Any tricks for removing rear drums?

1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge! The
manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put the
spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.

Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
on this car.

On Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:28:13 -0500, Hachiroku ???? >
wrote:

>1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge! The
>manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put the
>spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>
>Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
>retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
>there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
>on this car.

I feel your pain, as they say. I think the critical joint is where the
inside rim of the drum rides against the side of the hub.

What worked for me ('99 Cavalier) was
- heating the drum right around the hub. I used a fair amount of heat,
but just propane. While heating, I kept rotating the drum.
- Between heatings, I ...
- Pulled (hard) on the back rim of the drum (gloves help) and ...
- Rapped the hub with a heavy hammer while pulling. Taking care not to
whack the studs.

Before that, I had done a lot rapping on the back rim of the drum,
through a wooden block. That isn't what freed it, but who can say if it
helped. Same with soaking the hub/drum joint with PB Blaster.

Plus, using my 'power words'. Ears were burning in Chevy-land.

G

On 04/09/2011 08:28 PM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:
> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge! The
> manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put the
> spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>
> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
> there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
> on this car.

"stuck" as in frozen? does the mazda not have extractor screw holes
that will force the drum off the hub?

or "stuck" as in free of the hub, but trapped by the shoes embedded in
grooved drums? in that case, you'll just have to break stuff - the
drums can't be re-used anyway.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:46:26 -0700, jim beam wrote:

> On 04/09/2011 08:28 PM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:
>> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge!
>> The manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put
>> the spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>>
>> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
>> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
>> there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
>> on this car.
>
> "stuck" as in frozen? does the mazda not have extractor screw holes that
> will force the drum off the hub?
>
> or "stuck" as in free of the hub, but trapped by the shoes embedded in
> grooved drums? in that case, you'll just have to break stuff - the drums
> can't be re-used anyway.


I think they're original. Only 201,000 miles. I already have new ones.

On 2011-04-11, =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$B%O%A%m%=2F=1B=28B?= > wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:46:26 -0700, jim beam wrote:
>
>> On 04/09/2011 08:28 PM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:
>>> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge!
>>> The manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put
>>> the spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>>>
>>> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
>>> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
>>> there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
>>> on this car.
>>
>> "stuck" as in frozen? does the mazda not have extractor screw holes that
>> will force the drum off the hub?
>>
>> or "stuck" as in free of the hub, but trapped by the shoes embedded in
>> grooved drums? in that case, you'll just have to break stuff - the drums
>> can't be re-used anyway.
>
>
> I think they're original. Only 201,000 miles. I already have new ones.

Are the factory flat head screws still attaching them to the hub?

On Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:09:41 +0000, Brent wrote:

> On 2011-04-11, =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$B%O%A%m%=2F=1B=28B?=
> > wrote:
>> On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:46:26 -0700, jim beam wrote:
>>
>>> On 04/09/2011 08:28 PM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:
>>>> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge!
>>>> The manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to
>>>> put the spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>>>>
>>>> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
>>>> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On
>>>> Toyotas there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster,
>>>> but not so on this car.
>>>
>>> "stuck" as in frozen? does the mazda not have extractor screw holes
>>> that will force the drum off the hub?
>>>
>>> or "stuck" as in free of the hub, but trapped by the shoes embedded in
>>> grooved drums? in that case, you'll just have to break stuff - the
>>> drums can't be re-used anyway.
>>
>>
>> I think they're original. Only 201,000 miles. I already have new ones.
>
> Are the factory flat head screws still attaching them to the hub?

Hmmm... not that I am aware of.

I had them off a few years ago to do an inspection, and all I remember is
moving a spring stop, then moving the lever for the parking brake out of
the way, and then sliding the drums off.

"Hachiroku ????" > wrote in message
...
> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge! The
> manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put the
> spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>
> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
> there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
> on this car.

I would think that there is a plug somewhere on the backing plate to access
the adjuster. It is high on some cars and low on others.

If the drum is frozen around the hub, an acetylene torch on the face of the
drum just outside the hub may expand the drum enough to pop free of the hub.
I anti-seize the hub where the drum fits over so it doesn't freeze again.


