Brake Drum puller

[Ign]

I have a '99 Dodge ram with rear drums that don't even have ports on the backing plates to adjust the star wheels. There is the outline for the oval shaped place where it should be, but there is no opening. I have had the drums off several times and they haven't hung on the shoes yet, but I'm sure it will happen some day. That's the day I'll be using the above method.

Ironically yes, I was just working on a customer's '99 Ram with the same deal. I started to try to knock out the plugs as they're clearly just tack welded in there but those tacks are no joke and I could see it was going to deform the backing plate if I applied more force. I was just putting it back together actually and just wanted to be able to adjust beginning shoe location from the backside, but it wasn't critical and I needed to just get the truck back on the road so I left the welded plugs.

If it were my truck though I'd take a grinder and remove the metal inserts.

Incidentally she brought it to me 'cause the right rear wheel cylinder was DUMPING FLUID. I went ahead and replaced the left too (you're supposed to - SOP) and good thing I did - when I pulled the actuators out of the left side wheel cylinder it also dumped a bunch of fluid but wasn't yet noticeably leaking visually. 138k miles.

 

[kythri]

Zim No. 833

Beats me how much it costs or where you can buy one.

http://www.eastwood.com/brake-drum-..._2_I-2ZOtELfmACkGsRvfCtYKMspCQL3TFxoCXcrw_wcB

 

[Homerr]

I use a slide hammer I bought at a garage sale for $20. Similar to this:

 

[wayne55]

I have one like that of Laroke and the one time I used it, I still had to tap and wiggle the drum to get the drum off.

 

[tvtaurus]

So did you get this off yet?

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

I made my own this summer. Initially made it for drums but turned out working slick on the front discs too. Vehicle spent majority of time in northern Minnesota so I'd never seen rust like this.






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[JJThrasher]

Really? Can you get this to work on fullsize trucks? I whaled on Chrysler 9.25 drum with a 3 lb sledge with no results. Maybe something more pointed?

I know the castings are somewhat brittle but they also have a bit of spring to them, esp if the drum is heavily finned like the 9.25s. Plus this doesn't seem great for the wheel bearings, but maybe the axle shaft absorbs most of the force before it gets that far?

I typically use a 6lb 18" handle Nupla hammer for this type of work.I haven't found one that won't either crack or split with the air chisel yet. I've never tried on something real big like a floater, since this isn't an issue with those. Granted 9/10 will just pop off after 1-2 good hits.

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

BTW, I tried Kroil, heat, hammer, prying while hammering,etc. When I started using this I put it under tension and them tapped with hammer around edges while increasing pressure until it popped loose.

I've since ground down one side of the tabs thickness to work better on smaller drums. Hope that makes sense.

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[mikegt4]

I really, really, really hate the drums on my 20yo 9.25" axle. Actually, I hate every single thing about that axle and will never buy another vehicle that has one. Its the one thing I hate about this truck.

I've fought with those damn things more times than I'll admit to. This spring, when its time to clean, inspect, and adjust them once again, they are going to meet my new Snap On air hammer. I'm hoping that will tip the odds in my favor. The drums are genuine Mopar drums, so I'd prefer not to damage them.

I have a Dodge with a 9.25 axle and haven't had any problem taking the drums off, in fact, other than the weight, it's about the easiest drum removal I have ever done. And I have done it a lot in a multi year effort to find out why the right side wheel locks up with the first application of cold brakes. I finally decided to replace the drum (original) thinking that it was warped. While I am in there I decided to replace the brake shoes as well. Rock Auto lists are multiple sizes for 12" drums. I measure 3" wide on the offending brake, doesn't match the # on the drum. Measure the other side, yeap, 2 1/2" wide shoes which matches the # cast in the drum. At least the drums always came off super easy.

 

[Ign]

This '99 9.25 finally worked w the homebrew puller I linked early in the thread.

Last time I did a 9.25 was a '98 and I finally wound up pulling the entire shaft w drum glued to it and loaded in my 50T press. It gave one hell of a scary pop when it finally released. Drum did not crack.

I always apply a little anti seize to the lip of the shaft (or knuckle) before putting drums or unit bearings back on/in.

