Anyone know if there's any special I have to do to remove the brake drums on my 74 Mav. Got the drum remover, they just won't budge! Thanks for any help.
Drum removal Since your car is a 74 it has disc brakes on the front (I assume) the rears are the problem. It is not as bad as it seems to get them off. Try to remove the drum after each step, if it does not come off go to the next step. 1.Jack the car and properly support it as you will be under it . 2. Remove tire 3. Release the parking brake inside the car and then pull the parking brake cable under the car to be sure it is releasing. 4. With a brake spoon, flat screwdriver in an emergency, back the self adjuster off thru the oval hole at the bottom of the backer plate. 5. With a large hammer, carefully hit the outside of the drum, area with fins, to shock the brake shoes to release and the spring assembly to bounce back into place. Be sure to alternate your strokes using by hitting the drum at the 2 oclock, 4 oclock, 11 oclock and 7 oclock positions on the drums.
This is a very common problem on older cars, the drum is usually rusted to the rear axle flange. The only solution is to try soaking with a good solvent around the flange and lug nut studs as they protrude through the drum. Brake fluid works well for this as does other commercial nut and bolt looseners, let soak for several days and keep plenty of fluid on them. Try holding pry bars or similiar tools behind drum and force outward, this will also push the axle outward a bit. While holding this pressure have someone smack the center of the axle flange with a good strong hammer, this may have to be done several times. Check archive on this board, I remember someone else with this problem and they may have another solution, good luck. By the way if you do get them off sand the flange on the axle and also the bore of the drum, apply a light coat of anti-sieze compound on the axle to prevent this from happening again.
Thanks a bunch for the help Thanks a ton! It's great to have a place to ask some fellow Maverick fans these puzzling questions. I actually have drums on front and back... no discs for this stripped down model. So I should take the whole assembly off (bearings and all) and soak the drum? I'll give it a try and I'm sure I'll be back when I really start to work on restoring this beauty. Thanks again!
Mav. the other guys got it right, it is a hassle to get them off the rear. If they lock fast to the center of the axle and there would be a wear ridge on the drum, the shoes have to get over. When off, take a file and just clean up the center hole enough so it is shiney to give enough clearence not to hang up again. If there is a ridge in the shoe surface, consider having them resurfaced.