--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Apr 10, 11:58 pm, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B > wrote:
> On Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:09:41 +0000, Brent wrote:
> > On 2011-04-11, =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$B%O%A%m%=2F=1B=28B?=
> > > wrote:
> >> On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:46:26 -0700, jim beam wrote:
>
> >>> On 04/09/2011 08:28 PM, Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote:
> >>>> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge!
> >>>> The manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to
> >>>> put the spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>
> >>>> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
> >>>> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On
> >>>> Toyotas there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster,
> >>>> but not so on this car.
>
> >>> "stuck" as in frozen? does the mazda not have extractor screw holes
> >>> that will force the drum off the hub?
>
> >>> or "stuck" as in free of the hub, but trapped by the shoes embedded in
> >>> grooved drums? in that case, you'll just have to break stuff - the
> >>> drums can't be re-used anyway.
>
> >> I think they're original. Only 201,000 miles. I already have new ones.
>
> > Are the factory flat head screws still attaching them to the hub?
>
> Hmmm... not that I am aware of.
>
> I had them off a few years ago to do an inspection, and all I remember is
> moving a spring stop, then moving the lever for the parking brake out of
> the way, and then sliding the drums off.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

hopefully your parking brake isn't on.

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:35:46 -0500, "Ray O"
> wrote:

>
>"Hachiroku ????" > wrote in message
...
>> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't budge! The
>> manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a screwdriver to put the
>> spring retainer out of the way...there wasn't one.
>>
>> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
>> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On Toyotas
>> there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the adjuster, but not so
>> on this car.
>
>I would think that there is a plug somewhere on the backing plate to access
>the adjuster. It is high on some cars and low on others.
>
>If the drum is frozen around the hub, an acetylene torch on the face of the
>drum just outside the hub may expand the drum enough to pop free of the hub.
>I anti-seize the hub where the drum fits over so it doesn't freeze again.

There are two JIS phillips screws in each drum face on my 1983 Mazda.
I use a hand held hammer impact tool to loosen and remove them. There
are two threaded holes that they will fit to pull the drum but I used
two metric hex head bolts for better control.
Bolts and axle hubs were sprayed with PB Blaster and drum was removed
without having to back off brake adjustments.
Axle end was also wire brushed prior to pulling drum.

--
Mr.E

On Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:28:05 -0700, m6onz5a wrote:

> On Apr 10, 11:58 pm, Hachiroku ãƒ�ãƒ�ãƒ*ク > wrote:
>> On Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:09:41 +0000, Brent wrote:
>> > On 2011-04-11, =?iso-2022-jp?q?Hachiroku_=1B$B%O%A%m%=2F=1B=28B?=
>> > > wrote:
>> >> On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:46:26 -0700, jim beam wrote:
>>
>> >>> On 04/09/2011 08:28 PM, Hachiroku ãƒ�ãƒ�ãƒ*ク wrote:
>> >>>> 1989 Mazda 626. Tried to get the rear drums off, they wouldn't
>> >>>> budge! The manual said to pull the rubber plug and insert a
>> >>>> screwdriver to put the spring retainer out of the way...there
>> >>>> wasn't one.
>>
>> >>>> Then I remembered when I did a brake inspection a few years ago the
>> >>>> retainer is on the OUTSIDE, but no joy. The drums are stuck. On
>> >>>> Toyotas there is a rubber plug you can remove to loosen the
>> >>>> adjuster, but not so on this car.
>>
>> >>> "stuck" as in frozen? does the mazda not have extractor screw holes
>> >>> that will force the drum off the hub?
>>
>> >>> or "stuck" as in free of the hub, but trapped by the shoes embedded
>> >>> in grooved drums? in that case, you'll just have to break stuff -
>> >>> the drums can't be re-used anyway.
>>
>> >> I think they're original. Only 201,000 miles. I already have new
>> >> ones.
>>
>> > Are the factory flat head screws still attaching them to the hub?
>>
>> Hmmm... not that I am aware of.
>>
>> I had them off a few years ago to do an inspection, and all I remember
>> is moving a spring stop, then moving the lever for the parking brake out
>> of the way, and then sliding the drums off.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> hopefully your parking brake isn't on.


ROTFL..no, I haven't done THAT one for a few years...!