And you must use 3/8" air hose too for enough air flow to the gun.

If you lived close by I'd come over and get them off. In the last month I removed rears from a 1935 CW Imperial Airflow, a 1956 Imperial, a 60 Dodge and a 1948 Chrysler NY business coupe. The drums cannot sit/soak as we need to finish the brake jobs quickly and efficiently to get them done!

On another note...You might want to remove the axles to check for inner seal leaks too. Just a thought.

Good luck, You will get those drums them off..:)

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Edited by c49er (see edit history)
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Nothing... the wheel and studs will hold the drum together just like on any other car. Is this car driveable or a new restoration that has been sitting for a while? I'm wondering if your brakes have seized in the on position and if your shoes are holding it together. I don't remember if these had the little stakes through the back of the backing plates like more modern versions, but if they do, you might have to cut the back of the rivet to free them if the adjuster doesn't back them off. I've also heard of guys driving them around the block with that retainer nut loose to shake things apart, but obviously you have to use some caution with that suggestion. Like the others, I've had the most success with the big hammer and tough puller, but I have seen those old dog-bone pullers at auctions that have been brazed back together so they aren't indestructible. Good luck.

When I look at the brake drum I noticed that the hole in the brake drum is actually larger than the wheel stud, so if you removed the hub/drum rivets the brake drum would be able to move rotationally on the hub as you applied braking; I dont think this would do much good to the threaded studs in the long run, hence the need for the rivets in the first place.

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Guys,

This afternoon I borrowed a heavier hammer. When I got home I gave the ears on the puller (left under tension since I started this thread) two half hearted blows as I did not expect a different result. The drum popped off. I went to the other side expecting a fight and had it off in minutes. I did spray PB Blaster on the ends of both keyways yesterday and let it soak over night. Thanks for all the good insights. Tomorrow I will finally get to install new wheel cylinders and shoes.

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And you must use 3/8" air hose too for enough air flow to the gun.

If you lived close by I'd come over and get them off. In the last month I removed rears from a 1935 CW Imperial Airflow, a 1956 Imperial, a 60 Dodge and a 1948 Chrysler NY business coupe. The drums cannot sit/soak as we need to finish the brake jobs quickly and efficiently to get them done!

On another note...You might want to remove the axles to check for inner seal leaks too. Just a thought.

Good luck, You will get those drums them off..:)

Good example, thanks for the pictures. This will help the cause. How do you measure the axle end play for the shims that go between the housing flange and drum?

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Worst tapered-axle drum I ever removed was a '49 Hudson. After heat and days and penetrant, I got my father's 10 pound sledge hammer and on the third hit it let go. It sounded like a small canon. Neighbors from both side properties came running probably thinking I was dead under the car. Best comment was from the fellow to the west who owned a shop: ATTA BOY.

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  • 7 months later...
Guest frcc16

I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same issue. I have the 3 leg puller and have been slamming it with a sledge hammer for about a week. I just realized that when I hit it, the parking brake slips!!! Crap! So, I slipped a pry bar inside the legs of the puller and the end rests on the garage floor. Hoping this will stop the drive train from spinning when the brake slips without breaking the puller! I have resigned to the face that my lifetime hobby has now become removing the rear brake drum!!!

HEY COUNTRYTRAVELER, If I end up having to cut this fricken thing off, do you know where a person could find 1950 dodge brake drums?

Greg

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If you have read all of the suggestions and they have not worked, try them all again. ESPECIALLY the bigger hammer (sledge) suggestion. If you had the parking brake on, then that was the biggest problem. It probably will not come off if the brake is set. THE SHOES MUST CLEAR THE DRUM.

Edited by keiser31 (see edit history)
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Guest frcc16

No, the brake isn't the problem. This is a 1950 Meadowbrook with the external band parking brake on the driveshaft! I should have mentioned that before!!

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I just removed 6 drums that I sold, one of them I had to use a big big hammer. One thing I learned, make sure the puller is on straight, a little crooked will jam it up. If you cut it off, you're going to take out the axle and seals. Leave the nut loose and drive the car around a parking lot and go side to side like a maniac. Make sure no cops around. I'll check for a drum and axle just in case.

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No, the brake isn't the problem. This is a 1950 Meadowbrook with the external band parking brake on the driveshaft! I should have mentioned that before!!

Duh....I fell stupid now.....I knew that, but wasn't thinking. Sorry.

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As mentioned the puller must be mounted properly-the screw shaft straight in line with the axle shaft. Very important!

Hit the dog bone HARD!

This only after tightening the screw as tight as you can. Use a impact if possible otherwise lock the shoe adjuster cams tight so you can manually tighten the puller or if the brakes still work have someone hold the brake pedal down to hold the drum tight.

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Guest frcc16

Having trouble seeing the last post without adding another post of my own. Not sure why...

So, has anyone out there not been able to get these off? Or is it simply a battle of wills... us against the drum?

Edited by frcc16 (see edit history)
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Guest frcc16

HA! Sounds great!!!! So, having someone hold the foot brake to keep the drum from turning .... probably a better idea than mine of using a pry bar?????

Also, sounds like a well equipted garage with an "old school" mechanic could get this thing off as well!

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Guest frcc16

That's what I thought, too. But maybe it would work initially to help separate the metal bond... then release them to continue

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Guest frcc16

I'm at work so I can't get a picture. But its the same puller pictured by keiser31 at the beginning of this thread. Its a 3 leg puller that bolts onto the lugbolts. And I started with a short handle sledge hammer and now I'm using a long handle standard sledge hammer. Although, my swing doesn't have the power it used to have!

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Guest frcc16

IT'S OFF!!!! IT'S FRICKEN OFF!!!!! I hauled back and gave that dog bone 3 of the hardest hits I could muster....nothing happened.... then, I placed the sledge hammer on the floor and was turning to head back into the house and....

BANG!!!!! Off it came! THANKS FOR ALL THE ENCOURAGEMENT! I would have given up long ago!

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