Seized Brake Drums

[MacFromOK]

If I had been able to access a lathe at work I could have turned a shaft to hammer on after packing the cavity with grease, but it was the weekend and I had to have it done by Monday to actually go to work.

Put an extension in the wrong end of a socket and use that (assuming you have sockets with the square drive cut all the way through). Pulled many pilot bearings like this.

 

[Dave70968]

Shadow, I know the welding method you describe, but again, I can't make any change to the drum. I appreciate the thought though. Mac, ditto drilling the backing plate (which is probably just fine and doesn't need to be replaced, unlike the drum).

The correct solution, assuming heat doesn't get it, is likely to cut the drum. The most likely solution is to listen to him piss and moan about it for another dozen years while it takes up space in my barn.

 

[Cowcatcher]

Dave, did you give the center post of your puller a few good sledge taps whilst you had er soused down good n tight?

 

[dennishoddy]

That'll do it. Just as long as you get it hot enough to expand enough to break the bond. I've never seen heat fail on something like this.

Another wild ass method that might work but is honestly a lot more work, is to arc weld a fat bead on the outside of the drum, just below the diameter of the pad/drum interface that's frozen together. You don't need or want to go all the way around, 1/4 to 1/3 will do it if it's going to work. The heat and force of the bead contracting will break the bond.

I saw my FIL remove from my truck a roller transmission input shaft bearing that had cratered and lost the inner race and all the rollers leaving only the outer race pressed into my crankshaft this way. We took the flywheel off and he welded a bead on the crank flange just above the hub part which located the flywheel. We took it out with a seal pick. True story, I saw it with my own eyes. I had used all manner of pullers and chisels and that sucker wasn't coming out. I was like "what friggen sorcery is this?" I ground off the weld so the flywheel would locate back up true. If I had been able to access a lathe at work I could have turned a shaft to hammer on after packing the cavity with grease, but it was the weekend and I had to have it done by Monday to actually go to work. My FIL was an oilfield machinist. I thought he may have been a sorcerer for awhile.

When I worked in industrial CNC maintenance we had blind bearings that had to be removed like that. Timken tapered roller bearings. Remove shaft and inner rollers, then welder had to run a bead on the inside of the outer race to get it to basically drop out of the housing.

 

[MacFromOK]

Dave, did you give the center post of your puller a few good sledge taps whilst you had er soused down good n tight?

The problem with that approach, is that if the drum is stuck to the shoes, the shoes aren't solidly mounted. So yer gonna get some bounce anyway. :/

I don't know about this make of car, but there may be pins (with the head through the backing plate) that help hold the shoes on. If so, grinding those pin-heads off might help.

If you have to cut the drum off, a die-grinder might be safer. Dunno.

Just pitchin' ideas.

 

[Shadowrider]

When I worked in industrial CNC maintenance we had blind bearings that had to be removed like that. Timken tapered roller bearings. Remove shaft and inner rollers, then welder had to run a bead on the inside of the outer race to get it to basically drop out of the housing.

I was a young CNC machinist at that time myself, but I had never heard or seen anything like that. I made all new stuff though. My FIL rebuilt draw works for drilling rigs. Old school great big stuff. He knew all those tricks. He would have been a great Navy or shipyard machinist.

 

[Shadowrider]

Shadow, I know the welding method you describe, but again, I can't make any change to the drum. I appreciate the thought though.

Just to make sure you understand, you'll grind the weld off when done. Some black paint and nobody will be the wiser.

 

[Dave70968]

Dave, did you give the center post of your puller a few good sledge taps whilst you had er soused down good n tight?

Yes, and also the drum, both on the face and radially inward on the sides. No luck.

The problem with that approach, is that if the drum is stuck to the shoes, the shoes aren't solidly mounted. So yer gonna get some bounce anyway. :/

I don't know about this make of car, but there may be pins (with the head through the backing plate) that help hold the shoes on. If so, grinding those pin-heads off might help.

If you have to cut the drum off, a die-grinder might be safer. Dunno.

Just pitchin' ideas.

I know the pins of which you speak; the MGB has them, but I don't see them in the diagram for the A. And if I go to cutting, I hadn't considered a die grinder (I don't have one, but that's easy to solve), but I had planned to use a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder rather than a torch. Cut where I can, score where I can't, and use a hardened chisel to do the final break.

Also, I learned about a really neat tool yesterday: an impact driver. Not a power tool, just a tube about an inch in diameter and four inches long with a half-inch drive on the front end set up so that when you hit the back end with a hammer (we used a sledgehammer), it both forces the tool in and drives it to turn (selectable direction). Put the right hex socket (included) on the half-inch drive and the right screwdriver bit (also included) in the socket, and it pulled some screws we thought we'd never get out, particularly given that the heads were already damaged. You can put any other impact-rated socket on it and have an impact wrench, too. About $12 at Steve's Wholesale Tools for the nice, all-metal version (the Harbor Freight version gets lousy reviews).

 

[MacFromOK]

Also, I learned about a really neat tool yesterday: an impact driver. Not a power tool, just a tube about an inch in diameter and four inches long with a half-inch drive on the front end set up so that when you hit the back end with a hammer (we used a sledgehammer), it both forces the tool in and drives it to turn (selectable direction). Put the right hex socket (included) on the half-inch drive and the right screwdriver bit (also included) in the socket, and it pulled some screws we thought we'd never get out, particularly given that the heads were already damaged. You can put any other impact-rated socket on it and have an impact wrench, too. About $12 at Steve's Wholesale Tools for the nice, all-metal version (the Harbor Freight version gets lousy reviews).

Yep. I've had a 1/2" drive one for years (decades actually). They will twist off small bolts and screws though. It helps to hold the body firmly in the direction you wish to turn the bolt/screw too.

 

[Cowcatcher]

Also, I learned about a really neat tool yesterday: an impact driver. Not a power tool, just a tube about an inch in diameter and four inches long with a half-inch drive on the front end set up so that when you hit the back end with a hammer (we used a sledgehammer), it both forces the tool in and drives it to turn (selectable direction). Put the right hex socket (included) on the half-inch drive and the right screwdriver bit (also included) in the socket, and it pulled some screws we thought we'd never get out, particularly given that the heads were already damaged. You can put any other impact-rated socket on it and have an impact wrench, too. About $12 at Steve's Wholesale Tools for the nice, all-metal version (the Harbor Freight version gets lousy reviews).

I've got a couple of those. One is old and one is newer. They fit in the category of tool that you don't use often but are dang sure handy to have. The newer one I have isn't as big as the older one and I bought it when I was doing some mods on my Rossi 92 357. The guy I ordered the mods from is known as the "Rossi 92 specialist" so when he recommended me buying an impact driver for the barrel band screws I listened. Wouldn't ya know he sells the driver too. It was handy cuz those tiny headed screws were sure nuff tight.