Can't remove brake drums

Alright, I had some problems with my DD yesterday, while driving on the highway the pedal started getting softer and softer, and when I got to my destination, I had no brake fluid, and the inside of my pass rear drum and tire were spattered with fluid.

Its on stands right now, and I'm no stranger to brake jobs. This however, is the first time I ran into this problem.

I can't remove the brake drums. I got in and adjusted the shoes all the way in, and it still won't come off. I already removed that little clip thing, so that's not the problem.

I can wiggle the drum, and I can' rotate it freely. I can pull it a little away from the hub. The drums may very well have a lip inside them, the PO was the worst person on maintenance I've ever seen. But it seems like it there is something on the top side of the drum that is holding it back. Like maybe the top of the shoes have extended and won't retract.

BFH, pry bar, etc. has yet to work.

Anyone have any ideas? I found a few threads, but they were all taken care of by adjusting the shoes in, which has not worked in my case.

'99 XJ, with D35 rear and ABS. Bone stock.

Since it sounds like your wheel cylinder is pooched anyway, the only thing I can think of to do is undo the bolts that hold the wheel cylinder in (maybe even the brake line) and see if that gives you any more play when removing the drums.

Other than that, I haven't a clue...

Sorry.

are you going to replace them after you fix the cylinders? just cut them? or if you're doing new drums and shoes, spray some lube in/on there to help it

XJPhoenix said:

Since it sounds like your wheel cylinder is pooched anyway, the only thing I can think of to do is undo the bolts that hold the wheel cylinder in (maybe even the brake line) and see if that gives you any more play when removing the drums.

Other than that, I haven't a clue...

Sorry.

Click to expand...

Sorry, forgot to mention, I already have the wheel cylinder unbolted and pushed in, and it didn't seem to give me any more play. I moved the drum around and the cylinder didn't seem to move.

BFH
strike, rotate, repeat, until it comes off
I have a shaft on my 9 inch that is not 100% round where the drum mates so I have to do this every time I pull it off.

try backing the e-brake off at the adjuster under to jeep. that's what I had to to with mine. the e-brake was holding it on.

Stihl029 said:

BFH
strike, rotate, repeat, until it comes off
I have a shaft on my 9 inch that is not 100% round where the drum mates so I have to do this every time I pull it off.

Click to expand...

Has not worked. Trust me, first thing I tried.

blk88 said:

try backing the e-brake off at the adjuster under to jeep. that's what I had to to with mine. the e-brake was holding it on.

Click to expand...

good idea.

i rebuilt my ebrake adjuster not long ago using regular hardware and posted a thread in the oem tech somewhere about it, if it helps.... we all know how they love to seize.

When I did my disc swap I was on a creeper for about ten minutes per side with a BFH... I suspect your answer will lie in the judicious application of impact forces.
But, trusting that you've already been there done that... Cut the thing in half across its diameter with a 4.5" cutoff? Put some grooves in it across its radius?

check the park brake cable loosen it...your wheel cyl pronably poped out and it keeping the shoe pushed out... so rotate the drum and beat it roatate and beat... if that fails i cut my drum off with a torch or if no torch use a grinder..

Tried losening the e-brake cable but it didn't work.

Doesn't matter now, ended up cutting off the drum.

How bad was the lip on it?

I've run into this a couple of times - I ended up grinding the heads off of the retaining pins from the backside, then just pulling the drum, shoes, springs, and the lot all off at once. Pain to put back to rights, but at least I got it apart to do so.

Sounds like what you were running into. The lip probably made the drum quite unsalvageable...

Ya, I thought about grinding the heads off the retaining pins, but I figured I'd just cut the drum off.

The lip was fairly decent, should have been replaced anyways, so its not big deal. Even if I hadn't run into this problem, I would have replaced the drums anyways.