getting the rear drums off, help

okay...these things wont just "pull off" so whats the trick? and adjuster or something?

i had the rear in the air cheacking for a posi...and i can turn the drivers wheel and hte pasengers don't move!

i go to turn the passangers by hand and its hard to turn...like its hung up bad...and the drivers is nice and free.

thanks

You can pop off the oval rubber cap, near the bottom of the drum backing plate and loosen the adjuster. The adjuster is a star wheel, don't mess up the teeth any more than neccsseary. The adjusters are left and right thread depending on which side they are on (and I really don't remember which is which).
I usually try to get the ridge on the back of the drum, to move onto the shoes a bit, gently twisting left and right and a little at a time. The drum won't move if you cant it much. Once I get the ridge on the inside of the drum on the shoe, I gently tap the drum out with a brass hammer. First one side then the other. If you get it canted much it will jam.
If the shoes are sticking, it's likely the wheel cylinder or axle seal is leaking and the DOT 3 or oil is mixed with dirt and rust causing things to stick.

thanks, i'm thinking its the parking brake more that anything...we shall see

88'XJ said:

okay...these things wont just "pull off" so whats the trick? and adjuster or something?

i had the rear in the air cheacking for a posi...and i can turn the drivers wheel and hte pasengers don't move!

i go to turn the passangers by hand and its hard to turn...like its hung up bad...and the drivers is nice and free.

thanks

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The side that's hard to turn could be correct, the side that's loose may have a broken adjuster.

Make sure the parking brake is NOT on.

Properly adjusted rear drums should drag "SLIGHTLY". If the rear wheels are in the air, if you give the wheel a good push, they should drag enough to slow the wheel to a stop after a few rotations, if they stop before one full rotation, there too tight.

Make sure the trans is in neutral and other wheel is free, so there isn't any drag from the drive line.

If its just the pads hanging it up it would still pull a bit off the hub.
To get it off the hub heat the drum around the hub with a propane torch.
Tap with a hammer while heating, but you shouldn't need to really pound on it, let the heat (expansion) do the work.
After its free of the hub then you'll know if you need to back off the adjuster.

The SHOES wear a valley into the drum, there is often a ridge on either side of the shoes in the drum. So, a properly adjusted shoe would be in that valley and hit the ridge as you try to pull the drum off. Make sure the adjuster is backed off before (which pulls the shoes back and out of that valley) before you try to tap off the drum.

My adjusters were siezed up with corrosion, I had to pound off the drum with a hammer. That destroyed the shoes and I had to get a new set, along with new self-adjusters and a wheel cylinder to replace the leaking one.

Use penetrating oil if the drum is hanging up on the hub, but most vehicles, and the XJ is one, don't have a tight tolerance between hub and drum. My '02 Mini-Van does and the drum comes with bolt holes to act as a puller, but for most vehicles if the drum is hanging up, its on the shoes not the hub. I'd only use heat after all adjusting shoes and using penetrating oil on the hub.

Sorry in my expeience if its stuck tight it it stuck on the hub. There is enough slop in the shoes to pull the whole works out about a 1/4 inch if the shoes are the only thing holding it up. (And it slightly easier to get to the adjuster with it loose..)

gjxj said:

Sorry in my expeience if its stuck tight it it stuck on the hub. There is enough slop in the shoes to pull the whole works out about a 1/4 inch if the shoes are the only thing holding it up. (And it slightly easier to get to the adjuster with it loose..)

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Yup ... that's my experience too. My drums were rusted frozen onto the hub. I had to spray with liquid wrench (I've since switched to PB) and tap with a hammer. If the shoes had worn a groove, you'd still be able to feel a little play when trying to pull the drum.

If the shoes are locked up tight to the drum, you probably couldn't drive the car very long before destroying the shoes.

Extremely useful on mine this past weekend: PB Blaster and a 13lb. slide hammer. I used this one; $39.99 at Harbor Freight. Just be careful to not foul the backing plates.

Being carefull with the hammer, is good advice. I've been beating on drums for years with no problem, until last fall. I knocked a pretty good chip out of one, on the wifes 96. I really didn't hit it that hard, guess I got it just right (or just wrong).

Hmmm, I'm an XJ noob, so I'll take your word for it, the drum can sieze to the hub. That was not my experience and its funny since just about everything else is siezed up on the underside of my XJ.

Rub a little anti-sieze into the hub surface before putting it back together, that will prevent the two pieces from siezing together. Just a dab that you rub all over with your finger, you use more and it will run out and get into the brakes.

8Mud, brake drums/discs go thru a lot of heat cycling, I would think something happened to make that part of the drum brittle or there was some casting flaw or impurity at the point that you struck that drum, thats why a chunk snapped off.

okay...e-brake was off, and in nuetral.

drivers spun with a slight resitans...i had to put a bit of "umff" on the pass side to spin it at all...

as far as i know the shoes are o.e....i just have to find time to mess with it