 

[sberry]

How were you heating that it didn't work? I never met a rotor I couldn't remove in a couple minutes. Getting a drum worked off can be another matter but getting it loose from the hub isn't an issue.

 

[77Mini]

KD 3032, attaches to medium slide hammer. Not sure they make it anymore, but it has come in handy a few times for me.

http://www.rjtool.com/brake-drum-remover-adaptor-kd-tools-3032.html

Could you not just use the regular puller hook on a slide hammer?

 

[MikeF2316]

The only brake drums I ever owned were on the rear axle of a 1966 Volvo 122s. The drum was mounted on a keyed and tapered shaft. No way the drums were coming off without a puller. There was no separate hub, the wheel stud were mounted in the drum.

Skip to 4:55 to when he actually starts to pull off the drums

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nwDy6WCeKGw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[jboehm]

If the drum is on the drive axle try to spin it off, Jack it up, remove the wheel, back the shoes off, put the lugs back on far enough to keep the drum from flying off. Now Put the vehicle in drive and hit the brakes a few times. You might need to speed up the driveline some and then jab the brakes.

 

[sberry]

That's a good idea. Hadn't thought of it.

 

[rustyzman]

Yep, have a large 3 jaw puller similar to that KD one from Warshawsky's. Probably got it at their store in about 1980. Never saw any other place that sold them. Professionally I always tried to loosen the adjuster enough to work the drum with a hammer and get it free, but once in a while you would really need a puller like this to get one to pop. The rust belt can make some of this stuff a pain. Never had to break a drum off, but had to shatter a few rotors over the years (the last iteration of Cougars from the late 90's and early 2000's were notorious for rusting in place to the absolute extreme around here). And the newer rear disc's with the parking brake hardware in the rotor hat cause some interesting removal problems too.

 

[Skin]

I have never needed a puller so far. Air hammer or small sledge always frees them up. I have had to split a few due to the build up of the rust ridge inside the drum but if you put a puller on those you'll destroy the hardware in the process. Cheaper to buy a new drum or rotor and its often needed anyway.

For what its worth I score them with a cut-off tool then crack them with a chisel.

 

[Advan]

OTC makes a wide puller specifically for drums. It's pricey at around $100.
https://www.zoro.com/otc-brake-drumrotor-puller-6980/i/G5036263/?KW4&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=RLSA%20Bing%20LT6_INV%20-%20o%20-%20zAll%20-%20zAll&utm_term=otc%206980&utm_content=G5036263&gclid=CPm2xYTe8tECFcW9fgodZawJaw&gclsrc=ds

I saw this puller a couple of weeks ago at NAPA, and liked everything about it, except the price... I only work on my own vehicles and am a shareholder in Permatex's anti-seize division (), so I have no need to pull brake drums or rotors. However, I needed a larger puller, so I decided to make a copy. A little scabby, but we'll see how it works. It has the capacity to pull something 13.5" in diameter. Just needs a paint job and some retainers to keep the legs from falling off.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Could you not just use the regular puller hook on a slide hammer?

Not enough surface area, you'd break the hook or the back edge of drums.

 

[Ree75]

I've done the go down the road 20-30 mph slam on the e-brake, then 20-30 mph in reverse slam e-brake, to quite a few different cars. the online time i had major problems is when the customer has gone metal to metal for hundreds of miles and have had >1/4" grooves cut into the drums

 

[roche]

I made my own this summer. Initially made it for drums but turned out working slick on the front discs too. Vehicle spent majority of time in northern Minnesota so I'd never seen rust like this.

That's brilliant. I've had brake discs break in half after hitting them with a sledgehammer like a maniac.

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

That's brilliant. I've had brake discs break in half after hitting them with a sledgehammer like a maniac.

Thanks! You can put some serious oomph behind it. I looked at the other tools available online with the 3 jaws and threaded rod and was almost ready to throw down $120 but I just couldn't justify it, so I got to searching ideas and came up with that for dirt cheap.

You could tell from one of those pics how rusty every component was!! LOL I too, didn't want to be slamming a sledgehammer against the rotor forever until it broke or until it started rocking on the jackstands.